Ashes 2013-14: End of an era for England, admits Andy Flower

Andy Flower admitted it’s the end of an era for England after Australia secured a 5-0 Ashes whitewash on day three of the final Test in Sydney.

The tourists crumbled in dismal fashion as Alastair Cook’s men were dismissed for 166 and Australia secured victory by an emphatic 281-run margin.

It is a chance for some sort of renewal for the England national cricket team

Andy Flower

England, who were 3-0 winners in the summer series, dropped to fourth in the world rankings following the embarrassing loss.

And team director Flower believes England have a chance to rejuvenate their set-up after a string of below-par performances Down Under.

“This does feel like the end of an era of some description,” said Flower.

“It is a chance for some sort of renewal for the England national cricket team. It needs wise people making good decisions at the top to try and get those decisions right.”

Flowers added: “We’ve underperformed badly. If I’m honest, we could have seen it coming a little earlier.

“We’ve underperformed in the first innings for quite a long period of time. We haven’t scored many runs, haven’t scored any first innings above 400 for a long time, and people lost confidence early on in this tour.

“The pace rocked the batting order in the first Test and we never quite recovered.”