The Ashes Blog

I know they’ve copped a lot of flak (“See ya, sheilas” – The Sun newspaper), but I think Australia’s early exit from the Twenty20 World Cup will be a blessing in disguise. They can now focus everything they have on their Ashes defense, rest up a little, and become well accustomed to playing under England conditions. This was on my mind as soon as I heard we were knocked out by losing to the West Indies and Sri Lanka, and Shane Warne shares this view:

“Although Australia will still be hurting, this could be a blessing in disguise for the Ashes. They will be able to have a short break to get this out of their systems and then tick along with their practice out of the spotlight before the warm-ups. They have one focus now, no distractions before July 8 in Cardiff.”
- Shane Warne in The Times

Match time is good, but Twenty20 cricket is so different to Test match cricket that I think a good amount of time between games is a good thing. And by the time we get to Cardiff on July 8, I think they’ll be hungry for some international cricket success. If Australia goes on to win the Ashes, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the English press do a 180 degree turn and pronounce that England lost because they stayed in the World Cup for too long.

What do you think? Will Australia’s early exit from the World Cup be to their advantage when they get to the Ashes Tests?

Australia: 393
England: 5/114

Earlier in this Test the Aussie press were praising England for finally giving Australia a challenge. That challenge ended on day three at the SCG.

The tourists started off the day pretty well, reducing Australia to 6 for 260. This was on par with England’s 6 for 258, but the final 5 English batsmen could add just 4 runs to the total, whereas Australia’s final 5 added 173. Australia’s success was in large part due to the batting of Shane Warne, who top scored with 71. If Warnie ever wins an Academy Award – and who’s to say he won’t – he will surely be thanking Paul Collingwood for giving him the inspiration to go on. Whilst Warne was batting, Collingwood started to give him a bit of his best sledging, and typically, the Aussie responded in kind:

“You got an MBE, right? For scoring seven at the Oval? It’s an embarrassment.”
- Shane Warne to Paul Collingwood

Warnie was smashing the ball to the fence, and Collingwood was giving him lip from the slips. The legspinner was loving it:

“It was making me concentrate. It was making me more determined. It was all a bit of fun.
That’s the way he wanted to play it and I was happy to play that game. It suits me fine.”
- Shane Warne

Trailing by 102 runs on the first innings, England’s top order batsmen needed to play well. They didn’t, and with a lead of just 12 runs and only 5 wickets in hand, they are looking down the barrell at yet another loss. They’ll need Pietersen to play through to the end, adding at least another 150 to the total. This would seem unlikely, but anything less than that should be too easy for the Australians to overhaul.

If Paul Collingwood’s MBE is an embarrassment, then 5-0 would be even worse.

1. Australia regains the Ashes
It was only 15 months ago that England was celebrating, but the Aussies took just 1 ball from Steve Harmison to get the Ashes back.

2. England’s injuries
Several of England’s top players were injured during the year, including Michael Vaughan, Simon Jones, Freddie Flintoff, Ashley Giles, and James Anderson. In a double blow for England, Giles and Anderson recovered in time for the first Test in Brisbane.

3. Shane Warne bags 700
The world’s greatest leg spinner finally made it to 700. He also took his 700th wicket.

4. England crumble in Adelaide
The England team declared at 6 for 551 in the first innings, the entire cricket world was anticipating a draw, but mighty England managed to pull off an unlikely loss.

5. Monty Panesar takes 8 on debut
English spinning sensation Monty Panesar grabbed 8 wickets in his first Test against Australia, prompting Ian Thorpe to say that “Monty is fully Sikh!”
(Local Aussie humour … click here for an explanation, or just move on to the next one.)

6. Australia wins 10 out 10
In stark contrast to last year’s Ashes result, Australia won all 10 Tests this year, whilst England won just 4 out of 14 (it becomes 5 out of 14 if you include the match Darrell Hair forfeited on Pakistan’s behalf).

7. The defection of Troy
When Troy Cooley moved back to Australia, England’s bowling squad promptly fell to pieces, Australia benefited, and there was something about a big wooden horse. Or maybe that was just in the movie.

8. The blame game
Apparently England’s poor form was due to Duncan Fletcher, the ECB, the wives and girlfriends of the England players, and David Beckham. The players themselves had nothing to do with it.

9. The end of an era
Cricket legends Warne and McGrath announced their retirement from Test Match cricket, prompting wild celebrations from England fans and Stuart MacGill.

10. Australia’s one-day win at the Champions Trophy
It was only a one-dayer, but Australia’s 6 wicket win over England in October gave the Australians extra confidence, and planted the seeds of doubt in the minds of the England players, especially Mr Harmison.

Are there any other big Ashes moments that you’d like to add to this list?

England: 159
Australia: 2/48

The series is all over as far as a final result is concerned, but the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne is always special, and with the forthcoming retirements of a couple of old Aussies this one’s particularly ’shuper’ (thank you, Richie). Around 4 million fans turned up at the ‘G today, and although not quite a ground record, it certainly added a bit of atmosphere to the place.

England batted first on what turned out to be a bowlers wicket. They started off ok, although the scoring rate was dreadfully slow, chugging along at just 2 runs an over. It looked like Adelaide all over again, especially once the wickets started to fall. Warnie picked up his 700th with a ripper of a delivery to clean bowl Andrew Strauss for 50, and from there it was all Australia. Pietersen continues to impress with the bat, leaving most people wondering why he doesn’t come in at number 3 or 4. Glenn McGrath didn’t get amongst the wickets today, but his solitary dismissal of Mahmood gave him 150 wickets against England. Well done, Ooh Aah!

Chris Read came into the squad as replacement for Geraint Jones, and immediately had an impact. He made just 3 runs, but that’s, like, 300% more runs than Jones made in two innings at Perth. Someone has mentioned that the England bowlers don’t really like the new guy, so we’ll have to watch out for any signs of team disharmony over the coming days.

The Australians started off really well, but with the late dismissal of Langer and nightwatchman Lee, England were able to get some positives out of the day. If the tourists can grab a few quick ones tomorrow morning then they might be a chance. But, as seems more likely, Australia put on a bit of a run feast, then it’s pretty much all over.

Presents. Food. Family. Fun.

Yes, they are all a part of our Christmas celebration, one that for my wife and I has only just started. It’s our first Christmas with our little 5 month old boy, and it looks like being a fun day. It’s getting close to 7:30am, and he’s back in bed already. We’ve opened our gifts, which he smiled at, and then went back to sucking the life out of the wrapping paper. Maybe, instead of spending the big bucks on those toys, we should have just wrapped up a crumpled ball of paper and said, “Go crazy, kid.”

Later on this morning we’ll all head over to my parents-in-law for a big roast lunch, and then this evening we’ll drive out to my uncle’s acreage property almost an hour out of Brisbane. As usual, it’s going to be a hot and humid Christmas Day – 32 deg. C. with a late thunderstorm sweeping through. Still, we’ll stay inside when the rains come, and we’ll joke and laugh and eat fresh prawns and salad (an Aussie tradition).

But there’s more to it than that. Christmas is the day we give thanks for the birth of the Christ Child – the day when God came down to earth in human form. A day that changed history.

But that’s not the whole story either. Christmas is also a day of rest … before the Boxing Day Test starts up in Melbourne!! Let’s face it, mate, all this food and gift-giving is great, but it’s all just a prelude for The Big One. The Boxing Day Test. Australia v England. Shane Warne’s final Test in front of his adoring home crowd.

It may not be all that Christmas is about, but without the cricket, Christmas Day would be just another significant religious holiday.

In the Book of Matthew, Jesus Christ outlined a form of prayer that we know as The Lord’s Prayer. He said that this was a good place to start as a model for how we should pray. Here, then, is a Prayer for England:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Duncan came, his will was done,
Getting Giles and Jones in the team.
Give us this day our daily rumour about Michael Vaughan returning soon,
And lead KP not into temptation,
But deliver him from Warnie.
For Pietersen thinks he is the greatest player who has ever lived,
And Simon Jones seems to be injured for ever and ever.
Amen.

He is the greatest.

And we are a privileged generation.

I remember when he first came onto the scene in a big way with a haul of 7 wickets at the MCG against the West Indies. Before then I had simply viewed him as just another spinner. With that performance I reckon everything changed.

Then there was “The Gatting Ball“. I was just a teenager at the time, and I stayed up late at night to watch a few hours of the cricket at my home in Melbourne. It was incredible. I seem to recall wanting to go and wake Mum and Dad up to explain what I had just witnessed. But I just started up the VCR and hit ‘record’ when the replays started. There were a lot of replays.

Warne went on to take 4 wickets in each innings of that game at Old Trafford, the same Test match in which Ian Healy hit his first century, and Graham Gooch made a beautiful 133 before becoming the first Englishman to be dismissed ‘handled the ball’. In the second Test at Lord’s Warne also took 4 wickets in each innings, Mike Atherton was run out on 99 and Australian won by an innings.

So what are Warne’s 6 favourite deliveries? You can see a few of them in this collection of video highlights:

1. The Gatting ball in 1993:
“… that ball was a fluke” – Shane Warne

2. Andrew Strauss in 2005:
Turned right past the left handed opener and took out leg stump. Click here to see it at YouTube.

3. Devon Malcolm in 1994:
A beautiful delivery that got Shane his first hat trick.

4. Richie Richardson in 1992:
”It was my first wicket (of the second innings) and I went on to take 7-52, and it was the first time that I actually felt like I contributed to a win and could be successful at this level.”

5. Shivnarine Chanderpaul in 1996:
”I went around the wicket, bowled a big leg-break and Chanderpaul went back to cut it and it bowled him. It was probably the furthest I turned a ball to ever get a wicket.”

6. Herschelle Gibbs at the 1999 World Cup:
”I had struggled a little bit up until then … but that ball lifted me.”

Well done, mate. You have been a wonderful cricketer, a true entertainer, and you will be sorely missed. We look forward to seeing what you can do in your final 2 Tests, and then we’ll see what you can add to the Channel 9 commentary team.

Australian cricket legends Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath are to retire from Test Match cricket at the end of the fifth Test in Sydney. A formal announcement is expected from Warne today, and McGrath is set to do the same next week.

I think the two of them have timed their retirements perfectly. They have just regained the Ashes on home turf, with the prospect of a 5-0 result possible. Following the Sydney Tests, the Australians don’t play any Test Match cricket until the following November, allowing an unusually long time for the selectors, and new players, to adjust. Although one would expect the two of them to be replaced by a pair of Stuarts – Warne by Stuart MacGill, and McGrath by Stuart Clark – that period of adjustment will be a huge benefit to Australian cricket.

The retirement of these two cricketing greats will add further incentive to the Aussie dream of a 5-0 whitewash. Those two blokes will be giving their all in Melbourne and Sydney, and I’d reckon the rest of the Australian team will be doing the same. Warne and McGrath were special players, and they deserve a very special ending.

England: 129
Australia: 4/168

Australia wins by 6 wickets

How did this happen??!!

This would have to go down as one of the most remarkable wins ever … up there with India’s wins over Australia in 2001 and 2005. At the start of the day we were all expecting a bland draw. Maybe England would try and go for quick runs, declare, and set Australia a total to chase, but that seemed unlikely. But after seeing both sides cruise past 500 in their first dig, I can not understand how England could be strangled to the point that they are all out for 129 from 73 overs.

Shane Warne was the chief destroyer with 4 for 49, but the Aussie quicks were brilliant as well, cutting England’s run supply and causing the tourists to make careless errors with the bat. Although the wickets were useful, I think it was the uber-slow scoring rate that really ended England. It was “active euthanasia” in so much as they brought on their own death by doing nothing. Absolutely nothing. If they had added another 50 runs, or batted for another hour, they would have been safe. If I were an England cricket fan I would be demanding a Royal Commission.

Paul Collingwood was the hero in the first innings with a brilliantly created double century. In the second innings, post-Aussie victory, he is the villain who faced 119 balls, made just 22 runs, and exposed the fragile English lower order to the wily deception of Messrs Warne and McGrath. I think he’ll have a bit on his mind tonight.

Then there was the England bowling. Lacking in venom, bite, and a decent spinner, Flintoff had no-one to turn to but himself. Harmison was offering nothing, and Giles never looked like giving the ball the magic it had when in the hands of Shane Warne.

So, where to now for England? What do they have to do to get themselves back into this series?

Australia 513
England: 1/59

It was a tough day for the English bowlers, and a day of redemption for Australia’s batsmen. Michael Clarke showed that his place in the team is warranted with a well crafted 124, his improved batting apparently the result of a chat over dinner with Shane Warne on Sunday night. Adam Gilchrist also showed that he’s not quite finished yet with 64.

This Test has been spoken of as being a repeat of the Edgbaston Test, so on day two I made a few predictions. As per Edgbaston 2005, I said that Australia would finish up roughly 100 runs behind England … they did better than that, and were only 38 behind. I also said that Ponting would top score for the Aussies (as he did at Edgbaston), and that Adam Gilchrist would finally make a few runs, which he did. Although one wonders if Gilly would have had the same success if Flintoff had been bowling, as the big Lancastrian was unable to bowl for much of the day.

Shane Warne continues to show his all-round ability, as he became only the sixth man to have taken 300 Test wickets and score 3000 runs. That puts him in the same category as Ian Botham, Imran Khan and Kapil Dev (although Warne’s batting average is far lower than the other players in this exclusive group). But at least he got there, so good on ya, Warnie!

For the English, Matthew Hoggard was the hero, as he bagged 7 wickets for the innings. Given that only 17 wickets have been taken across 4 days of Test match cricket, I’d say that’s a fantastic effort from the English swinger. Amongst the other bowlers, Harmison went wicketless, though his much improved line and length will give him some confidence for the next 3 games. Giles and Anderson were also made to look pretty ordinary on this pitch, but then so did most of Australia’s bowlers, so it’s difficult to learn too much from this effort.

What can we look forward to on day five? Well, in my view there’s a 98% chance that this game will head for a draw, a 1% chance that England will win and a 1% chance that Australia will win. If England wants to level the series they will have to make 200 runs in the first session (I reckon that would be a little over 6 runs an over), declare, and then take 10 Aussie wickets in just 2 sessions. I can’t see that happening. If Australia wants to win then they would need to take another 9 scalps before lunch, whilst restricting England’s scoring, and then try and get the runs in the final 2 sessions. (Cue the Mission Impossible soundtrack) The only other option is that England offers a sporting declaration with, say, a 200 run lead, and then give Australia 40 overs to get them. The Australians would be tempted by the offer, risky chances would be taken, and just maybe England could grab the wickets they need. Or perhaps Australia would get the runs. Frankly, I just don’t think Flintoff and the England management would have the courage to do that, so it looks like we’ve got a draw coming up.