Posts tagged with ‘Australia’

It doesn’t take long after any Ashes series for the associated memorabilia and publications to start doing the rounds. So, in case you can’t remember, or you spent this summer under a rock, or you are ready to be nostalgic, here is an excellent day-by-day account of the 2009 Ashes series.

Many think that England have already lost the plot after their Ashes victory. They are mistaken. Preparations are already underway for the next Ashes series in Australia in 2010/11, and early plans are currently being executed with great success.

Aside from the 3-0 scoreline, there are signs that the England team just aren’t that into this ODI series. First Stuart Broad and now Paul Collingwood and James Anderson are being rested from the team.

For the 3rd consecutive match, Andrew Strauss tells us, England’s batsmen have underperformed. Tell us something we don’t know. Actually, this is the 4th ODI in a row if you count the game against Ireland when England mustered just 203/9 and narrowly won a rain-affected match.

Watching England and Australia muddle their way through seven ODIs after the Ashes has finished is like going to your favourite restaurant and having the main course before the starter. Nobody wants a bowl of soup when they’ve just finished a plate of steak and chips.

The trend recently is of players retiring from Test cricket to prolong their Twenty20 careers, or at least professing a preference for the format limited in length but unlimited in financial inducement. But, Ricky Ponting isn’t going to be following that trend, having announced his retirement from Twenty20 internationals to prolong his Test career.

During the course of England’s Test matches, reference is often made to their batsmen’s habit of making starts but failing to convert them into centuries. Generally, blame is placed upon the proliferation of limited overs cricket. Today, England again lost an ODI against Australia, and again a number of their batsmen established themselves, only to lose their wickets. The same trait was their downfall in the 1st ODI on Friday.

Is this a regular feature of their limited overs batting, and what are the reasons behind it?

I wasn’t there, I didn’t see it on TV. So what to make of the abandonment on Tuesday due to waterlogged run-ups? Who was to blame, the authorities at Old Trafford, or the teams and umpires? Reading the reports in the press, it is hard to say for sure, blame being apportioned to either one or the other.

England have won the Ashes, and the nation rejoices and 2005 can now finally be looked upon as a fond memory. But, as we celebrate, England must learn the lesson from their previous triumph over Australia – don’t get carried away.

The stage was set for England’s all-rounder to take centre-stage, to win the Ashes with one final, devastating display before bowing out of Test cricket. That was Andrew Flintoff’s script for the Oval.

Today, Stuart Broad stole that script, crossed out Freddie’s name and wrote his own.