England bosses launch Ashes probe
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive David Collier described England's Ashes performance as "a great disappointment" and has initiated a "comprehensive review" of what went wrong in Australia.
A 10-wicket defeat in Sydney sealed a first Ashes whitewash in 86 years and the ECB have instructed director of cricket John Carr to report back next month ahead of the World Cup in the West Indies in March.
"The performance in the Ashes series has been a great disappointment and a number of lessons must be learned," said Collier. "This review will be comprehensive and broad-ranging with the clear objective of regaining the Ashes in 2009 and significantly improving England's results in one-day international cricket in the next four-year cycle."
A statement from the ECB read: "The ECB directors present in Sydney met informally on January 4 to consider a proposal for a comprehensive review of the process, programme and structure of Team England.
"This discussion followed the circulation of a paper by the ECB chief executive David Collier on December 29, 2006.
"The vision for the review was defined as: 'To determine how Team England's performances during the period 2003-2007 should be improved in order that England regain the Ashes in 2009 and win an ICC global one-day event during the period 2007-2011.
"The board unanimously supported the establishment of a comprehensive review and will now meet formally to agree the process and composition of the review team."
