text: does no one else realise that in the last ashes series england lost the first game by 300 runs? my point is that we have always been notoriously bad starters. we can't say now that we have lost the series. comments... asutralia in the recent past have faltered after good starts. their india tour  (when they lost after enforcing the follow-on) and the last ashes series are two examples - and these are perhaps the only two series they have lost in recent years. both times they won the first test.