The Ashes 2025-26: Where did it all go wrong for England as Australia retain the urn in dominant fashion?

England's bid to regain the Ashes is over after three comprehensive defeats in the first three Tests of the five-match series in Australia, but where did it all go wrong for Ben Stokes' side?

Arguably the sorest spot for most followers of this England Test team, not just the so-called "has beens".

Stokes would later apologise for his choice words when taking on former England greats like Sir Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott and Michael Vaughan who had challenged the team's preparation ahead of the Ashes, saying 'I got the words I said completely wrong'. But the damage had been done.

The bone of contention was England's decision to head into their greatest test as a team - a five-Test tour of Australia - with only one warm-up game, an effective intra-squad contest against the Lions over three days at Lilac Hill, on a notably slower surface from the one that they would be blasted out inside two days on in Perth only a week later.

Stokes and Brendon McCullum can point to a similar build-up on the five previous overseas trips under their leadership in which they have won the first Test of the series on each of their visits to Pakistan (x2), New Zealand (x2) and India.

But Australia is a different beast.