What's going on with the England cricket team?

Watching the England team draw the penultimate test match in Barbados I find myself asking, what happened to the team that beat Australia in 2005?

When England won the Ashes in 2005 there were the 2nd best side in the world, having won in South Africa and beaten the West Indies home and away. They should have kicked on from there to try and overtake Australia as the best side in the world, they certainly had the players.

However if anything, the opposite has happened. England have struggled with injuries and what feels like a different captain leading the side in each series.

Since the 2005 Ashes Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen have all led the team with varying degrees of success. And this winter's tour of the West Indies has highlighted how the England team have stood still while all the others have progressed. A side that England beat 3-0 when they last visited in 2004 are 1-0 up with one match to play, although the state of the pitches has not helped.

If anyone is a better example of England's downward turn it is Steve Harmison. A bowler who after the 2004 of the Caribbean was ranked number one in the world after taking 23 wickets in the four match series including a sensational 7-12 in Sabina Park. He is now 29 in the world, below Matthew Hoggard who hasn't played international cricket in over a year.

Such erratic form from players such as Harmsion, Ian Bell and whoever the wicket keeper is in any particular match (it changes so often it's impossible to keep up, but they all seem to be the same) and endless injuries means that England constantly have to chop and change meaning the team cannot progress.

How can you know what your best side is when you have to change every match?

Watching England struggle to win in the West Indies, a place they won so comfortably in five years ago, is sad to see. And with Australia coming back this summer they need to sort their act out very quickly.

Let's hope England can use the Ashes as a starting point for future success, as they should have done four years ago.