Team of the Ashes (so far): middle order

In an Ashes series in which the middle orders from both sides have largely failed to deliver, England’s Joe Root has been head and shoulders above his nearest rival.

So if Root takes the No.4 position, who goes in at No.5?

We assess the candidates for both positions, beginning with England’s young gun.

ENGLAND

Joe Root: 443 runs at 73.83. HS 134

Root's brilliant Nottingham century (Aus only)

With a pair of sublime hundreds and a couple of fifties to boot, Joe Root has confirmed his credentials as one of the game’s best young batsmen throughout this Ashes series.

The 24-year-old had his slice of luck on day one of the first Test at Cardiff, surviving a Brad Haddin dropped catch on nought, but capitalised on that superbly to make a counterattacking and ultimately match-winning 134 from just 166 balls.

He carried on his fine form in the second innings with 60, missed out in both innings at Lord’s, but returned impressively at Edgbaston, making 63 and 38 not out, the latter innings including the winning runs courtesy of a sweetly-struck four through the leg side.

Better was to come at Nottingham when he found himself batting after lunch on day one following Australia’s capitulation to be all out for 60.

The right-hander more than doubled his opponents’ combined tally, stroking 130 from 176 deliveries and taking the game – and the Ashes – away from Australia in the process.

It pushed him to the No.1 position in the Test batting rankings – making him the youngest player in history to achieve the accolade, while he’s also the youngest Englishman to score three Ashes hundreds.

Ian Bell: 73 runs at 18.25. HS 60

Bell, Root ring-in crushing victory

Bell’s biggest influence on this series came from the No.3 position, when he made a pair of half-centuries on his home patch of Birmingham.

Prior to that, from No.4, he’d top-scored with a second innings 60 in Cardiff to help England to what proved to be a winning lead.

The 33-year-old, who was man of the series with three centuries in the 2013 Ashes, has struggled to recapture that sort of form this time around, his struggles underlined by three scores of one.

Yet in a series to forget for most of the men batting at No.4 or No.5, he remains one to consider.

Jonny Bairstow: 79 runs at 39.5. HS 74

Bairstow blazes half-century

Bairstow was recalled to the England XI for the third and fourth Tests after his Yorkshire teammate Gary Ballance fell out of favour following a string of unconvincing performances.

The right-hander played in the 2013 Ashes and again in the 2013-14 series, but was found out Down Under by a red-hot Mitchell Johnson.

History looked to be repeating itself when a Johnson snorter saw Bairstow become his 300th wicket at Trent Bridge, but after that failure he stepped up at Trent Bridge, and showed the sort of form that had seen him dominate the County Championship all season, making 74 in quick time as he and Joe Root took the match away from Australia.

AUSTRALIA

Michael Clarke: 117 runs at 16.71. HS 38

Retiring Clarke's final Ashes series

Clarke’s final Test series has been one to forget for the Australia skipper, both in terms of the result as well as personal output.

His country’s fourth-highest run-scorer in Tests, the 34-year-old has failed to find form through the first four Ashes Tests, managing a top score of just 38.

“I think it is evident from Clarke’s batting he is not focusing on the ball and that comes from the mind being elsewhere,” former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote in the UK Telegraph ahead of the fourth Test.

“He is such a class player, averaging 50, so to struggle so badly in this series, and look so out of form, betrays what is going on in his head.”

Whether it was the lack of runs or simply time, Clarke announced his retirement at Trent Bridge following the heavy defeat, and will have his Baggy Green swansong at The Oval in the final Test.

Adam Voges: 125 runs at 20.83. HS 51no

Voges' fighting fifty

With a record-breaking Shield season, a century on debut in the Caribbean, and a handy record in county cricket, all signs pointed to a bumper Ashes series for Adam Voges.

Yet the West Australian captain has been unable to fulfil his pre-determined role of shoring up the tourists’ middle order, managing 74 runs in seven innings until a fighting half-century in the fourth Test salvaged his statistics somewhat.

Despite his second innings stand in Nottingham, the veteran right-hander is no certainty to be named for the fifth Test at The Oval.

"Adam's struggled but played really well (in the second innings at Trent Bridge) which is pleasing for him,” Australia coach Darren Lehmann said at the conclusion of the fourth Test.

“So we just need to sit down and think about that, how we want to go about (fifth Test selections) and what we think the best future for Australian cricket is.

"There are going to be tough calls somewhere … you've got to also look after Australian cricket in the right way and we've got to make sure we're doing the right things by the players both old and new."

Shaun Marsh: 2 runs at 1. HS 2

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Marsh edges brought for a duck // Getty Images

Marsh has scored as many centuries as he has Test runs on this tour, having reached triple figures against both Kent and Derbyshire before again disappointing on the big stage, with scores of nought and two in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge.

The 32-year-old’s first Test of Ashes cricket came at the expense of his brother Mitch, but after those impressive innings in the warm-ups, he was again found wanting against the moving ball as Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes induced tentative strokes away from the body that found the edge of the bat and were pocketed safely in the slips.