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.
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Ponting’s Future
There has been endless speculation regarding the future of this Australian side and most particularly that of Ricky Ponting. The Australian captain will miss the fifth and final Test as x-rays have shown that he has done more damage to his broken finger. Many are calling for him to resign as skipper, but at the same time few are convinced that Michael Clarke is an adequate replacement, and there do not seem to be too many other likely candidates on the horizon.
Ponting’s protracted argument with the umpire on Day 2 of the Melbourne Test, and subsequent fine, was seen as evidence by many that he has lost the plot, and indeed at that moment he probably had. He could see Australia’s chance of winning back the Ashes slipping away and, experienced as he is, the stress simply got to him and found him grasping at straws. This would have been an ugly episode at any time in past Test history.
But now we have the welcome option of checking borderline decisions using virtually infallible technology, so the prolonged protest was also in the realm of the ridiculous since television viewers could see from the replays that the ball appeared not to have made contact with Pietersen’s bat, even if there was a sound like a ball nicking something.
Cricket authorities admit that even with the ‘virtually infallible’ technology that they will never get it 100 per cent right. Infra-red imaging, Hot Spot; highly sensitive microphones in the pitch pick up the sound of what the ball may hit, Snick-O-Meter; while, super slow motion video brings it all together for officiating by the third umpire. In this instance Hot Spot showed no contact, but a sound from Snick-O was audible as the ball passed by. Estimates are that 97 to 98 per cent are correct decisions, in a sport that has always had inaccuracy—unlike a racing or timed sport. Perhaps Ponting picked up on that miniscule error; however, an umpire’s decision is final once it has passed the technology tests.
To be fair, Ponting did later publicly apologise for setting a bad example for young cricketers, but unfortunately it was rather like closing the door after the horse has bolted. Let us not forget though, that while Australians have been lamenting the retirement of all-time greats such as Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist and others, Ricky Ponting is one of those all-time greats himself. All batsmen have bad trots, and many of us remember the likes of Mark Taylor and Greg Chappell going through periods when they could barely score a run. But where top class players are concerned, those flat periods inevitably come to an end sooner or later, and one decent score is likely to effect a profound transformation in Ricky Ponting.
There has long been a trend for Australian captains to retire from the team at the same time as they retire from the captaincy. However, this is not at all the case with other cricketing nations. A couple of recent examples that spring to mind would be Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen for England, as well as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid for India. Tendulkar is only a year older than Ponting and has just scored an unprecedented 50th test century in the current series against South Africa. Ponting is second behind “the little master” on the all-time list. There is no reason why “Punter” cannot be a valuable asset to Australian test cricket for a couple of years yet, whether or not he is retained as captain.
Fairplay
One thing is for sure, and that is that players debating with officials is not acceptable in any sport at any level.
A year or two ago I remember being appalled by a slogan used in an advertisement by a leading sports wear manufacturer on the American TV channel ESPN which proclaimed: “It is not taking part that is important, it is winning!” This of course is the exact opposite of the traditional ethic that was taught to schoolchildren in England and the Commonwealth countries for centuries, particularly with regard to cricket and its gentleman’s code.
England suffered a succession of dreadful Ashes thrashings from 1989 to 2002 and then the 5-0 whitewash Down Under in 2006 for good measure, but they took them all on the chin and tried to do better the next time. It is to be hoped that Australia can follow that example.
The final and Fifth Test in the 2010-11 Ashes Cricket Series will be at the Sydney Cricket Ground January 3 to 7.
The series rotational tradition will be delayed by one year, as London hosts the 2012 Olympic Games. England will host the next Ashes Series in 2013.
