The Ashes are over

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.

Perth's lift raises England's spirits

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

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.

Seven steps to fight back in Adelaide

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.