🔗 Share this article

Sunshine, meat pies and world-famous cricket grounds - what more could an England cricket fan possibly want?

Ideally, they'd want an Ashes series in Australia where they still have a chance to reclaim the urn after the first three Tests.

This is not the case during this tour, after Australia's crushing victory by 82 runs in Adelaide gave Australia with a 3-0 lead for the fourth successive Ashes series on Australian grounds.

England's famous supporters' group, England's supporters' group, have 3,000 fans making the journey for the last two matches in the SCG and MCG.

There are also travel parties who will spend the Christmas period overseas, as well as families and friends planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

The Disappointed Travelers

A group of four supporters are four such fans.

The group had their travel arrangements and match passes arranged for the fourth and fifth Tests "12 months ago", anticipating a historic English victory.

From afar, they've seen Australia dismantle the tourists in just under two weeks from their family home in the north of England.

"People in the office has been making comments that the series is done for the last two weeks," commented one sibling.

"Our expectation had been that we would have something to play for still when we got there."

Fading Positivity

Hope was abundant concerning a potential victory of ending their 15-year wait for a victory down under before it began.

Yet now they are staring down the barrel of prolonging a streak without victory in the country to 19 games when the fourth Test gets under way in Melbourne this week.

The England team - and their followers - will be hoping to sidestep a dreaded 5-0 scoreline.

Alex said the "excitement and fun" of head coach the aggressive 'Bazball' approach in recent times had "reinvigorated" Test cricket for English supporters.

Yet the fans said they had realistic outlooks for the fourth and fifth Tests - and all they are hoping for from the players is "a show of spirit".

"Every pundit alludes to it, but it all is about mental resilience. 'The aggressive approach has been turned into a buzzword now that is just, like, impractical batting," commented another sibling.

"Over the course of five days, you should hunker down. Wafting outside 'outside the line has never been in the textbooks, and that is mainly the fault the batting lineup."

Future Prospects

Asked whether he believed England will win a match in this Ashes series, came the reply: "It appears the Aussies are just too good currently."

"Necessarily, there must be several individuals that delivers for the team and produces a match-winning display."

Despite the scoreline, the siblings are still excited about the trip.

"We are going to have a fantastic experience anyway," added another sibling. "We must adopt that attitude."

"Of course, it's a let-down we can't contest the series, but we have spent so much money by now."

"We'll enjoy celebrating the holidays overseas. It is also mine and Rory's first time away from home during the festive period."

A schoolteacher, Katie is intent on maximizing the long-haul travel as part of her Christmas holidays.

"As a backup plan, I can play golf to rely on," she added.