Ashes 2021-22: Stuart Broad admits of low morale in English camp; COVID-19 cases make things worse

It has been an out of favour ride for England so far in the 2021-22 Ashes. It trails 0-1 in the five-Test series against Australia, having lost the urn. As it prepares for the fourth Test at the Syndey Cricket Ground (SCG) from Wednesday, pacer Stuart Broad has admitted that the morale in the English camp is currently running low.

England is staring at a 0-5 whitewash, while Broad himself is disappointed that he has not made significant contributions to his side. "Both the energy and the mood in the camp is low. At the start of the tour, I said, partly tongue in cheek, that our preparation was at best average. Unfortunately, the truth in that statement has come to pass. Australia is one of the hardest places to win in Test cricket - look at the percentage of previous England victories here. To do so, everything needs to go in your favour," he wrote for Daily Mail.

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Broad has managed to play just a Test (second Test in Adelaide), but couldn't do anything significant. "The reality is we turned up undercooked while (Australian cricketers) Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland and Jhye Richardson were playing state cricket. Yes, like us, Australia had players at the Twenty20 World Cup until mid-November. But was it a level playing field? Not really," he further documented.

On the other hand, England has suffered yet another setback. Emergency coach Adam Hollioake, who was to replace Silverwood in the SCG Test for having test COVID positive, has also been ruled out. To guide the side, Graham Thorpe will now have to work with his fielding and wicketkeeping consultants, Ant Botha and James Foster. Fast bowling coach Jon Lewis and spin coach Jeetan Patel are also isolating in Melbourne.