England cricket, licking its wounds after the thrashing in Australia, has recruited the leading golf administrator Ken Schofield to rake over the Ashes.
The former executive director of the European Tour has been given the task of isolating the reasons for the 5-0 whitewash. Schofield said: "I've been appointed as an independent voice and I'll do the job without fear or favour. We have access to all areas and we know we have to think quickly on our feet." He will be joined in his quest by the former England captains, Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain, and the former England pace bowler Angus Fraser, plus two others as yet unnamed.
It is a daunting task for Schofield but one to which he brings no little expertise, having been in charge of the European Tour from its darkest days of Ryder Cup drubbings by the United States to the dominant force it has now become.
"I liken England's current loss of the Ashes to what happened when the Americans won back the Ryder Cup in 1999," said Schofield, who was in charge of European golf for 30 years. "They had lost the trophy two matches in a row and just had to win it back. I think we saw a similar thing during the Ashes, where the Australians regrouped impressively.
The 60-year-old Schofield loves his cricket and has been a Surrey member for many years. "My passion for cricket is almost as strong as it is for golf and I'm honoured to have been asked," he said. "Two of the proudest moments of my sporting life came at The Oval when I saw David Gower captain the side that won back the Ashes in 1985 and Michael Vaughan's triumph just 18 months ago."
Schofield's remit is to review the whole England Ashes process from the preparation, or lack of it in the opinion of some, to the way the tour of Australia was conducted. There were three main areas that drew the most criticism of the England coach Duncan Fletcher and his squad.
These were the rest period given to the players after the Champions Trophy when they were allowed to return home to spend time with their families before departing for Australia when many argued that they should have been preparing for the tour. Then there was criticism of the limited number of warm-up games for the players to regain match fitness. And finally there was the presence of families throughout the tour.