By the way salvaging by it's definition means rescuing something from a bleak situation, and usually not your initial target, but "something" to hang onto.Yes you can.
We were on the back foot in those final 3 Tests, in fact we had to fight tooth and nail to stay competitive in the entire series.
England's recent ODI WC woes have made for mirthful entertainment no doubt, but the fact remains they were highly competitive throughout the 2023 Ashes series.
I don't care what England's attitude is to squaring the series; we were in a position to win the Ashes on English soil, but the fact is that apart from 2-3 players we looked a little down on touch for much of that series.
Joe Root thinks man-for-man England are a better outfit than Australia but I reckon that's bullsh*t and we should probably have won the past two Ashes series on English soil.
But the 2023 English Test outfit were a pretty formidable opponent and we - in my opinion - were lucky not to completely cough up that early 2-0 lead and hand them back the urn.
I'm a big fan of the current Aussie set-up but I'm not so parochial that I can't give strong opposition credit for pushing us to be the best.
England fit this salvaging description perfectly. They couldn't even regain the Ashes with a full match to play. You can say Australia coughed up a series victory but "salvaging a draw"? Please.