Is it the end of Broad and Cook

Have the Ashes ended careers of two England legends? 

In the build up to the Ashes of 2006, former Aussie great Glenn Mcgrath on being asked to predict the score line had famously said that Aussies would win the series 5-0.. Having lost the last Ashes in England , not many had taken Mcgrath’s prediction seriously. But come the last test in Sydney in 2006, England lead by Ashes hero Andrew Flintoff  had been drubbed 5-0 and the performance of the Poms had been described as one of the worst.

  Pre Ashes banter has been a trend since the beginning of cricket's oldest rivalry. Predictions before the series have been used as a ploy to  exert mental pressure on opponents. However it’s the Aussies who have raised the bar in the Ashes  and  have  lived upto the expectations of the nation and themselves. 

Continuing with its legacy of pre Ashes banter , A ploy to unnerve the English camp, the Aussies this  time managed to raise a few English tempers  by declaring before the Ashes that few English players would end their careers by the time the series is over . Nathan Lyon, who has been sublime with the ball during the course of the series, said at  the start of the series that they were looking to end few English careers. And boy hasn't he been spot on with his prediction. Not even at the end of the Ashes, that voices against two main England mainstays have grown and we might very well witness the end of Alistair Cook and Stuart Broad. 

Former cricketers have questioned cook's longevity, with former teammate Graeme Swann doubtful over his hunger for the game. Having scored just 83 runs in his six innings of the Ashes series so far in the ongoing Ashes series, it looks highly unlikely that Cook will feature in any future series; he might even hang his boots after the end of this very match. 

However, with over 11000 runs in 150 test matches 33 year old   is  a strong cricketer, and  one can only hope that he fulfills predictions  of the former Indian great Sunil Gavaskar who had once said that cook could very well score 15000 runs and make 50 centuries. With the way past 17 even innings have gone for Cook it looks highly unlikely. Not only has he looked weary but also his hunger to score to score big has been missing.

Same is the case with Stuart Broad who has been below par throughout the series. 31-year-old pacer has been bowling military medium with little effect on flat Australian tracks and has been one of the main reasons for England’s dismal performance. Broad who has been a lion hearted performer for the Poms has looked tired in this series; he has averaged more than 50 with the ball which goes on to show that the veteran of more than 100 tests is weary.  With Mark Wood and Jake Ball on the sidelines England might very well drop Broad in the next Match , and that could very well end the career of the pacer.