England warned a brutal Ashes whitewash ‘is on the table’ by Steve Harmison

England are 2-0 down in the Ashes after getting beaten by nine wickets in the first Test in Brisbane and 275 runs in the second Test in Adelaide

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Former England bowler Steve Harmison has warned that a 5-0 Ashes whitewash “is on the table” after Australia went 2-0 up in the series with comfortable wins in Brisbane and Adelaide.

England lost the first Test by nine wickets and the second by 275 runs and have not won a Test in Australia for more than 4,000 days, with their last victory coming back in 2011.

Despite England’s struggles, Harmison does believe they will improve as the series goes on, but admits a whitewash remains a realistic proposition.

Speaking on behalf of Genting Casino , Harmison said: “I think a whitewash is on the table, but I like to think that England will get at least one Test win on the board.

“England will get better as the series goes on and will win at least one Test match – I just hope it’s not just the last one as that would be a dead rubber – I’d love it to be Melbourne as that puts a lot of pressure on Australia.

“England’s difficult preparation means only now are they ready for a Test match, there is nothing the players can do about the T20 World Cup quarantining or Brisbane being a washout two weeks beforehand.

“England should now start coming into their own, being comfortable batting on these wickets against these bowlers and bowling well with this ball.

“Hopefully we see a better England over the next three Test matches, but it won’t be enough to win the series.

“England will win one, maybe two, but Australia will win at least one more Test match.”

England captain Joe Root has insisted that his side have what it takes to turn things around and win the series 3-2.

“I’m still convinced we can come back,” he said. “It’s so frustrating because we’re so much better than what we’ve done so far.

“I know the plans are right, we just need to execute them better. We need to show what we did today – that attitude and hunger – we have to take it into the next three games because that what it takes here.”

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