Diary of an Ashes insomniac

Winning 'dry'

2012-01-19T22:05:00.013Z

There was a lot to enjoy about Pakistan’s shockingly straightforward victory in the first Test. Saeed Ajmal bewitching England’s batsmen into submission on a first-day pitch was a highlight. But for a team celebrated for their volatility, it was Pakistan’s stubbornness in pursuit of victory that impressed most.

It has been Misbah-ul-Haq’s way since he took over as captain after the spot fixing debacle. While victories against Test cricket’s weaker nations showed promise, to outdo England - at their own conservative approach - was something to cherish.

Though Andrew Strauss may be reluctant to admit it at this precise moment, he has something of a kindred spirit in Misbah. Both give the air of enlightened bureaucrats, mucking in stoically for the greater good. Both claimed the captaincy at moments of relative turmoil but Misbah has had little of the structural support Strauss enjoys. Pakistan’s backroom organisation has been improving, but it’s been Misbah alone whose forged unity and discipline on the field.

It’s the first time England have been up against a side prepared to match their pragmatism shot for shot. Or leave for leave. England have climbed the rankings by being prepared to dial down the pace of the game at a time when the rest of the world seemed intent on hurrying it up. Bowling ‘dry’ was matched by Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott laying sturdy foundations with the batting equivalent.

But in the first Test Pakistan too resisted all frivolity. After bundling England out in less than a day it would have been easy for their batsmen to come out trying to dominate and kick home the advantage. But that might have let England back into the game.

Instead openers Mohammed Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar calmly negotiated the new ball - England’s biggest hope - before Younis Khan, Misbah himself and Adnan Akmal all made solid contributions. By nudging and tucking their way, at 2.82 an over, to a 146-run lead, they effectively closed the door on England.

Though Pakistan’s bowlers hardly needed patience - the tourists were too generous for that - they were still miserly. Misbah set low-ego fields, just as Strauss might have done, and allowed England to make the mistakes they seemed intent on.

In the past England could have taken hope from the fact a crushing Pakistan win could easily be followed by a clanging defeat a week later. Team Misbah may prove a far more robust outfit.

Swann should beware the No.1 tag

2012-01-16T23:16:00.008Z

If India’s recent troubles show anything it’s that life up top is precarious. All the sweat exhausted inching to the summit can rapidly feel wasted tumbling back down again. As Graeme Swann looks ahead to the first Test against Pakistan, it is something he might reflect on.

More than anyone else in the England side, he has had to struggle to get to where he is – the world’s best-ranked spinner in the world’s best-ranked side. But when reaching the top is greeted with a shower of rewards, it is easy to forget just hard that journey is. Fine margins separate the best and dropping even an imperceptible level - think Rob Key relaxing a fraction against Damien Martyn - can leave you grimly exposed.

Be it the prickly autobiography, the out-for-Christmas DVD or the fact that, over the last three series, his 40 wickets have come at 35.22, Swann gives the impression of a cricketer just off the boil. His rise has closely followed England's and as he and the team enter a two-year period that will go a long way to defining their history, he needs to prove his focus is fastened to the task at hand.

After a forgettable performance - along with the rest of the team - in the ODI series India, Swann has started this tour being outbowled by Monty Panesar. He is clearly one who enjoys his standing as England's best and if that rivalry doesn't sharpen him then lining up against Saeed Ajmal should.

Ajmal has blossomed under Misbah-ul-Haq and - with 50 at 23.86 - was Test cricket's leading wicket taker in 2011. Like Swann, he is a mischievous type and, armed with the best doosra in the game, is the main challenger to Swann's top-dog status.

With vapid pitches and cloudless skies expected in Dubai, Swann's role in a four-man attack is the most important in the team. Ajmal, likewise, is the key Pakistani threat. England's tail, already weakened by Tim Bresnan's absence, has been central to the team's resilience. The lower-order, from Matt Prior down, have bailed England out on more than one occasion. Ajmal, though, has the variations to run through them. Swann's importance won't just be with ball in hand.

How Swann fares will give a good window into the how firm a grip Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss have on the mindset of the squad. All the right noises seem to emerge from press conferences, with every player on message with platitudes about 'new challenges' and the like. But under bright sun and in a bare stadium, just how driven the side are will be revealed.

Both Swann and England will do well to leave UAE with their lofty reputations intact.

Cooley's star fades with Australia's

2010-12-10T14:42:00.006Z

Few things spark opinion quite like crisis. And after toothless displays in successive Ashes Tests the frenzied opinion has diagnosed crisis. Speculation and solutions have spouted from all corners with cry of youth coming simultaneously with a dewy-eyed (and muddy-headed) plea for Shane Warne to waddle out of retirement. You sense the Australian management will wade through it all until the series concludes the before unearthing that weary staple of meltdown strategies – heads on a plate.

Perhaps Ricky Ponting’s repeated talk of ‘execution’ in the press conference following the Adelaide defeat was a nod in the direction of the axe dangling above his head. But as the blame heaps outside his door, he would be forgiven if, in a quieter moment, he took solace from that popular (though stubbornly unpopulist) truism about captains being only as capable as their bowlers allow. After conceding six for 1137 in the last two innings, the prognosis on either front isn’t great.

But with Doug Bollinger’s leg-stump half-volleys leading the resistance, what could he have done? No combination of Mark Taylor, Mike Brearley and Winston Churchill could have stopped England with the attack at Ponting’s disposal. It’s fair to expect more runs of him, certainly, and more subtlety tactically, but surely “bowl straight, Sid” isn’t part of his brief.

The bowlers should know better and the man charged with mentoring them, Troy Cooley, must shoulder some responsibility. Cooley is a fascinating case. Perhaps no one has traded as lucratively on the 2005 card as him. The story by now is familiar: under this Aussie-born guru England’s Fab Four - Steve Harmison, Andrew Flintoff, Simon Jones and Matthew Hoggard – grew into an all-powering, reverse-swinging battering-ram that delivered England their first Ashes win in a generation. Cricket Australia, incredulous that it should have been their own bowlers benefitting from Colley’s wizardry instead, snapped him up a year later.

But four years on and Cooley’s star looks overvalued. As so often happens during the good years, signs warning all was not as at it seems were waved away, the doubters cast aside and the myth allowed to fester. Yet look again and you see a gaping hole in Cooley’s CV. The man who played the decisive role at Adelaide - James Anderson - was failed by his tutelage. Drowned under torrent of advice Anderson was unable to trust the method that had brought him his boyhood success and it was only once Cooley moved on that his career began to recover.

If Anderson can be written off as ‘the one the got away’ then what about Steve Harmison? Cooley joined the ECB’s ranks in 2003 and a year later Harmison had torn through the West Indies to be crowned the world No. 1 bowler. His star has plummeted ever since with Cooley unable to rectify a career that once looked so promising. The frail mind and fragile action that underpinned Harmison’s downfall are paralleled in another of Cooley’s explosive students – Mitchell Johnson.

The ‘once-in-a-generation’ bowler that Dennis Lillee spotted also had a ground-breaking series that shot him to the top spot in the rankings - against South Africa in 2008-09 - but has degenerated into a frazzled lost-soul since. His decay has left the Australian selectors in much the same quandary that inflicted England’s for all those years with Harmison. In the team Johnson is an object of frustrated and obsessive analysis but out the team he becomes the obvious solution to a pedestrian attack. Cooley has been best placed to watch Johnson’s arm, and head, get lower and lower throughout the descent but, like with Harmison, proved powerless to intervene.

Shorn of a leader, the attack has been unable to offer Ponting a secure platform on which to forge the new generation he so desperately wants. Meanwhile Cooley has been quietly shunted to head of the academy developing Australia’s touted youngsters but if his record is anything to go by Australian’s recovery could prove a long time coming.

England work hard to restrict Bangladesh

2010-03-20T18:18:00.000Z

It was another case of what might have been for Bangladesh as they mixed talent and frustrating naivety to stutter to 330 for 8 on the opening day in Dhaka after their innings had been launched by a blistering 85 from 71 balls from Tamim Iqbal. Mahmudullah contributed a silky half-century and captain Shakib Al Hasan returned to form with 49, but England chipped away after opting to play five bowlers.

Read the rest here...

'I'm nowhere near Test cricket' - Morgan

2010-01-21T13:18:00.002Z

Eoin Morgan believes he is still some way short of the finished article despite selling for US$220,000 to Royal Challengers Bangalore at the IPL auction on Tuesday. Morgan was the only England player to be awarded a new IPL contract, and he is now set for a handsome boost to his finances.

"When the bid came through I was delighted," Morgan told Cricinfo. "I was very nervous beforehand. I made a deal with my housemate that he would watch it and I would try and sleep through, but inevitably I woke up 10 minutes before I was due. Though I didn't want to watch it, I ended up following it on Cricinfo."

His nerves only heightened when Shahid Afridi failed to attract any interest. "After seeing him not get a gig, I thought I would struggle, but once it came up that Bangalore had bid for me, I knew I was sorted."

Read the rest of here.

Ashesinsomniac becomes cricinfo insomniac

2009-12-14T15:55:00.003Z

The reason why this blog has been as empty as an Alastair Cook interview is because I have managed to persuade the sages at Cricinfo to employ me.

Should anyone be interested, in order of excitement here a few articles:

An all-time marking-the-moment-in-style XI

Owais Shah lets rip at the England selectors

Graham Thorpe on why Luke Wright can fill Andrew Flintoff's shoes

Courtney Walsh talking about redemption

Hopefully I can keep this blog going with a few more opinionated pieces.

Cheerio

Do it like Belly...

2009-10-14T10:00:00.004Z

I am the only one worried that England's A-grade talents will be coached by Ian Bell? Presumably he's there to work on 'body language' and 'presence' (for their walk back to the pavilion after a well-made 15).

England set to call time on Harmison

2009-10-08T13:37:00.001Z

The England selectors will today reveal their Test and one-day squads for the winter tour of South Africa with Steve Harmison’s international future and the balance of the Test side the pressing concerns.

Ever since Duncan Fletcher’s reign, England have been wedded to a policy of playing five frontline bowlers. A luxury that most other sides can rarely afford, it is a strategy that captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower are staunch defenders of.

While England’s top six have misfired for a few years, Jonathan Trott’s assured century in the last Ashes test and Kevin Pietersen’s expected return to the side, means Ravi Bopara is the only batsmen likely to miss out. Bopara’s career is drawing unwelcome comparisons with fateful figures of Mark Ramprakash and Graeme Hick. Joe Denly, meanwhile, has promised enough in his recent one-day outings to tour both as a backup batsman and a possible challenger to opener Alastair Cook.

With Flintoff now retired, concerns linger over pairing Matt Prior and Stuart Broad at six and seven against a strong quartet of South African pacemen. It would mean bringing Tim Bresnan or even Liam Plunkett in at eight to bulk up a lower-order that was so instrumental to the Ashes success. Both are worthy triers and enjoyed good domestic seasons but lack class with the ball and appear better suited lower down the order in Test cricket.

The pace and bounce of the pitches seen in South Africa during the Champions Trophy have drawn calls for Harmison’s inclusion. But he insists he won’t travel as a backup and guaranteeing a starting spot for a notoriously bad tourist could prove a gamble too far. Dropping Harmison would end a frustrating career and signal a commitment to the future.

James Anderson, Broad and Graham Onions each had their moments this summer, proving dangerous when conditions suited but none are natural enforcers in the way Flintoff was and Harmison should have been. This lack of incisiveness is what makes a fifth bowler attractive. Yet a dearth of obvious candidates means Ryan Sidebottom will probably tour as a backup seamer. Sidebottom was fortunate to receive a central contract and has done little over the last year to counter suggestions that he is a spent force at Test level.

Test squad (possible): 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Jonathan Trott, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Graham Onions, 12 Joe Denly, 13 James Foster (wk), 14 Tim Bresnan, 15 Adil Rashid, 16 Ryan Sidebottom.

ODI squad (possible): 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Joe Denly, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Owais Shah, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Luke Wright, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Graeme Swann, 11 James Anderson, 12 Graham Onions, 13 Ryan Sidebottom, 14 Tim Bresnan, 15 Adil Rashid.

Champion Disappointment

2009-10-05T15:28:00.001Z

A short tournament with the world’s best teams seemed just what one-day cricket needed after a pitiful England Australia series. Yet with just the final remaining, the only remotely close finish the Champions Trophy’s 13 matches has produced was Australia’s last-ball victory over Pakistan last Wednesday.

Read the rest over at The Wisden Cricketer blog

Agents need regulating as Flintoff goes freelance

2009-09-16T08:42:00.011Z

Flintoff’s rejection of an England central contract is another triumph for private capital over national good. It was the England and Lancashire teams that nurtured his development into an international star worthy of private interest, yet as he’s auctioned-off around the world it's Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler who collects the rewards.

There is nothing new about mercenary cricket. After all, the sport developed with wealthy English patrons hiring freelance ‘professionals’ in the 1700s. Of course back then the game was also defined by gambling and match-fixing. But in today’s post-crisis age of austerity it is particularly galling to read Chandler gloating about the deals he is to make.

Yet concerns that freelance cricketers embody a final ‘globalisation’ of the sport remain unfounded.

Developing a gifted child into a world-class athlete is a lengthy and risky investment. Even now the ECB pays for Flintoff’s rehabilitation. National boards have to realise that they remain central to the developing world order. Young players must still learn in domestic cricket before getting the chance to play abroad. They should use this power to ensure a cut of the deals and protect the interests of the national team.

It’s time to regulate the agents and ensure successful cricketers return money to the people that made them instead.

Writing history - Cricinfo's all-time XI

2009-08-28T15:18:00.011Z

It's said that control of the present brings control of the past. With the Cricinfo all-time XI project announcing the selection of the all-time England team, the internet has cemented itself as the primary voice of cricket - present and past.

The flexibility and global reach of the internet is ousting the elite position of print throughout the media, and cricket, hardly the most global sport, has embraced the internet like no other.

As cricket’s online HQ, Cricinfo has a responsibility to foster interest and education on the sport's history. The all-time project is clearly a recognition of this.

It is a pity that all members of the selection panel were English, it would have been fascinating to see how English cricketing history is filtered through India or Pakistan, for example.

Nevertheless, the chosen England XI has already sparked debate on the blogs. Predictably, most posts are from people who, like me, began their obsession in the 1990s. Yet it has given us the forum to carry cricket’s past into the future.

My All-Time England XI* (*Since 1993)

Trescothick
Atherton
Vaughan (c)
Thorpe
Pietersen
Stewart (wk)
Flintoff
Swann
Gough
Fraser
Hoggard

12th Man: Nasser Hussain
Coach: Duncan Fletcher

Ashes win boosts the FTSE

2009-08-24T23:20:00.005Z

Apologies for not posting. I have spent every waking hour squeezing 15,000 words out of myself for a masters dissertation on financial speculation due next week.

Amusingly, today The Guardian reported that the Ashes euphoria had hit the stock markets. Traders, carrying the heady Sunday feeling into Monday's morning, had apparently 'renewed their confidence' in the UK economy.

It's as solid as a 'renewed confidence' in Ian Bell.

The 'Golden Age' of batting exposed

2009-08-21T21:41:00.018Z

Day 2 - Close

In years to come, today’s play will form delirious memories and nostalgic ad campaigns.

Thirteen wickets fell in two sessions to leave England within touching distance of a glory that yesterday seemed to have eluded them.

The day shed light on the so-called ‘golden age of batting’. Never before have so many batsmen in the world averaged in the 50s, never have so many runs been scored so quickly and so often.

Yet today exposed how the flat pitches that dominate Test cricket are entrenched in the mental and technical make-up of batsmen. When confronted with a remotely sporting wicket, they folded instantly.

No batsman fell to a grubber, no ball leaped off a length; instead wickets were earned through a spell of quality seam bowling, lively spin bowling and some questionable decisions. It’s difficult to believe more defensively equipped players, like Rahul Dravid or Shiv Chanderpaul, would have crumbled in the same way.

If Test cricket is to really live up to its name, more fair pitches should be prepared. Scoring runs should be a challenge not a formality.

As Strauss and Katich showed, the gremlins today were more in the head than the pitch. Ashes pressure, so often England’s undoing, proved Australia's nemesis. But it was Stuart Broad, timing his coming of age to coincide with Flintoff’s retirement, that unleashed the doubts in Australian heads.

Australia's three wickets gives them a sliver of hope, but the series now is England's to lose.

It's Cardiff, all over again

2009-08-20T22:46:00.015Z

Day 1 - Close

It's been a month and 12 days since the series began at Cardiff. On that day England squandered a strong position to finish 336/7 with Broad & Anderson the men in. Today, their batsmen repeated the same careless strokeplay to gift Australia pole position, closing 307/8, with the same two batsmen at the wicket.

The symmetry with Cardiff was also replicated in Australia's bowling. Unable to match the flair of Headingley, they reverted to the muted, hard-working approach of the first Test. England were not so content to stick-in - they flayed aimlessly as batsmen got in, got bored and got out.

Collingwood, Cook and Bell possess the same frailties they showed two years ago, which says little for Andy Flower and the selectors. However, Miller's team can be relieved with the debut of Trott. The certainty of his strokes, if not his technique, brings a much needed spine to England's middle order. He'd make a decent partner for England's missing talisman.

Pietersen was left on the sidelines as Freddie received standing ovations for walking in, playing a daft shot and walking out again. Being a champion batsman is clearly no route to becoming a people's champion in England.

Ponting will feel satisfied with the game situation, if not quite the performance of his bowlers. With Australia ahead already, the Oval pitch has displaced Freddie as England's great hope. But before getting carried away with the cries of dust-bowl, we should again remember Cardiff, where everyone apart from Swann found purchase.

The series now hangs on Australia's first innings. Should day two mirror Cardiff in the same way, England's Ashes campaign will be over.

Where have 10 days gone?

2009-08-19T19:54:00.004Z

It's common for us to bemoan the back-to-back international schedule that rules cricket today. But thanks to England losing in three days, we've been treated to a rare period of reflection.

With no Ashes cricket on offer, Ashes selection has been the only thrill to latch on to. Selection is a tough job - or so we keep hearing - so much so that Miller’s panel have given up selecting all together. Instead they roll out largely the same team that has been mediocre for years. Cook and Bell have made no progress since the last Ashes series and should be dropped. The selectors inertia over the past three years is why England have a debutant replacing Bopara for the ‘Biggest Test Ever’. It reeks not so much of bad planning as of an absence of planning at all.

With one hand on the urn and a batting pitch, Australia will feel inches from a goal that seemed miles away on Day 4 at Edgbaston. England, as underdogs are back in their familiar comfort zone. Without clouds it is difficult to see where England could find inspiration. Harmison won’t bowl teams out and Flintoff, even when fit, never has.

The Oval promises to be an emotionally charged, feverish clash of attritional cricket. The fairy-tale finish seems out of England’s grasp, but first innings runs and swing for Anderson would make a good game.

Can the media shape a Test match?

2009-08-10T19:55:00.016Z

With a climatic deciding Test a whole ten days away, the stage is set for rampant media speculation. On Saturday Alec Stewart merely had to wonder how Ramprakash might fair at the Oval for a national campaign to have emerged two days later.

As Gideon Haigh's brilliant lecture reminded us, the media plays a crucial in role shaping our game. When Shane Warne began the series with a withering attack on Ravi Bopara's temperament he was laughed off. But his continued media statements seemed to chisel their way into Bopara's mind. It's not simply Warne's ability to read the game that was his genius, it is his capacity to script it too.

The unpredictability of this series has left pundits gasping about 'momentum' - as though it offered some clue as to why each side has ventured from sublime to pathetic in days. Momentum is certainly another media made concept. Uninhibited by developments on the field for the next 10 days, the media has a monopoly on building momentum about the state of each side.

Any hopes of a decent contest at the Oval rest on England genuinely believing they can win. Given the pivotal role the media will play in this, there's no coincidence that the Langer dossier was leaked when it was. It's facilitated the suspicion of panic in the England ranks. How England manage their public image amid the media clamour will be crucial.

Harmison: the new Hick

2009-08-08T01:46:00.020Z

Day 1 - Close

Rarely have an England team put in as dismal a performance as today. In less than two sessions they played themselves out of the game and possibly the chance of regaining the Ashes.

It was a throwback to the worst days of the 90s, not just in the scorebook but also because a talented discard had returned. Steve Harmison’s comeback was imbued with the same unreasonable expectation and resigned inevitability that accompanied Graeme Hick’s periodical returns into Test cricket.

Both men are remarkably similar: towering, touted, gifted and ultimately too insecure for Test cricket. The English obsession with Hick through the 90s was symptomatic of their lack of world-class batsmen and the preoccupation with Harmison today is born out of the same problem with the bowlers. Burdened with the ‘great white' hopes of a nation, perhaps the pressure was too much for such fragile temperaments. It seemed the English selectors thought so as Harmison was left out all series.

But, like Hick, he got better with every Test he didn’t play. Thundering the shires, he was just too good to be ignored. And so, like that failed relationship, we gave it ‘one more go’ before, predictably, swearing never to do so again.

Bad pitches or bad bowlers?

2009-08-07T02:09:00.014Z

Given all the talk of 'chief executive pitches', high scoring and inflated averages, I wondered how the best bowlers a decade ago would have managed today.

Darren Gough reckons the pitches are the same but the bowlers worse. I'll leave you to decide.

Top 10 Test Bowlers Today

Steyn- 844
Murali - 830
Johnson - 770
Ntini - 741
Clark - 737
Harbahjan - 735
Anderson - 710
Harris (!) - 669
Zaheer Khan - 650
Lee - 634

Average - 736

Top 10 Test Bowlers today 10 years ago

Donald - 885
McGrath - 874
Pollock - 870
Ambrose - 840
Murali - 805
Walsh - 785
Kumble - 779
Akram - 776
Streak - 740
Saqlain - 724

Average: 808

Is this series being decided in the skies?

2009-08-03T22:06:00.007Z

Day 5 - Close
Match Drawn

After three Tests, the weather is all that separates these sides. When the sun shines, Australia are solid and unerring. Under dark skies, England look a class above.

Today the scene was set for another Edgbaston epic but under bright skies, we had a return to Cardiff. England’s impotent bowling met Australia's impenetrable batting.

Michael Clarke has been the best batsmen on either side this series. His twinkle-toed progress over the last four years when compared with Ian Bell betrays volumes about the two men and the systems that produced them.

For a day brimming with potential it was frustrating how flat the atmosphere was. Strauss maintains admirable composure as a captain but lacks inspiration. Quite why Jimmy Anderson, England’s best bowler today, was held back over an hour is a mystery.

As ever, questions must be asked about the pitch . Once the ball refuses to deviate off the straight, the game becomes more a Test of patience than skill. Nevertheless, bowlers must develop other options. After all, Glenn McGrath, Zaheer Khan and Mathew Hoggard have proved that there can be life beyond swing.

With barely a moments reflection the party moves to Headingly this Friday. For all the agonising over team selection, the outcome will probably be written in the skies.

Is Finger-Spin Back?

2009-08-02T19:48:00.018Z

Day 4 - Close

It's a measure of Ricky Ponting’s quality that his battles with Flintoff (2005) and Ishant Sharma (2008) are part of cricket's folklore. Today’s compelling confrontation with Graeme Swann was worthy of addition.

While Warne and Murali reigned over international cricket, finger-spin was the sport's dustbin category: the preserve of triers, not achievers.

But now, it seems, finger-spin is back. Mendis bowled Sri Lanka to the T20 World Cup final, Paul Harris is ranked 8th in the world, and Swann is castling the game's premier batsman.

While wrist-spinners can call on zooters and flippers to deceive, the finger-spinner must rely on nous and personality, which Swann has in bucket loads.

With the loss of Katich, it was this zest Ponting had to counter. Added to a charged Edgbaston crowd, circling fielders and an enticing gap at cover, the situation was set for the contest that may have defined the series.

The match is now delicately poised. Australia will need to bat two sessions to secure a draw. Their chances, as ever, will depend on the first hour. Throughout the series wickets have fallen in the morning and runs have been scored in the evening.

With the situation demanding heroics, could this be the time for finger-spin to turn a series?

Does mongrel make a difference?

2009-07-31T19:11:00.007Z

Day 2 - Close

Sport is one of those things that makes 'experts' of all us. Armed with little more than an armchair and a pint we're transformed into the love-child of Brearly and Warne.

Today, experts from the pub to the media centre unaminously unravelled the mystery of Australia's limping tour: misplaced 'mongrel'. No doubt related to that slippery aura they can't locate, Australia apparently have lost the agression, fire and filth that made them a great side.

But do body language, sledging and Jelly Beans really matter? If you have the tools, probably not. Warne & McGrath could have bowled sides out without uttering a word. That they did sledge, and to great effect, was still product of their talent. But if you have a side lacking world-class ability, inspiration needs to come from elsewhere.

When Hussain and Fletcher took charge of England, their first effort was charged at improving the physical presence of their team. They stuck a backbone into a flaccid team by insisting on stronger body langauge and stronger words.

To win games you need to exert your character and belief over the opposition. Today Australia failed to do that.

Watson tucks in...

2009-07-30T20:42:00.006Z

Day 1 - Close

Opening the batting was once the hardest position in Test Cricket. In heady days when pitches were prepared for cricket and not chief executives, the position demanded patience, technique and stubbornness. Gavaskar and Boycott.

These days Shane Watson will do. With a Test average of 19 and a first class record of 9 opening the batting, he looked a curious option. Yet England dished up a buffet of long-hops and half volleys and Watson tucked in. Adopting, like Trescothick four years ago, the gung-ho approach that a one-nil deficient affords, he powered Australia to a strong position.

For a team as mediocre as England have been in recent years, they are inexplicably complacent. Time and again they get ahead and promptly lose interest. It is a relief they didn’t bat first today.

Strauss retreated to his conservative worst as he reproduced captaincy clichés. When Graeme Swann’s effervescence brought a wicket, the spinner should have bowled for the rest of the day. Instead Strauss returned to Anderson, who suggested again that he is primarily a grey-weather bowler.

Ponting looks imperious and on a flat pitch if England are still napping tomorrow he could punish their carelessness.

Rest Day..

2009-07-21T23:23:00.010Z

The series is deliciously poised. England's injuries and Ponting's mongrel could make for an intriguing Edgbaston Test.

Over the next eight days however, I have to salvage my masters dissertation - on the politics of financial speculation - from the torrent of Ashes cricket that threatens to destroy it forever.

Which is a long way of saying, thanks, I'll be back for day one of the third Test...

Flintoff touches greatness

2009-07-20T19:06:00.013Z

Day 5 - Close
England win by 115 runs

In a contest between evenly matched teams, results can be determined by the briefest moments. The first hour this morning was one of those defining periods.

With England’s jitters and Clarke’s belief, you felt that between Australia and the history books stood only the new-ball spell from Andrew Flintoff. Having announced his retirement from an unfulfilled career, the pressure was on body and mind to demonstrate they could rise to these occasions.

Duly, they did. It’s only the great players who possess the ineffable ability to claim crucial moments as their own. Shane Warne, for instance, could turn entire series with the sheer strength of his personality. Today Flintoff touched that greatness once more as he bowled England to a one-nil lead.

It was a sight to cherish - the appalling state of Test pitches coupled with an unrelenting schedule threaten to kill off express-pace bowling altogether. Yet Flintoff, a high calibre casualty, produced one of the great hostile spells. Running on one-knee and buckets of adrenalin he took three wickets bowling unchanged for 13 searing overs. Again he dared to go full and again he was rewarded.

Few get the privilege of leaving top-level sport on a high, and Flintoff still has three games to go. But victory, the man-of-the-match and the Lord’s honours board is quite a way to launch the farewell.

England and Australia close in on history

2009-07-19T18:04:00.010Z

Day 4 - Close

Momentum is a precarious category in sport. A seamless explanation for a run of play, it suddenly loses all relevance when that run of play changes.

England began the day with the momentum propelling their historic mission. Flintoff, in what may yet be his last Test for England, finally located the length that eluded his entire career. He pitched the ball up sufficiently to find, rather than pass, the edges of Katich and Hughes.

As Swann found a verve that Panesar couldn't last year to reduce Australia to 128 - 5, the 'momentum' was firmly with England. And then nothing. Michael Clarke's silky footwork and breezy confidence found a willing partner in Brad Haddin as Australia fought back. Gently and with growing certainty they dominated England. It was a measure of how flat England had become that Andrew Strauss felt compelled to call an emergency huddle before the second new ball.

England, haunted by Chennai, looked increasingly panicked as the second new ball failed to deliver the wicket. Such was their control, Clarke and Haddin would have been tempted to stay out there when shadows stopped play for the day.

With rested bowlers and 200 runs still in the bank, their lead is surely 'too big to fail', but we've thought that before. Modern pitches and Australia's unwavering belief make anything possible. England, though, will take heart that with just one wicket, the 'momentum' will suddenly be theirs again.

Absent...

2009-07-18T20:57:00.002Z

Sadly, I was unable to see any action today since I was playing cricket myself. I bowled too many full-tosses.

Seemed like a good day for England but be wary. The declaration should allow for three new balls, might just be key.

Dark skies lift England

2009-07-17T18:54:00.007Z

Day 2 - Close

It had to be now. James Anderson has been in and on the fringes of Test cricket for six years. Having promised much for the past year, this was the series he had to deliver.

He is a complex character, Nasser Hussain found it “impossible to get into his head”, the hardest person he ever captained. Nass needn’t have bothered: the answers were in the skies.

Jimmy is a Burnley lad and, fittingly, nothing cheers him up more than grey skies. They bring the swing that transforms his game. Earlier today he again had to reprieve the England batsmen. His unassuming presence off the field can mask his steel. The Cardiff heroics were today followed by a clever, counter-attacking stand with Graham Onions. It was apparent in his shot selection that he understood the game situation. Given the conditions yesterday 425 was horridly below par, under dark coulds however, it looked a lot brighter.

Many felt before this series that if England were to be successful, Anderson had to be key. Over his punctuated career he has been unable to find the consistency and wickets that define leading bowlers. As ever the margins are decided in the head. In the past year he’s had the responsibility of leading the attack. Forcing an introverted character, under the glare of Test cricket, to carry a weak attack was a decision forced on England. Yet it has worked wonders for Anderson.

Today, he never more than threatened swing, but maintained control and changed the angle from the crease well. He was aided by some loose batting from Australia. Hughes, Clarke and North will be disappointed with their dismissals.

The question that could decide this Test and possibly the series, is what Anderson can do when the skies clear. England have had much the better of the conditions so far. Should the sun shine on Ricky Ponting tomorrow, England, haunted by the memories of Chennai, will be praying Anderson can lift them.

England refuse to learn

2009-07-16T19:58:00.006Z

Day 1 - Close

It appears England are unwilling to learn from their mistakes. Following their careless first-innings in Cardiff they were subjected to lesson in flint-eyed desire from Ricky Ponting.

Today it was Andrew Strauss, every bit as determined, who showed them the way. Again, they refused to follow. Gifted a platform by their openers and some indifferent Aussie bowling, England reverted after tea to charity cricket, donating their wickets with carefree abandon. Australians don’t need help to win games and if England fail to get past 450, they will consider themselves on top.

England can take heart from another under-whelming performance by Australia’s strike bowler, Mitchell Johnson. He arrived on these shores touted as the worlds best quick and potentially the difference between the sides. Much like Dale Steyn last summer and Brett Lee in 2001, he's failed to match the billing. It was left to the impressive Hilfenhaus, fast becoming the best bowler on either side, to carry the attack.

Steeped in history and grandeur Lord’s is, in some sense the true ‘home of cricket’: it epitomises the smug and snooty atmosphere that once defined the sport. Much of the crowd were disinterested in anything beyond sunglasses and champagne. The reception offered to Kevin Pietersen, as he arrived at the wicket, was as icy as it was ignorant. Perhaps it’s this most ugly side of Englishness here that inspired Australians over the years to hammer the poms.

Tomorrow much will depend on how Australia use the new ball. With Strauss and a strong lower order, England can yet command the game, but an early strike and Australia will feel confident of emulating Cardiff.

Freddie Departs...

2009-07-15T12:41:00.015Z

It seemed, as Flintoff creaked into his 35th over at Cardiff, that his captain was bowling him to an injury. Worse, Strauss succeeded in bowling Flintoff into early retirement.

Truth be told, this was on the horizon for a while. His fitness and form since 2005 has been a travesty. Time and again the cycle of injury, gloom, rehab and hope gripped the England side's perennial search for 'balance'.

It was Lawrence Booth, in his insightful weekly column, who first questioned the point of it all. Now journalists and punters alike readily cite the fact that England win more games without 'Fred' than with him. Statistics, though, are full of quirks. Flintoff struggled through the top sides - South Africa, India, Australia - but was left rehabilitating as others gorged on West Indies and New Zealand.

This however, cannot mask the fact that Flintoff only ever flirted with greatness. For three years under Michael Vaughan, culminating in that series he was possibly the most valuable cricketer on the planet. Since, he has failed to be the force on the field that he is off it.

While in an England shirt, Flintoff couldn't prevent forcing his body beyond endurance. He carried not only his colossal frame, but a toothless attack. Yet off the field, the riches from 2005 and frustrations of injury led to an increasingly public presence away from cricket. Perhaps the fire that drove him to the top was fading as he sought fortune and entertainment elsewhere.

The tragedy is that this series had appeared to light the embers once more. He was better prepared than any since 2005, was batting well and thundered in bowling faster than ever. Alas, his body duly resisted.

He deserves a vintage performance to close his Test career and could yet inject himself to fitness for the remainder of the series. Sadly public figures, sportsmen especially, rarely get the exit they desire. Whatever happens, Test cricket, shorn of Flintoff's brutal brilliance, will be a poorer sport.

2009 finds its voice

2009-07-12T20:20:00.024Z

Day 5 - Close
Match Drawn

For five days Australia outplayed their opponents, yet it's England who end celebrating. On an extended day, England had to defy the Aussie bowlers and themselves in their bid to salvage a result from a pitiful performance.

It's the sort of situation that defines the English sporting psyche: backs-to-the-wall defiance, almost irrespective of outcome, is always more romantic than clinical victory. Forget 'Jerusalem', 'The Great Escape' is our national sporting anthem.

Despite affinity to the idea, escape is something England rarely manage and it took the iron will of Paul Collingwood to give them a glimpse. He batted with desire, skill and plenty of nous to carry England to Lord's unscathed and deserves all the plaudits that will come his way.

Yet beyond relief there are only doubts for England to take from this match. Ricky Ponting, on the other hand, should carry no concerns to London for the next test.

From the outset Australia capitalised on inexplicable complacency from England. Their planning and execution in England's first innings, aided by the charity of the England batsmen, made for an attack stronger on grass than paper.

England's top order has spluttered since the end of Duncan Fletcher's reign but again, it's the bowlers who will feel the selectors axe. Monty, finally a hero finishing a game for England (sadly only with the bat), should give way to Graham Onions. Andrew Flintoff, the one-time national treasure, continues to bowl too short. We can gasp as he passes the outside-edge all we like, but until he draws batsmen forward he won't get the wickets his talent warrants. England cannot afford to carry him and Stuart Broad in their attack. Though the latter should survive to Lord's, his potential needs to be matched with wickets or the case for Steve Harmison, another perennial underachiever, will become irresistible.

Australia will commiserate and England will celebrate, but both should take satisfaction that this series, so often drowned in the fanfare of 2005, has found its voice.

England wait for rain as Australia march to victory

2009-07-11T16:24:00.007Z

Day 4 - Close

It has taken just four days for anticipation to turn to despair. It sounds familiar but unlike the last Ashes series, talent doesn't separate these teams. So what does?

Test cricket is an examination of skill, fitness and ultimately desire. Unlike the shortened format there is no defined escape, no artificial breaks and no contrived opportunities. You are subjected solely to the will of the opposition. If, like Australia, they are intent on remorseless punishment, then that is what you receive.

Batting first on a flat pitch England had an opportunity to boss the game. All the batsmen made starts and none made a hundred. Pietersen rightly attracts attention and, as I said at the time, his dismissal could decide this test match, but all the batsmen were at fault. Prior and Flintoff’s breezy partnership was enjoyable but never match winning. The England players and supporters were content to see a dash to 400, rather than a grind to 600. Four years ago it made sense, but this Australian attack does not demand a gung-ho approach. The England batsmen should have the belief and desire to bat Australia out of contention.

Today England left their hearts and brains in the dressing room waiting for rain while Haddin and North tore them to pieces. Ponting may not match Warne tactically, but he inspires his team and has out-manoeuvred Strauss by a distance.

Before the post-mortem, England has an opportunity exert their character on Australia tomorrow. A final day pitch soaked in pressure is always full of gremlins, but England need to demonstrate their desire for this contest. Their approach has to be positive and as ever, a lot will fall on the shoulders of KP. It's not without irony that Nathan Hauritz, much derided, presents their biggest headache.

The Insatiable Mr Ponting

2009-07-09T18:32:00.014Z

Day 2 - Close

There is a remorselessness to everything Ricky Ponting does. His demeanour may endear few but his record should inspire many.

With just a single century in his previous 21 innings, murmurs about his form and a sketchy performance in the field, Ponting arrived at the wicket in need of runs.

Test cricket ruthlessly reveals the inner-most character of its protagonists, exposing people for public consumption like no reality show ever can. This innings proved, as if we needed reminding, that Ponting is cut from nothing but steel.

If he had any doubts about himself or his team, which following England's plucky lower-order hitting would be understandable, they did not show. Every movement had utter certainty, which, when added to his instant judgement of length makes for a formidable batsman. The conviction and unrelenting purpose that Ponting brings to his talent separates him from Pietersen and could end up separating these sides.

England's bowlers toiled but neither of their celebrated "two spinners" could turn the ball as much as Hauritz. Should the new ball bring no reward, Australia could march into a commanding position. A deficit of 200 on the final day would leave England praying for a Ponting of their own.

Australia edge a the day of almost

2009-07-08T18:51:00.008Z

Day 1 - Close

With the eyes of the world watching the first day of the Ashes 2009 unfolded by stealth. The backdrop of 05 loomed throughout the build up and continued into today. Beyond its marketing prowess its constant presence does little to help the game.

Sky’s coverage is a bit like an ageing parent trying to be in with your mates. Despite the stream of video montages to Oasis and other household forgettables, they failed to capture the anticipation or magnitude of the moment. And for a series defined by its history, Cardiff, which has seen no part of it, was the wrong place to start. The cricket, it seemed, would need to write its own story.

The day ebbed, flowed and meandered like only Test cricket can. Australia’s attack, impressive but charmless characterised the new Australia. This era is patient and conservative, rather than brave. Ponting’s defensive fields will be criticised but he will feel justified by the fact England never got away. England’s approach had a shades of the do-or-die Vaughan era, but this Aussie attack didn’t warrant it.

Much will be said about KP’s shot. Despite his protests, limp paddles are not ‘the way he plays’. I would much rather he slogged to long-off.

Batting first England should want 400 and would feel unsatisfied. Anything below 360 tomorrow and its advantage Australia.

One more sleep... An(other) Ashes Preview

2009-07-07T17:57:00.033Z

First Test Preview

These moments, before hope gets blunted with experience, are among the purist for sports fans. Every prediction, even McGrath’s five-nil ritual, carries significance, every outcome possible and every history yet to be made. Anticipation may, just, be even more thrilling than even victory.

With just one more sleep until the action starts the teams could not look more equal. Gone, with Warne, McGrath, Hayden and Gilchrist, is Australia’s wall of impossibility. Gone, with the progress of Strauss and Flower, is England’s air of hopelessness.

The “chief-executive” pitch at Cardiff promises an attritional rather than spectacular start to the series. Despite cunning plots and hours of hawk-eyed analyses, one prediction remains certain: the outcome will, as ever, be decided by which team bats, fields and especially bowls better.Yet, one of cricket’s many pleasures is how the flair, skill and enterprise of the individual affects the fortune of the collective. Johnson’s struggle with Pietersen and Anderson’s with Hughes will be captivating viewing and could prove decisive to the series.English sports fans suffer from a curious optimism before any big event, and I am no exception. At home, and with a more varied attack, I expect a slow, tight series that England wins 2-1.

Come 11am tomorrow, bounding white figures will pepper the unfamiliar turf of the Cardiff and completely engulf our minds. The smallest deviation of the ball will move both the batsmen and millions of people around world watching it.

Finally, for us fans, the time for talk has begun.

Empower women, not Npower Girls

2009-06-25T21:57:00.016Z

The brilliance of women’s cricket in England has brought them success and respect, so why does Npower insist on reducing women to sexed-up props?

England now hold the World Cup, the Twenty20 World Cup and The Ashes. They are the best women’s sports team on the planet, and in Clare Taylor, have the finest batswoman in the world.

Even the mainstream sports pages brim with praise: Michael Atherton writing, “Women's cricket in England is an outstanding success story. It shows what can be achieved when a governing body matches rhetoric with funding and when a bunch of talented individuals place the pursuit of excellence at the heart of everything they do.”

So why can’t we extend this respect from the field to the presentation ceremonies?

There can be few more unedifying spectacles than, just hours after the women’s victory, the presentation ceremony of the men's world cup. Giles Clarke and ICC president Haroon Lorgat, introduced by name and applauded, joined a stage where two anonymous women were paraded as Npower’s furniture. While the players dutiful shook hands with administrators, the ‘Npower Girls’ stood by unacknowledged and non-existent.

Standards and attitudes to women in cricket have progressed, it is high time the sponsors caught up.

England Flop

2009-06-11T22:24:00.005Z

South Africa have been accused of being a robotic and mechanical team. Today was no exception as they efficiently swatted an ineffective England team aside, and marched on as tournament favourites.

The danger of Twenty20 cricket is that, like its 50-over cousin, the result can be decided early on, leaving the rest to unfold as a formality. Once Pietersen had joined the openers back in the dugout, at 25-3 off 5 overs the game was up.

South Africa have better tools than England for the Twenty20 contest, but England's tactics have to be questioned.

Winning the toss and choosing to bat places pressure to set a total. Too often England batsmen can't cope with this. Denied a quick start it was visible that Shah and Collingwood were unable to asses a good total. They were indecisive over whether to attack or regroup and in the end did neither. While Foster is an excellent keeper, Prior at six would bring much needed runs and, crucially, would help unclutter the minds of England's top order. South Africa's tight bowling brought poor shot-selection as England struggled to find any momentum.

Defending 111 was always going to be difficult, but in offering 46 singles, England did themselves no favours. Kallis led the gentle stroll to victory, leaving England with a lot of work to do to progress.

2009, it’s the new 2007

2009-04-29T20:54:00.015Z

With a new coach and untried attack today’s squad feels like a new era for English cricket. But haven't we said that before?

Should they opt for a quartet of quick’s alongside Graeme Swann, the bowlers would have just 55 caps between them. This would be their most inexperienced attack since Anderson was joined at by Sidebottom and Tremlett at Lords two years ago to skittle India out for 201.

Back then England had a new coach in Peter Moores and an attack with pace, swing and bounce that felt capable of challenging Australia. Finally, it seemed, England had left 2005 behind. Two years, one coach and two captains later it seems the new dawn of 2007 was not quite what many imagined.

But Flower is not Moores and it shows in the way both Bell and Harmison, despite thier good form, were resisted. While both may feature at some point this summer, they need to prove their hunger in the shires for a while longer. Bopara at three offers confidence that exeeds his perfomances at international level, but perhaps that is just what the position demands.

Plenty Twenty - you can't buy a contest

2008-11-02T11:05:00.008Z

The Stanford ‘clash’ promised to be car-crash cricket. What we got was England reversing into a wall.

The macabre fascination of watching players under million-dollar pressure was supposed to provide enough excitement to usher in a new era. But this 20/20 ‘showpiece’ has done nothing for the shorter game, and will drain from the American consciousness with barely a whimper.

Sitting in a pub where cricket rarely ventures, a few of punters revealed to me that they “hate cricket, but this 20 million game sounds actually quite interesting”. And then the cricket started.

On a lifeless pitch, unresponsive to any cash-injection, England, visibly top heavy with batsmen, donated their wickets away with carefree abandon - perhaps they weren’t so concerned about the dosh after all. The All-Stars played with a discipline and focus that too often eludes the West Indies, proving that the basics of training hard (and not wandering aimlessly across your stumps) remain essential whatever the contest. When Gayle launched his final boundary, it was genuinely warming to see the money go to the team who both deserved and needed it most.

Andre Fletcher’s measured interview would have pleased Kevin Pietersen, whose concerns that such huge loot in times of recession could damage his sides image proved premature.

What it all means for the wider sport remains unclear. That cricket becomes a tantalising prospect for kids growing up in the Caribbean is a fantastic legacy of this first game, but whether the ECB can hold its players back from the IPL now seems unlikely. They too, it seems were planning prematurely.

There was no million-dollar moment, no nail-biting finish, no intrigue - macabre or otherwise, at all. For the All Stars young side, it was a life changing night, for England it was utterly forgettable cricket.

Stanford 20/20 For $20m, but not for me

2008-09-09T10:14:00.011Z

SkyBet instructed me, every two minutes when I watched the tennis last night, that sport, apparently “matters more when there’s money on it”.

That is the pillar on which the entire Stanford “ Twenty/20 for 20 ” farce is built upon. In a match bereft of any meaning, it’s hoped that injecting it with vast sums of cash will create some excitement. As Simon Barnes noted: this is not sport, this is a crass (un)reality show.

For most of the millions of people who were possessed by the Wimbledon final this year, or that series in 2005, money was never a factor. Perhaps those were heady days. Now, in this absurd era of $20m matches and credit crunches, maybe our perspective cannot go further than our wallets. But when King Kev launched his frantic, chancey and breathtaking counter-attack after lunch on day five at the Oval, I doubt many were enthralled by the potential financial benefits. Great sport has a value system that translates into no other.

This afternoon, the England selectors (for which read KP) announce the 15 people that are to be hired out to a Texan billionaire. For some of those this will be a life changing, bank breaking moment. For the rest of us, the ‘match’ couldn’t matter less.

Goodbye, my love

2008-09-03T11:11:00.015Z

It should have been a fanfare, a tearful, emotionally-charged mass media farewell to one of the greatest batsmen to grace the game. But then, that was never his way. The quiet man could never quite turn up the volume. And so it is that after 25 years dominating the English game, Graeme Ashley Hick has announced his retirement.

For decades, the six-and-half-foot giant plundered county attacks with a brutality that could never betray his fundamental gentleness. Instead it took the Test game - as it always does – to ruthlessly reveal his inner character.

He was and remains an unnervingly popular figure. Hick never commanded adoration as, say, Flintoff does now. Instead Hick drew obsessive fans. That he could never quite understand his own failings at the highest level made him all the more interesting. Perhaps in today’s era where masculinity is more ready to embrace humanity he would have faired better. The thought of Pietersen fussing, caressing and cajoling him through the early days of his Test career can only make you wonder what could have been. Now though is not the time to dissect his Test career (again). Instead this is a personal moment for Hick and his fans.

My most recent memory of Hick was a couple of years ago, when I got the chance to see him play at my club in a charity match*. Having practiced my lines and delivered them perfectly to everyone around me, I finally drew up the courage to walk up to my childhood God and tell him how much he meant to me. I tapped him on the shoulder… and absolutely panicked. My legs disappeared under me, I stuttered and stumbled and barely said a word.

The great man looked at me bemused, but surely he could see a hint of what I did – a faint reflection.

*In that charity game, Hick was faced with the prospect of a young girl bowling at him. As always, debilitated by his kindness he ended up lobbing a gentle catch to cover. And once again I’d seen the player I loved most fail.

Darren Pattinson

2008-07-18T10:54:00.003Z

There is something wonderfully nostalgic about this England selection. Through my dark years of schooling England fiddled about with a series of crap selections: Mark Illott, Alan Igglesden, Simon Brown, Mike Smith etc etc… But the selection of this generously built Aussie screams one glorious name – Martin McCague. Poor Mathew Hoggard.

Bell on Song

2008-07-11T08:37:00.004Z

First Test
Day 1 Comment
It had to be now - this series, this game, this day. With the selectors axe dangling tantalisingly over his neck Ian Bell played the sort of innings we've been waiting for, for almost four years.

His talent has never been in doubt, on song his effortless elegance is matched by no one in the England side. Test cricket though, has always demanded more than talent. Pressure is what separates the talented from the successful. Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash time and again battered attacks outside the heat of the Test arena, yet when the situation demanded it their minds scrambled and with it their techniques.

Bell was in danger of joining this pantheon of wasted gifts. All his hundreds to date have been scored in comfortable circumstances, following on the good work of his team mates. Yesterday was different. After England's solid start, they had lost their openers and captain in a flash. With Morkel and Steyn having finally found rhythm and Pietersen floored England were staring down the barrel. For the first time in his career Bell read the situation and rose to it. He launched a counter attack that was nothing short of spectacular. It allowed Pietersen time to play himself in and set up England's day and series. Should he go on today and to make hundred it will be far and away be his best, and may prove, finally to be that elusive breakthrough innings.

Final Ritual

2008-07-10T09:26:00.001Z

There are few moments like this. With half and hour to go I have retreated into myself and cannot talk to anyone.

My final ritual before the opening of a test match series to scribe out a predicted scorecard for the first test. I have done it since the second series I ever watched- West Indies v England in 1994. I got the result completely wrong then, and have ever since. Still, for what it's worth:

England chasing 270 in the final innings win by three wickets on the back of Michael Vaughan's 101.

A series for the quicks

2008-06-30T08:40:00.004Z

As England's one-day side folded all too familiarly I couldn't help but turn my attention to the upcoming Test series against South Africa.

The merits of the shorter game, be it 20 or 50 overs have been trumpeted repeatedly recently. Test cricket though, especially between evenly matched teams presents a different kind of drama.

Without the restrictions on bowlers, field placing and overs for batmen, Test cricket leaves players naked. Every nuance of technique and character is explored. Hoping to triumph for the first time in England since 1965 Graeme Smith brings a buoyant South African side to Lord's next month.

Since re-admission South Africa have never quite managed to assert themselves on the world game. Branded chokers following habitual World Cup semi final losses they have never been a threatening force in Test cricket.

Cautious at best and outright boring at worst, their cricket was too often epitomised by Jacques Kallis. Despite his impressive statistics he has never had the belief to impose himself on oppositions and turn matches. It's a negative outset that for many years held back South African cricket.

But now united under a captain who demands respect without having to shout his mouth off, and free of the shackles of selection quota system, South Africa are playing vibrant cricket.

Dale Steyn has added dynamism to an attack that since Allan Donald's retirement has been little more than steady. How his skiddy pace adapts to English conditions could determine the outcome of the series. When a youthful Brett Lee arrived on these shores to a similar fanfare in 2001, he was taken apart by a hopeless England side.

England, following their hesitant triumph over the three-match series against New Zealand, are being brought nicely to the boil under Michael Vaughan. As always much depends on the fitness of Andrew Flintoff. If fit he lifts England's attack to another level backing up the likes of Ryan Sidebottom, Stuart Broad, Monty Panesar and Mr Mercurial James Anderson.

Abandoning reason and assuming Flintoff does return he magnifies England's biggest concern - their wobbly middle order. If they take the jump and play five bowlers, one of Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell would miss out, and Tim Ambrose's runs will be closely monitored. It places huge responsibility on the top four, but you feel the aggressive approach gives England their best chance and will make for a thrilling series between two strong bowling sides.

Given their recent form South Africa must start favourites, but if England's top order can conquer Steyn then the road for the Ashes may yet be paved with gold.

Brett Lee is the worlds best smiling assassin

2008-06-27T08:48:00.009Z

(This article also appears in www.sportingo.com)

Sport, like religion and politics rarely leaves room for consensus. One of the greatest joys for a sports fan is raging to defend your favourite player, trying to achieve the impossible task of proving that your player is better than another. Cricket, with its vast bank of statistics offers the greatest armoury for scientific proof.

So when South Africa arrived in England last week with claims to having 'the best fast bowler in the world', pubs and message boards across the cricketing world erupted in debate. Dale Steyn is the name that will dominate the England team talks and who Graeme Smith's team will be hoping can prove the difference between the two sides over the next few weeks. With pace, late swing and a menacing glare he has had a phenomenal year yielding 78 thrilling wickets in 12 games at 16.24. The statistics indicate a bowler in the form of his life.

Interestingly, the last time these two sides met it was England who had the pace sensation. Somebody called Steve Harmison had just completed a barnstorming year, prompting Stephen Fleming to hail him as "a more dynamic, threatening version of Glenn McGrath". Harmison went on to take only nine expensive wickets in the five-game series. His career has never really recovered and it will be a surprise to see him at all this summer. This demonstrates, as if we didn't know it already, the futile nature of predictions in sport.

Unlike almost no other in the game, the sight of a fast bowler steaming in intimidating batsmen is truly exhilarating. Alongside all the technical skills, fast bowlers need presence - a personality that crushes batsmen as much as a searing yorker. Curtly Ambrose barely had to whisper a word, but his was a chilling presence that many could never overcome - just ask Graeme Hick.

With too much one-day cricket on too many flat pitches, today's crop seem a tamer bunch. Pleasingly, there are a number of promising youngsters around the world, but they still have plenty to prove. Following Steyn in the ICC rankings are the Australian pair Stuart Clark and Brett Lee. Despite lagging far behind in the rankings, Andrew Flintoff's early season barrage moved Justin Langer to declare him the very best fast bowler around. Until Fred can actually get on the field for England, however, we'll have to forget about him.

Lee is now the complete package. Handed the mantle of leading Australia's attack following McGrath's retirement, he has transformed himself and bowled with hostility, accuracy and a guile that Steyn can yet only dream of. Added to his remarkable talent is a heart and enthusiasm which would fuel him through a brick wall. In an age where sporting spirit is continually undermined, Lee has lit up grounds and newspapers with his Colgate smile and vibrant personality.

Statistics can always tell a story, and leading an inexperienced attack against good batting sides, he has taken 58 wickets in nine games over the last year at 21.55. With his stealth like new-ball partner Stuart Clark, he is hoping to carry Australia into the next generation. There's no column in the scorebook for it, but inspiration here would be the mark of a truly great fast bowler. As ever the facts can't reveal the entire truth. But that's just my opinion.

And so it is, just like Glenn said it would be

2007-01-05T01:48:00.000Z

Fifth Test, Sydney
Day 4 Comment
(1:50am)

Maybe you feared it before England arrived in Australia, maybe it seemed inevitable after the first ball of the series, maybe its taken one month and seven days for you to finally know it – but Australia have decimated England. Five-nil.

This diary, like England, ran out of ideas long ago. Today mirrored what we have seen all series. All that can be said about both sides already has been, and will continue to be for weeks.

Cricket, however, has entered a new era. Shane Warne is the best bowler of all time, he has changed cricket forever, and we will never see another bowler who can instil the same fear in batsmen as he could. Glenn McGrath is the most successful fast bowler of all time, and it is unlikely we will ever see a fast bowler with greater control.

Test cricket won’t be the same. Thanks for the memories, apart from the last five games, which have been a personal hell. I hope I can finally have a life again. So will England.

Leaked plans in a lacklustre series

2006-12-27T16:51:00.000Z

Third Test Melbourne

Day 2 Comment

Before this tour began it would have been impossible to predict just how one-sided the series would be. At every stage England have plummeted to lows they could never have imagined. Yesterday, in the midst of a Symonds inspired riot, England found a new way to illustrate their scrambled minds and find greater depths to sink into – their game plans were leaked.

The significance can and will be played down by both sides, but for Australia to have hard copy of England’s carefully-planned strategies for each batsmen is a blow that will tear away at the few fibres of morale the team may still have. The fact that such a document was left around and misplaced is shocking, and illustrates the lacklustre and muddled approach England have had all series.

That England does not have the depth in their attack to maintain their plans was perfectly demonstrated yesterday, but full credit must go to Hayden and particularly Symonds, who came in at a tricky time and played a scintillating innings. He managed to defend well initially before launching into all the shots we know he has. For all cricket lovers we hope that this turns out to be his "breakthrough" innings because he brings a panache and flair that is exciting to the game.

However he, and many of the batsmen this test match, will be thanking Rudi Koertzen for his dreadful umpiring.

England are staring four nil in the face, and will soon be staring into the abyss. I would say that Australia are finishing on a high they never dreamed of, but remembering McGrath’s 5-0 prediction ritual, I guess I’d be wrong.

The Ashes are over

2006-12-19T00:46:00.001Z

Third Test, Perth
Day 5 Comment

It took 6,273 days to win them back, but just over a year to lose them again. Australia have regained the Ashes. It was promised to be an epic battle, but in truth it was never a contest.

This is an Australian side utterly consumed with one goal – winning the urn. Given the challenge of any pivotal session this series, they have surged ahead and left behind a bewildered, shocked England side.

I would never have said that one side could have more desire then the other, I thought the Ashes was too big for that. But watching Australia drive through and then celebrate victory, one sensed, that at a level unknown to even the players themselves, Australia needed to win it back more then England desired to retain them.

It is easy to say that this was an all-conquering Australian side, complete in every department. However, unlike the sides of the 90s, this one had significant flaws. It was also an ageing side with many playing their last ashes series, but the desire this gave them outweighed the creaks.

In truth, England’s grip on the urn slipped from the moment they first grabbed it on that September day. Their focus from that moment has oscillated from basking in the glory, to looking ahead to the rematch. In the intervening period between ashes series, Australia, paused, reflected and then concentrated on improving themselves. They won 12 out of 13 games. For England, winning the Ashes before 2005 was a mythical, unimaginable end to a cricket side. Reaching that point, they suddenly didn’t know what to do. Rather then continue sharpening their physical and mental skills, they lost focus and won just four out of twelve completed matches. They submitted to a ‘be all right on the night’ attitude for this series.

Players spoke before hand about it all ‘clicking in place’, but the sound of ‘clicking’ in test match cricket is months of hard graft and preparation. England arrived with few players who had been through that process. It is no coincidence that the ones who did – Pietersen, Collingwood, Bell, Panesar and Hoggard – have fared well this series.

For England fans, tonight is a relief. The agony of hope and despair is finally over. As I said after day 1 in Brisbane, it is hope that feeds the addiction of momentary, wonderful highs followed by long periods of desperate lows. The frustration and anger has now turned to acceptance for me, and the cold rational autopsy now begins.

Ashes defeats provide natural watersheds and there deserves to be debate about the future and setup of ‘Team England’ but we should not, again, fall foul to mis-focus. This is a young and talented side and the gremlins that a 5-0 defeat would provide could haunt England for many years. If the recovery of England is to happen, it begins with the first hour of the next session of cricket.

Australia cook up a storm

2006-12-16T18:29:00.000Z

Third Test, Perth
Day 3 Comment

It required a Churchillian speech from my grandmother to get me up enough to write today’s entry.

The human body must have a natural capacity to defend against pain. For the first time this series I fell asleep during play. It was blissful. I missed Hussey completing his century, then Clarke his and the final showpiece from Gilchrist. I woke up, saw Strauss being triggered again by the theatrical slow finger of Rudi Koertzen, and promptly fell back asleep.

I have discussed the tourists non-stop this series, but today, more then any other is not a day for that. (Having watched the highlights!) This was a day for Australia the magnificent. In turn, each ingredient that makes Australia such champions was displayed. First, against spirited bowling Hussey and Hayden got stuck in, determined and hard-nosed. Then, as the opportunity to drive home the advantage developed, Clarke cruised with confidence and control, and finally, when they the game was theirs, Gilchrist unleashed their flair, panache and touch of genius with a stunning 57 ball hundred.

This may well be the last test series for many of the Aussie players and they have departed in style.

It's all but over...

2006-12-15T18:55:00.000Z

Third Test, Perth
Day 2 Comment

The day was as sad for England fans as it was predictable. There is little more to say then England are not good enough at the moment. Australia are driven enough to make up for their shortcomings and have raced ahead of England every time they tried to get near them.

The inevitable post-mortem will point fingers at the coach, but the players must take some responsibility too. Since the 2005 series, the focus and ruthlessness has been lost. Ironically they kept looking to this series instead of the ones they were playing, and they are paying the price for that now.

This was, for me, the saddest day of the series. England were brilliant at times yesterday, and even though it was all too late, I felt pleased that we had shown that we could match Australia. But today it finally sunk in that we can’t, not this time.

The current mood is best summarised by the Barmy Army Trumpeter, who began they day with ‘The Great Escape’ but ended with Christmas carols. There will be no escape for England in this game or series. Chilling as it is, they will have to strive to avoid a five-nil drubbing.

Perth's lift raises England's spirits

2006-12-14T14:57:00.000Z

Third Test, Perth
Day 1 Comment

The plaudits will go to Panesar but the real hero today was Cameron Sutherland - the head groundsman at the WACA. This series so far has, inevitably, failed to live up the hype that preceded it. Injuries and and a desperately defensive approach from England have played thier part but primarily it is because the first two tests were played on slow, low, boring featherbeds.

It was promised before this test that the once lethally quick Perth wicket had lost its venom and become yet another Australian batsmen's paradise. Thankfully for everyone, the pitch had carry, some pace and occasionally some seam movement. As a result batters could play through the line and on the up, yielding exciting results. Bowlers could run in with purpose knowing, if they bend their back, the pitch won’t ignore them. It produced an exhilarating days cricket.

England, strangely, found themselves free of their self-imposed shackles. With nothing to lose they decided, finally, to play their most attacking side. Ashley Giles made way for Monty Panesar and Jimmy Anderson for Sajid Mahmood.

The approach of both sides was different to the previous tests. Australia, just a game away from the Ashes, set out to dominate and crush what they sensed was a vulnerable England team. Hayden, who had spoken bullishly about his plans to go after Hoggard was initially aggressive, but ultimately too frantic as he was found out for the sixth time by Hoggard’s nagging accuracy and cunning.

England, as is their sporting heritage, revelled in their backs-to-the-wall position and came out firing. Somehow, Stephen Harmison managed to produce a quick straight ball that defeated the Australian captain. Wickets fell steadily through the day but all the while Mr Cricket was quietly counter-attacking, repeatedly stroking the ball to the cover boundary. The best passage of play was a classic battle between Monty Panesar and Andrew Symonds. Both players were recalled to the side but for Symonds this was last chance saloon. A towering figure and world-beating one-day player, he had yet to make his mark on the test arena. At 31, he won't be given many more chances. He had promised everybody and himself that he would go out and play his natural, destructive game. It was the power of the bludgeoner versus the delicate variations of finger spinner. After a couple of watchful overs he launched Panesar for two towering sixes and a four in an over. It’s the first time that Monty has been genuinely attacked in his career and it left Flintoff with a difficult choice of whether to persist with Panesar. Bravely he kept Monty on, and in his next over, he had Symonds caught behind. It is this sort of aggressive, attractive cricket where both sides are at their best, and is what fans have been craving for all series.

In the end, England probably edged the day, but the two late wickets left Australia on a high and as is always the case, the first hour tomorrow will be crucial.

The truth hurts, but hiding it is far more painful

2006-12-09T11:36:00.000Z

As frustrated fans look to management for explanation, we are treated to nothing more then hollow declarations of confidence. Why does Fletcher insist on spinning it more than Gilo?

Read my full story here

Diary of an Ashes Insomniac resumes on Thursday.

Horror

2006-12-06T12:23:00.000Z

Second Test, Adelaide
Day 5 Comment

To win Test matches, you need to make opportunities and grab them. Australia, for the majority of the time at Adelaide, had been outplayed. It was England who had the opportunities but failed to take them.

This test match has exposed two teams with two different approaches. Australia are hungry, motivated and desperate to win the Ashes back. England are desperate not to lose them. It's only a subtle difference of approach, but, when amplified by day-five pressure, it became a devastating rift that saw England become gutless with the bat and then hopeless with the ball.

It’s sad for England but cricket is a cruel sport. One bad session cost Andrew Flintoff's men this match, and with it the series. The credit, however, must go to Australia. Seeing an opportunity to scare England on the final day is one thing, but having the unwavering belief and skill to ram home a famous victory is quite another. Here was a team of champions, albeit flawed champions, intent on ending the series as Ashes victors.

England needed to score about 100 runs on the final day to be safe. In the dressing room, all the talk would have been of surviving the first hour and then pushing on from there. This is where it went awry for England; you do not just survive on a last-day pitch against Shane Warne. He can build up all the momentum and pressure that way. It took England six overs to get 10 runs in the morning, an approach that played into the super spinner's hands.

On paper it seemed painfully obvious – flat pitch, go out there, attack and we’ll write this game off. But the middle is a lonely place for a batsmen; a combination of 11 fielders, 30,000 spectators and the knowledge that one mistake ends your match creates a pressure that is unique to cricket.

The muddle in the batsmen's minds was made clear early on with Andrew Strauss wafting outside his off stump. The survival plan came to a tumbling, pointless end with a poor decision from umpire Steve Bucknor, giving the Middlesex man out caught. England had not progressed at all and Australia had a breakthrough. There was no recovery; Paul Collingwood was the only batsman to survive but he could not get the ball of the square and England drifted slowly and painfully towards disaster.

Warne, as he so often is, was the master, fizzing and spitting the ball past the batsmen. This, however, is only half of his skill; his presence and will got inside of the England psyche. He had them panicking and he knew it. There was no respite for the tourists, either, as Warne received great support from Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Glenn McGrath who, seeing the opportunity, backed themselves and raised their games as champions do.

It left Australia needing 168 to win from 38 overs.

Whilst Australia got off to a flyer, they did lose early wickets. At 33-2 England had a chance of winning the match, but no one in their side believed they could. With Australia needing less than four an over, Flintoff set defensive fields, with men on the boundaries and singles available everywhere. Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey, under no pressure, collected easy singles as England drifted towards defeat.

Ashley Giles, who has built a career on bowling negative dross outside leg stump, suddenly found himself incapable of doing that - bowling short and on the stumps for 10 pointless overs. His place in this side further betrays England’s defensive mindset, but with victories now essential, he surely he must be dropped. Flintoff toiled manfully but had no support and Australia were guided home for a famous victory.

It is heartbreaking for England fans, and for cricket fans in general. This was the most hyped-up Test series in history, and after two matches, it's over. No England side has ever come back from 2-0 down to take an Ashes series. We shall of course, stick by them, but they need a fundamental change in approach if they are to compete.

For all but one day of this series, they have seemed to lack belief. Their aggressive, attacking instincts have been frozen by what Michael Vaughan called ‘fear of failure’. It is only now that we see how strong Vaughan’s influence was on last year's series. The England management have not instilled a belief in their players and questions must be asked of Duncan Fletcher. His team selection has been wrong, but the errors betray a deeper lack of confidence that has manifested itself in England’s play.

It is hard for England, as they played with authority for half this match, even though Australia fully deserve their victory. Arjuna Ranatunga – the Sri Lankan World-Cup winning captain, wrote how cricket is a physical sport decided by strength of mind. Australia’s mindset has been one of complete confidence and aggression, and for that they have been rewarded with the match and with it, surely, the Ashes.

Nightmare visions coming true for England - Day 5, Lunch

2006-12-05T03:07:00.000Z

Note: I do not usually post between sessions, but this session was unique and could prove to be the final contest of this series.

Such is the tension of the situation that I can barely get my hands to type these words. It was what we all dreaded most, but put conveniently in the back of our minds. England have had a first session from hell, and Australia have been truly magnificent.

It is now the biggest innings of Geraint Jones’ and Paul Collingwood’s life. If Australia power through here the series is over. All that anticipation and hope will come to nothing.

War of attrition as Clarke kicks in

2006-12-04T18:56:00.000Z

Second Test, Adelaide
Day 4 Comment

England started the day knowing a quick wicket could open the door to a series-levelling victory. The Aussies knew that if they could that overcome this threat they first made the game safe, and then if they batted well enough, create an opportunity to bowl England out. With so much at stake both sides started tentatively. It was England, however, who first hit the mark and, for the first hour, bowled with great discipline, pinning down two of the fastest scorers in the Australian side.

England deserved some luck, but found none as catches fell just short and a Hoggard's lbw shout against Gilchrist was turned down. Eventually, Flintoff needed to rest which brought Harmison into the equation. And promptly the pressure released.

Harmison has improved from Brisbane, but if even if I turned up to bowl, it would be an improvement from that game. Gilchrist cut loose and Australia dominated the second half of the morning session. England were lucky to get him, just before lunch, when he launched Giles needlessly into the hands of Bell.

It brought Warne to the crease and he was welcomed with a volley of chat, that, well, only he could imagine. It was enjoyable to watch, though slightly surprising to see that Warne, who dishes so much out, seemed annoyed about getting some back.

It was a brilliant mornings cricket, England were striving for an elusive wicket which seemed just a ball away, before Gilchrist counter-attacked as only he knows how.

England continued to be frustrated, particularly by Michael Clarke, who has played as well as I’ve seen him for his impressive 124. He will surely take Martyn’s spot when Watson comes in at number six.

It was not until Hoggard removed Warne just before tea and mopped up the tail quickly thereafter that England made any real headway in the day. You will continually hear about Hoggard being an underrated bowler, but anyone who has watched England over the past couple of years will be familiar with his brand of unfashionable, consistent and occasionally brilliant fast-medium bowling. Indeed a glace at the ICC World Rankings, will show he is rated as the fourth-best fast bowler in the world. His bowling here was nothing short of phenomenal, and is likely to be the best performance by a quick bowler this series. The pitch was an absolute grave-yard yet he still ran-in for two days and picked up seven wickets.

England were left to survive a tricky 19 overs at the back-end of the day. The only casualty was Cook, who was caught behind off Clarke. Alistair Cook is an mature person and talented batsmen, but he is going through the learning phase that every player has to. England must stick with him even if he continues to struggle, because as Bell is showing, learning in the Ashes may be hard, but you come through it mentally and technically stronger.

Warne turned the ball and sledged sharply last night, which sets up yet another crucial morning session. After their dominance for much of this match, England would not want to give the Aussies a sniff of victory in this game. To ensure this they must bat two sessions. In the end this hopeless pitch should be the winner, but provided nothing goes wrong tomorrow, England can draw much confidence from this test match.

Ponting performance tells only half the story

2006-12-03T17:28:00.000Z

Second Test, Adelaide
Day 3 Comment

England entered today hoping to still be in a chance of winning the game by close of play. On this batting paradise the Aussies had every chance of scoring big and killing the game. England were, however, resourceful and disciplined and kept themselves marginally ahead.

Irrespective of how this match ends, and there remains hope for both sides, the pitch has been dreadful. It’s ridiculous that mats that favour bowlers too much attract high criticism (and in English domestic cricket, can result in points being deducted) while these sort of featherbed’s are termed ‘good wickets’. The volume of cricket played these days has threatened the potency fast bowlers generally, and making them play on these sorts of wickets adds to the damage. Looking back at Ashes 2005, the quality of fast bowling on good cricket wickets led us to the most exciting test series of all time.

It’s sad that so many pitches in Australia have become so lifeless. Australian pitches have, aided Ricky Ponting’s remarkable run rout. His run of scores is actually unreasonable. In completing his 10^th hundred from his last 13 Tests, he became the most prolific century maker in Australian test history. These milestones are markers used to compare players, across the world and through history. His Bradman-esque run will draw lots of debate as to his standing in the game.

Statistics tell much of the story but they are not definitive. One of the many things that makes cricket so special is the examination of character that is offers. How personalities reconcile with themselves and how people overcome the ghosts in their head decides effects their performance. Watching this process is fascinating, it can be genuinely hurtful to witness, as anyone who saw Graeme Hick being defeated by his demons in the nineties will understand. It can also be thrilling – watching Kevin Pietersen stamp his arrogance and authority all over Australia was compelling.

So for me, the truly great innings, and the truly great batsmen needs character. Ricky Ponting should have all those ingredients. His undoubted talent was tempered in his youth by alcohol and gambling, something that threatened his career. But he overcame those demons so successfully that he has crushed any flair or personality with them. His runs are scored with regularity, aggression and at vital times yet there are just too efficient and void of exuberance for me to enjoy them.

No, for me, the greatest of our generation is Brian Lara. Watching a Lara innings is unforgettable. No one can score runs in the way Lara does, no one can take attacks apart with such mesmerising, fluid beauty. Though he is now a more mature person and player, during his great period, where fame and unrivalled success had come too early for him, he was childish, arrogant and surrounded by a team in terminal decline. The abandon that gave him when he arrived at the wicket was perfect.

Ponting, however, would have never had the chance to score is 33^rd ton if England had taken their chances.

Anyone who has played any vaguely competitive cricket will know how painful it is to drop a catch. It is the most, unrivalled feeling of despair that you can have on a cricket field. Today, Ashley Giles dropped probably the biggest catch in cricket. At a vital time, in a vital match, on a pitch where wickets are a rarity, he dropped the Australian captain on 35. It could be turn out to be the moment that decides the series – at 78-4 Australia would have been reeling. It should be said, however that Giles was not the only culprit; Collingwood missed an equally gettable run out soon after.

Nevertheless England can be pleased with their effort. Hoggard was outstanding, Harmison and Anderson much improved. Giles did not add anything to the bowling effort but he’s in the side for his batting. Pleasingly Flintoff’s captaincy was superb today, and given England’s general turnaround he should be widely congratulated. Yesterday he instilled discipline, aggression and smart tactical moves into England’s play. Looking ahead to day four, as usual – the first hour will be vital. If England can remove Clarke and Gilchrist early, they will give themselves a great chance of levelling the series. If not, a draw seems inevitable.

Warne reduced to wides as Pietersen digs in

2006-12-02T15:14:00.000Z

Second Test, Adelaide
Day 2 Comment

It is not often that you’re able to compare Ashley Giles to Shane Warne but such was Pietersen’s complete technical dominance over his Hampshire team mate that Warne was reduced to bowling the negative, hopeless around-the-wicket line that made our very own King of Spain famous.

We must remember that this pitch is painfully slow and offers absolutely nothing to bowlers of any creed. Indeed New Zealand legend Martin Crowe once remarked on the three certainties of life - death, taxes and hundreds at the Adelaide Oval. But the nature of the hundreds scored by Collingwood and Pietersen was astounding. Whilst yesterday England seemed content on survival, today they took the game to the heart of Australian bowling – McGrath and Warne and left them battered, bruised and with one wicket for 274 between them. Their worst ever return.

McGrath in particular looked a spent figure, at Brisbane he was flattered by England’s woeful batting but on this pitch he never looked like taking a wicket and was treated with disdain by Pietersen who waltzed down the track to smack him through the leg-side on numerous occasions. As more question marks over McGrath’s fitness presented themselves, so did the perceived weakness of Ponting’s captaincy. Some of his ultra defensive field settings were shocking as England merrily collected runs under no pressure whatsoever.

Duncan Fletcher has remarked that Pietersen is one of the smartest cricketers he has ever come across. A quick interview with Kevin will illustrate that it is his cricketing brain that Fletcher is referring to but the way in which he dealt with the ‘Shane Giles’ negative approach was superb. For a player so exuberant and in such fluent form it was not easy to kick the ball away over after over but he kept his head and with the aid of some stunning footwork and balance was able to hit Warne against the spin through mid on, whenever Warne’s negative line erred slightly. It was his best test innings by a distance, and one of the best displays of tackling leg-spin that you will ever see.

Australia may have regretted playing four bowlers on the best batting wicket in the country, especially after the England bowlers could only muster up 9 wickets for 804 in Brisbane. But England, may well rue the similarly conservative selection of Ashley Giles. For them to take 20 wickets and win this match would be a remarkable effort, for greater then the brilliant batting display – and Panesar’s presence would have helped.

What followed was England’s best passage of play this series, giving themselves nine overs at the back end of the day to have a go at the Aussies. It is not easy coming out to bat after 168 overs in the field and England took full advantage. They were aggressive, lively and right up at Australia. Flintoff crucially took the new ball and got the reward of Justin Langer caught off a rising delivery. When at his best, our captain is one of world’s premier fast bowlers and if England are to square the series here in Adelaide, his performance will be the difference.

Honours even as England shun opportunity

2006-12-01T20:46:00.000Z

Second Test, Adelaide
Day 1 Comment

England were given everything they could have asked for today, but lacked the decisiveness or confidence to take full advantage.

The conservatism directing England’s batting display was evident before the game began with Flintoff announcing an unchanged side. Many have argued that leaving out Monty Panesar was simply the result of a stubborn, pig-headedness of Duncan Fletcher. This may not have been the case. It remains a defensive selection but the reasons behind it may more subtle than many will give the coach credit for.

A change in selection policy after one, admittedly terrible, match may have sent signals to the opposition that they had upset England’s plans early on in the campaign. Australia has gone down a similar, ill-judged route. Keen to disprove to everyone that they are not an aging ‘Dad’s Army XI’ they played a half-fit McGrath. His presence in the field alone cost Australia two vital wickets – a run out of Collingwood and on the penultimate ball of the day, a tired missed catch off a Pietersen hook. The later miss may prove to be the difference in the match.
Despite the combination of an unfit McGrath, an out of form Lee and a first day pitch that most batsmen would spend their time dreaming about, England failed to win the day. They started appallingly, with Strauss (14) and Cook (27) playing themselves in, before getting themselves out tamely, to leave England 45-2.
England improved from there but Bell and even Collingwood initially batted for a session as if it were a net. On an easy paced pitch where 480 should be par, England seemed overly content with occupying the crease; even if it meant letting the game drift aimlessly. Half volleys were patted straight to fielders and there was no urgency in the running between wickets.

When Bell was finally dismissed for a hard-graft, though undamaging 60, Pietersen took to the crease and inject purpose into England’s performance. His battles with Shane Warne made compelling viewing, and aside from Tendulkar in India, few have ever played Warne better. Like Ricky Ponting, Pietersen picks up length so early, that if a bowler errs even slightly short, he can rock back and cut with power and precision.

It is momentum that affects the pressure and the mental resolve of each side. The problem for England is, with the approach they adopted for most of the day, they did not shift the momentum. If they had been bolder and shown greater belief in themselves, they could have clawed back the momentum from the opening test – as they did at Edgbaston in 2005. As it is, if England lose two quick wickets tomorrow, the momentum will be entirely with Australia and England would have gained nothing.

Predictably though, the good score could not temper the overblown reactions of the media or many armchair barmy army, who had abandoned all hope day before yesterday, but have now returned to full voice.

For the rest of us, we can breath a sigh of relief that after the first day, we are still in the game. The first hour tomorrow, as always, will be vital. If Collingwood and Pietersen can complete and then build on centuries then it could give a chance for Flintoff to finally ‘express himself’ against the old ball. Five hundred is not enough to win this test match but England are more then capable of reaching a total that can.

England cricket's hammer and fickle brigade

2006-11-30T10:33:00.000Z

A mass of fans may have deserted Andrew Flintoff's men after their first Test defeat in Brisbane. But one good contest and they'll all be back.

Read my full story here

Diary of an Ashes Insomniac resumes tomorrow.

Seven steps to fight back in Adelaide

2006-11-27T21:11:00.000Z

First Test, Brisbane
Day 5 Comment

Australia reaffirmed their dominance by quickly dashing any hopes of a batting miracle this morning, leaving England with very little to take from this game into Friday’s crucial second test.

Now if this Ashes series is to really take off, England have to win in Adelaide. The result is even more significant than the first test. And England might find that the sense of occasion – though immense – will be less fraught then it was in Brisbane.

It’s a familiar situation for England and they know what needs to be done. The question is whether Flintoff can convince his men that they can do it; that they are capable of formulating a strategy that will press the Australians, and ultimately force a win in Adelaide.

As a guide to the psychological feeling England should be adopting here, let’s be introspective for a moment. I know how much I care about the England performance. I dream, analyse and despair over each ball in every test. So, look at yourself honestly. Do you believe England can come back?

I know I do, and here’s how.

1. Pick Panesar. It’s attractive to delude yourself into thinking that the mighty Monty would have made all the difference at Brisbane. He wouldn’t have. But he gives England control and an attacking option during those long Kookaburra 20-80 ‘middle’ overs. Anderson, though bowling well at times, was too inconsistent for a batting line-up of Australia’s stature. Monty should replace him at 11.

2. Win the toss. You could argue that one shouldn’t plan for things that are out of our control, but Harmy’s radar is beyond anyone’s control and yet we still plan around that.

3. Needless to say it, but bat, bat and bat. This means that Strauss will actually have to play himself in before trying to clear the world’s biggest boundaries with his almighty hook.

4. Open the bowling with Freddie. I have banged on about this for the last three days. Give your strongest bowlers the best possible chance with the new ball. It is for the same reasons that Australia prefers McGrath over Hussey with the new ball.

5. Think 2005 not 95. England are Ashes winners. They are a bunch of aggressive, gifted and tough players who thrive on playing attacking cricket. Through much of this test, England’s body language in the field was meek, lethargic and purposeless. On flat pitches, fielding sides have to work doubly hard to create pressure. This means disciplined fast bowling with occasional short balls that reach neck height, not regular waist-high long-hops.

6. Play on the opponent’s pressure. Australia had a 100-day countdown to this series. They have been subjected to boot camps and at Brisbane resorted to dispersing the Barmy Army around the ground and sending their trumpeter packing. They are obsessed. Their desire is feverish. Ponting almost threw a Trent Bridge-esque fit when dismissed for 196 and when Stuart Clark dropped Pietersen on the third day, he received withering glares and was ignored by his teammates. Australia has put themselves under huge pressure to reclaim the urn. If England could sustain a period of dominance and scare them; the Australian players, media and supporters have the potential to explode.

7. And finally, the elephant in the room, Stephen James Harmison. It is unfair of us to project our dreams on to him, but many have. He has to play at Adelaide, but must not become the distraction he did at Brisbane. If he’s not firing, use him as a middle over stock bowler. Set the field back and let him toil away for few runs. In Brisbane England wasted time and energy trying to get him right. Sky Sports spent more than two days demonstrating their split screen analysis of his bowling action. Every paper has put in their two-cents worth. It’s all a distraction. For now he should accept Dennis Lillee’s offer for a few coaching sessions. Lillee is the finest fast bowling coach in the world and a mentor to Troy Cooley, the coach who took England to Ashes success before switching sides. Now that nothing is expected of him, Harmison may roar in and win England the Second Test. But if he doesn´t, lets not spend five days talking about it.

The first test has been the worst of starts for England, yet they and the Aussies know that this series is far from over. Bring on round two.

Pietersen plants late seeds of hope

2006-11-26T19:38:00.000Z

First Test, Brisbane
Day 4 Comment

After 261.1 overs, two declarations and three abysmal days, England finally turned up to Brisbane and injected fire into the Ashes.

Of course, it’s all a little too late, but the performance dragged some much-needed momentum back into England’s Ashes campaign. It has exposed some of the weaknesses of the home side that the visitor's shoddy performance has so far masked so effectively. More surprisingly, it has left England with the most miniscule of chances to pull off a draw.

It’s a strange and unnerving thing being a die-hard England fan. Like a twisted form of love, you can be mistreated, uncared for, utterly dismayed and angry for three days, but when offered the smallest signs of care, all is forgiven. Almost without realising it, the acceptance of defeat morphs seamlessly into blind optimism again.

The farce of Australia’s imposed second innings ended with Justin Langer reaching a meaningless century and Ricky Ponting sustaining a back injury. This gave England the impossible task of batting five-and-a-half sessions in an attempt to spare being ridiculed all the way to Adelaide. It was a task that would require patience, composure, skill and the smallest of miracles.

The opening scenes were familiar. Andrew Strauss, for the second time in the match offered little, hooking needlessly down deep to square leg early in the innings for just 11. When Warne dismissed Bell with a slider a duck, England seemed to capitulate. Collingwood also started off unconvincingly, stuck on the crease as if waiting to be dismissed, before the welcome lunch break.

Whatever talks took place over England’s lunch table had been badly missing two days ago. England took the field looking positive, determined and crucially decisive. Cook battled hard, before being caught at short leg via the inside edge off Warne, and would have learned much from his 43. Pietersen then enjoyed the first classic contest of the series with his pal Shane Warne. After playing himself in with maturity he took the game to the Australians, using his feet well and flicking him through mid wicket before unleashing his trademark slog sweeps.

Together with Collingwood, the pair dominated Australia in a determined 153-run stand. Suddenly with Ponting unable to take the field with his dodgy back and McGrath showing his age with a bruised heel, Australia may have exposed some seeds of doubt. England were finally able to punish them with an authority that has been badly missing since 2005.

Just as he always does though, Warne struck the decisive blow towards the end of the day. Collingwood had played calmly and superbly, but with barely 15 overs left of the day, fell victim to Warne’s trickery, waltzing down the pitch and getting stumped on 96. Flintoff then got to the wicket, stroked a couple of commanding boundaries before mistiming a pull from a Warne long hop and skying it to mid on. It was a cruel blow after such a convincing performance, only firing another nail into England’s coffin.

Australia has been in complete control of this game, but it was vital that England clawed some self-confidence back with a good performance. Tomorrow Pietersen and Jones will need to apply themselves and continue much in the same vain as today, steering the game well into the afternoon at least. And whisper it quietly, but there is mention of rain late tomorrow.

England shoot a gift horse in the head

2006-11-25T20:16:00.000Z

First Test, Brisbane
Day 3 Comment
These are dark days for England. Yesterday they made good bowling look great, and a dodgy pitch look a minefield. Predictably, they were skittled out for 157.

But what followed was less predictable, though far more damaging. Ricky Ponting as if he was somehow bemused by the lack of contest, threw England a lifeline. Not for the match, which was over, but for the series.

Before that what we desperately needed was an opportunity to regain ground in the mental war. We needed something positive to take into the rest of the series. Just as how despite being thrashed at Lords in 2005, England showed they could take learning into the rest of the series.

And Ponting threw down that gauntlet.

He gifted England an opportunity to run in and redeem their shoddy display of the first day. To prove to everyone that it is England who has the more potent fast bowling unit. Prove that day one was just nerves. Prove that they can come back strongly in this series, just as they did in the last.

It was an extraordinary piece of generosity. It looked like Buchanan and Ponting had conjured up one trick too many for this game – one that could come back to haunt them. They offered England a much-needed turning point in the series. Flintoff should have roused his men, urging them to fire, aim to take down five wickets for 100 and leave Ponting declaring again in the match, but this time limply and under a barrage of questions. It is not easy to lift yourself after such an abysmal batting display but Flintoff and England were given that chance.

Instead we were subjected to the worst display by an England side for years. Anderson was tossed the new ball as an uninterested and despondent England shrugged around the field with little purpose, almost waiting for Ponting to put them out of their misery. There was little noise from England, no fight; this was a side that showed remarkable disbelief in their ability to compete. Flintoff has to take some responsibility for this. His leadership credentials are based on his ability to inspire and instil belief in his players. He failed to do that, and failed to take charge with the new ball. Given the opportunity to begin the fight back now, instead of at Adelaide, England seemed curiously limp of any desire. For followers of England it was the most desperately disappointing passage of play, matching anything from the dark ages of the 1990’s.

It cannot be stressed enough that test matches, and Ashes cricket in particular, is a psychological game. It’s very rare in this game that you’re thrown a lifeline from the brink of defeat. If England can’t regain the desire to compete in this series, there’s a flight leaving from Brisbane tonight.

In the battle of minds, Flintoff holds the key

2006-11-24T21:43:00.000Z

First Test, Brisbane
Day 2 Comment
If you ever needed proof that much of test cricket is played in the head, look no further than England’s two strike bowlers. Flintoff and Harmison have all the potential to be world-beating quicks. Both have abilities to make a decisive impact on this series. But while Flintoff is revelling in carrying his side, Harmison is struggling with himself.

So much of Ashes cricket is about stamping authority on the opponents, thriving on the contest and dealing with confrontation. Harmison’s struggles are continued fuel for debate but it has been clear all tour that he is desperately low on confidence. Flintoff meanwhile is a different being. His strength of mind shows in the way he charged-in to Australia's batsman all day. Questions of confidence have never entered the equation. Yet Flintoff has bowled far less in the last six months than his Durham peer.

Looking back on this test match – which is all but decided now – many will cite that infamous first ball on Thursday. If the statement had to be made in that first over of the series, surely Flintoff was the man to do so. To play on a ground where Australia have always been dominant, and to take it upon himself to launch the Ashes would have been the best way for England - and Flintoff - to stamp authority on this series. Instead they opted for somone desperately short of match practise and vulnerable to gremlins when the chips are down.

It was a horrendous error of judgement that exposes the muddled thinking among England’s backroom staff. While we were driven to distraction about England's potential lower order batting woes, there has been failure to recognise that with so many bowlers coming back from injuries and lengthy layoffs, it is not the batting that needs propping up, it is the bowling.

What are these extra 30 runs that Giles is capable of providing down the order worth, when the opposition has amassed 602-9 declared? Giles toiled away admirably, bowling the dependable dross that has lent him a fantastic career. But what would Flintoff have given for the attacking and controlling presence of last summer’s highest wicket taker? Leaving Monty Panesar watching on helplessly from the dressing room, while Pietersen turned the ball is a decision that Fletcher will regret.

Hindsight is a curse for decision-makers, but a gift for commentators. Looking ahead, any chance for salvaging a result from this test ended yesterday evening when Strauss ended up pulling thoughtlessly down deep square leg. Now it it is essential for England to regain ground in the psychological battle. Bell must replicate the classy authority he showed this summer against Pakistan in the cauldron of Ashes pressure. Pietersen must show his resolve to stay at the crease long after Australia’s fiery spells of the opening session. Keeping the aging McGrath in the field for two days will do England’s chances no harm for next week’s second test.

England must prove to Australia – and perhaps themselves – that they are capable of taking this Ashes challenge head-on and coming out on top. If not for this test, than for the sake of the series.

Flat pitch, blind optimism

2006-11-23T20:00:00.002Z

First Test, Brisbane
Day 1 Comment
Whatever the state of a game, you are often just a few balls away from turning it on its head. It is this notion that exploits humanity’s most inexplicable emotion - hope - and that which feeds the addiction of a cricket observer.

So even after Steve Harmison’s aberration of the first ball ‘statement’ on the series, there was still hope of recovery. Despite ending the first session one down for over a hundred, I still believed. And at 198-3, I almost felt England were on top. Now, with two of the greediest batsmen in cricket still at the crease and a first day score to match any of the depressing scorecards of Ashes series of the 1990s, I still think, well, a couple of wickets with the new ball tomorrow and…

But neither hope, belief nor blind optimism can mask the daunting feeling that England are in a spot of bother here. Let’s be clear, this Brisbane pitch - a ‘good batting pitch’ - is not good for cricket in any sense. It removes all the variation and subtlety from the bowler’s armoury. That is of course, unless you’re one of the best spinners to ever play the game. And this is what will end up separating the sides in Brisbane.

Take Warne out of the equation and – on the pitch we saw yesterday – you could imagine Australia’s bowlers may have been equally innocuous. But with Kevin Pietersen finding turn, one can only imagine how much Warne is looking forward to making his mark on this match. As it is, England must find a way to take 20 wickets without seam, swing, reverse swing, or much pace and bounce.

To do that, all we can do is draw inspiration from the second test of 2003 that India played against Australia on a similarly placid pitch in Adelaide. Batting first, Australia's Ricky Ponting made 242 in a commanding first innings of 556. Unnerved, India responded with 523 and went on to win the match by four wickets. So it can be done. England just need to strike early tomorrow with the new ball, get Clark and Gilchrist to the crease while there is still a hint of shine and…