England can be justifiably proud of their achievement, particularly the way they refused to panic after the Perth debacle and came back all the stronger for the wake-up call. Andrew Strauss has marshalled his troops admirably, and while still learning his trade, clearly enjoys the respect of his players and the staunch support of his opening partner and vice-captain Alistair Cook.
Particularly important is that seasoned professionals such as Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood, appear to be quite content with the arrangements and will happily make suggestions without trying to take over. A major difference between this current England outfit and previous touring teams from the “old country” in the recent past, is that this has actually looked and acted like a team, rather than a collection of semi-disgruntled individuals.
Before the series began, most of the pundits were agreed that, while England had a decent side on paper this time around, with batsmen that could do the job barring any disastrous form slumps, the team was missing a genuinely quick bowler with that touch of mongrel—a Harold Larwood or a John Snow—that was needed to unsettle the Aussies on their home turf. The bowling attack looked ideal for English conditions but was generally judged as likely to struggle on long hot sunny days when conditions offered negligible assistance to the bowlers in terms of sideways movement.
England’s pacemen, generally bowling at little more than fast-medium, have proved us all wrong. They have consistently put the ball in the right areas, and if you do that for long enough then rewards will come. But more than that, they have bowled especially well in partnerships and built up pressure on the Australian batsmen until a mistake was forced.Importantly, when the mistakes have come England has capitalised.
They have even managed to cope with the loss of Stuart Broad, who prior to the start of the tour was being touted as England’s potential match winner. Jimmy Anderson has unquestionably laid his Aussie demons to rest; Chris Tremlett has exceeded all expectations; Steve Finn made an important contribution, in the first two tests in particular; while Tim Bresnan did an outstandingly professional job coming in for the rookie in Melbourne. Graeme Swann has put in solid, if not match-winning performances, but his day in the sun may well come in Sydney where the pitch often favours spin bowlers such as him.
Especially noteworthy is that the whole team has fielded to a consistently high standard and, for the first time in many years, outplayed Australia in that department. Paul Collingwood may be 34 now, and somewhat short of success with the bat of late, but like the great fieldsmen of the past—Colin Bland, Clive Lloyd, Derek Randall, Jonty Rhodes—he is worth fifty runs an innings to the team for his fielding alone. He has been an inspiration in that respect and also has a wealth of experience to contribute. No surprise, therefore that Strauss was adamant that the veteran should remain in the side. Matt Prior has enjoyed a fine series behind the stumps with the highlight being those six catches on the first day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground which put Australia out for a paltry 98 and virtually assured that England would win the 4th test and retain those Ashes.
Please continue to next page
