The Ashes Blog

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?

Australia wins by 277 runs

It took just 19 overs this morning for Australia to wrap things up in Brisbane and go to a 1-0 lead (click here for the scorecard). England offered surprisingly little resistance, with Kevin Pietersen gone in the first over, Jones bowled by McGrath 7 overs later, and the rest did their bit as lower order batsmen … a few swipes, and then back to the pavilion before causing too much trouble.

Australia reviewed:
For Australia, there were plenty of positives to come out of this game. Stuart Clark’s rise continues, the batting from the top six was awesome, and Glenn McGrath showed us that he still has the magic.

On the negative side, there’s the batting of Gilchrist, the impenetrable bowling from Brett Lee, and the way in which everyone allowed things to get a little out of hand when Pietersen and Collingwood went on the attack.

England reviewed:
For England, well, at least there weren’t any major injuries. The few positives include the guts and fight shown by the middle order on the fourth day, the bowling of Flintoff, and Kevin Pietersen’s haircut (no more Skunk Boy!).

The negatives are many and obvious. Stephen Harmison’s bowling improved from utterly woeful to barely Test standard, the batting and overall captaincy shown by Flintoff, the bowling from Anderson, the batting from Strauss, the presence of Duncan Fletcher, and the absence of Troy Cooley.

What lies ahead?
Australia has a few big selection issues, but they are all good decisions. Shane Watson’s not yet ready, which helps a little, but then if they want to bring in leggie Stuart MacGill, who do they get rid of? Stuart Clark, who took 7 wickets for the match? Brett Lee, Australia’s stump-destroying speedster? It’s going to be a tough call.

England probably couldn’t play any worse than they did in Brisbane, but then we were probably saying the same thing in 2002, 1999, and beyond. England will certainly improve, but whether it will be enough to get them a win in Adelaide is difficult to tell. At this stage I’d say an Adelaide win is unlikely, but then look what happened last year! Freddie Flintoff has told his bowlers to look to Glenn McGrath for an example of bowling perfection, and his batsmen have to show a bit of the determination shown by Collingwood and ‘Hollywood’. Harmy will need to get back to his best, and I just can’t see that happening, and Ashley Giles will need Panesar to keep him company, at the expense of James Anderson.

I know Flintoff is using 2005 as a source of hope, but the circumstances are quite different. If England are still lapping up past successes then they will need to quickly move on. Facing Australia in 2006 is a very, very different scenario.

“The nation that gave cricket Bodyline yesterday started the most anticipated Ashes series ever with a shock new tactic
… Shoddyline.”

That’s how Robert Craddock described Harmison’s first over in the local Brisbane newspaper, The Courier Mail. It’s headline-grabbing, newspaper-selling stuff more than it is intelligent journalism, but hey, whatever works for them.

Things were no less critical over at The Australian, with Peter Lalor hugely critical of Harmison:

“Andrew Flintoff was forced to remove Harmison – the main offender – after just two overs and it’s a surprise he didn’t ask the police to escort him from the ground.”

Back in England, and Richard Williams at The Guardian says what I’m sure every England fan is thinking:

“(We) can only cling to the hope that his good days will outweigh the bad.”

Australia 3/346

Let’s face it, it couldn’t have been much worse for England. Well, they could have had a series-ending injury to a key player, but aside from that, pretty much everything else made this Black Thursday for the England cricket team.

The bus trip from their hotel to the Gabba was, according to Ashley Giles, “a quiet place this morning”. The enormity of the task ahead had made them all nervous. It showed.

So often the very first ball of the first Test sets the tone … it makes a statement. Stephen Harmison’s first delivery certainly did that, as he sent it wide and into the hands of his captain standing at second slip. The nerves were showing. The pressure, that overpowering, confidence-draining pressure, was hanging all over Harmison, and he couldn’t cope. Apparently that gave the Australians “a bit of a lift“. After two overs Harmison was taken off. What a contrast to last year.

As for the other bowlers, all 7 of them, they all had brief moments of greatness, though the general quality of bowling on offer was pretty low. Will Luke and the Cricinfo commentary team were scathing:

“Hoggard is not doing much and at around 80mph, Ponting and Martyn will have been more tested in the pre-match nets …”

“That had “hit me, please” all over it”

However, Patrick Kidd at The Times suggests 10 reasons why England should remain positive, including:

Mike Dickson at The Daily Mail reckons England could be looking at an innings defeat, although I wouldn’t be so despondent just yet if I were an English fan.

For the Australians, Hayden and Langer got them off to a great start. Langer was at his attacking best, obviously keen to silence those who were calling for his departure. But the star of the Aussie innings was Captain Ponting, who scored his 32nd Test match hundred. He was superb all day, and I think he looks determined enough to make a double hundred at the Gabba. Unless England’s bowling improves, there won’t be much to stop him except himself.

I thought it would be interesting to do a statistical comparison of the two sides to see how they will fare against each other, statistically speaking. What I’ve done is add up the batting averages for all 11 players in each side to give a team batting average. I’ve then added up the bowling averages for Australia and England, and this gives us a team bowling average. To the Australian batting averages I added the England team bowling average to give a final total (and vice versa for England). So if a side has a very good, and therefore low, bowling average then they won’t be adding too many runs to the oppositions total team average, so it seems to me like a fair comparison: Read the rest of this entry »

Stephen Harmison has decided to play on, even though he’s in a fair amount of pain from his side strain. A jab of Cortisone, and he’ll be fine … at least that’s what he reckons.

If it works, and Harmy can take 3 or 4 wickets an innings, he’ll look like an absolute hero. There’ll be parades, newborn babies will be named in his honour, and kids all over the country will start injecting themselves with Cortisone because they “wanna be like Harmy”.

But if it doesn’t work, if the big man struggles to find consistency, and especially if he breaks down after 5 overs and can give no more, then his decision will look utterly ridiculous. Apparently he’s felt the pain of the injury all through the tour, which explains why he could only send down a few overs of his wayward bowling in the game against New South Wales. This is a real concern for Harmison and England. He hasn’t really looked good since he arrived, and if that’s because of his side strain, then it doesn’t bode well for the first Test.

This is a risk that Harmison is prepared to take. It might work, but it might not. It is a risk.

If you’re a Test cricketer on the eve of the most highly anticipated series in 10,000 years, you’ll love Injury World!!

Steve Harmison says, “It’s great! My bowling’s all over the place, but since arriving in Injury World I’ve been able to strain my side, just like I used to do back home! I’ve missed out on some decent match practice and everything, but I’ll still play the first Test.”

Shane Watson says, “I’ve been living in Injury World for quite a while now, and I’ve gotta say it’s a very special place to be. World Cup 2003 – gone. All-rounder position in last summer’s Test series – I’m outta there. The first Test at the Gabba? Maybe yes, maybe no. But if I do play, I promise something pretty special for this first game … like a stress fracture in my back, or perhaps another dislocated shoulder.”