England spurred on by WC agony

Following their abysmal failure in the World Cup earlier this year, the idea of England defeating Australia seemed ridiculous. Photo: Paul Childs

Following their abysmal failure in the World Cup earlier this year, the idea of England defeating Australia seemed ridiculous. Photo: Paul Childs

Published Aug 11, 2015

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As England's improbable Ashes triumph continues to reverberate, one of their senior back-room staff recalled the dark ages of not so long ago. Paul Farbrace, the assistant coach, was with the team after their abysmal failure in the World Cup earlier this year when the idea of defeating Australia seemed ridiculous.

“We didn't play well, we got blown away in the first game and I don't think we ever recovered,” Farbrace said. “We were all hurting. Your pride takes a hell of a hit. You bump into people on the street, or wherever you go, and they say 'Oh, you work with the England team, you are rubbish'. It hurts, it really does hurt.”

Farbrace warned that there are two gruelling tours ahead for England after they finish the Ashes series, playing Pakistan and South Africa, and that they were not the finished article. “We will be a little bit up and down, hit and miss and inconsistent,” he said. “We have to accept that, which is hard as coaches.”

The long-term future, however, seems bright and after defeating Australia all things may be possible. Farbrace added: “We haven't seen the best of quite a few of these boys yet - Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Mark Wood, Ben Stokes, Adam Lyth, Gary Ballance. Gary Ballance is someone that definitely, at the end of last summer, we would have had down as banker for this series. It hasn't quite worked out for him but that is not to say he won't come back.

“The one big thing this summer has done is show that if you play well in county cricket, you have got a chance of playing for England and you can be part of what is happening. That is a really exciting place to be.” – The Independent

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