England Lucky To Draw Series

The Springboks made no secret of the fact they felt they had been the better of the two sides throughout the test series. After the 4th test where England was comprehensively demolished, it is hard to disagree with that opinion. Apart from their one below par display in the 2nd test, South Africa played positive, aggressive cricket. England on the other hand seemed more interested in avoiding defeat as opposed to pursuing victory.

Overall, it was a decent series for England but you can’t help wondering what might have happened if they had been more positive. Now that Flintoff is no longer around the side continues to lack balance. Selecting an extra batsman is not the answer if you want to win test matches. Indeed, right throughout the series England have not scored enough runs even with the additional batsman. England bat down the order with Swann and Broad so runs should not be too much of a problem.

Taking 20 wickets must surely be the priority but in the final test England once again selected only four bowlers. Unfairly ditching Onions in favour of Sidebottom with his novelty left-arm bowling merely compounded the error. We keep hearing about our world class attack but if you take Swann and his wickets out of the equation we would have struggled. They have potential to be a world class attack but are certainly not the finished article. England still requires a long term replacement for Harmison as the current attack would benefit from the addition of genuine pace.

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Time To Forget About Flintoff

After turning down the incremental contract that was offered by the ECB Andrew Flintoff should not be allowed to play for his country again. It has become clear that money and not cricket is now his number one priority. Good luck to the bloke and he deserves any financial opportunities that might come his way. But please let us not have a ridiculous situation where the player picks and chooses the one day games and tournaments he is interested in participating.

When the ECB felt Kevin Pietersen was getting too big for his boots they were not having any of it. The same treatment needs dishing out to Flintoff. He either wants to play for his country or he does not. If he wants to earn lucrative sums from bungee jumping, extreme ironing, or television then he has no business being a member of the England squad. His inclusion would be an insult to his fellow players and a slap in the face of every England supporter.

He has been a hugely influential player for a number of years but not any more. These days Flintoff is a spent force. In the Ashes, he delivered one major bowling performance of any note. This only served to aggravate more injury problems and he was virtually a passenger for the rest of the series. The same thing happened in the West Indies. Domestic clubs around the World are willing to spend huge sums of money on Flintoff. They should give him a contract based on appearances because he will probably miss more games through injury than he plays.

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The One Day Cricket Farce Continues

Australia has raced into a 4-0 lead in the one day series without breaking sweat. England’s one day team look like they could not care less. The excuses have already started to emerge. James Anderson has complained about the atmosphere stating it is nothing like it was during the Ashes series. This is hardly surprising given the rubbish the spectators have paid to watch. Players could follow Flintoff’s example and try to get the crowd going but the team is full of followers instead of leaders.

Another popular excuse is that old chestnut tiredness. The funny thing about tiredness is it seems to rear its head at convenient times of the year. Funnily enough, there does not seem to be many players complaining of tiredness when the IPL is on the horizon. Paul Collingwood must have been absolutely knackered after his sting with the Delhi Daredevils.

The selection of Trott for the final Ashes test demonstrated that better players exist in the domestic game than the cosy group who fail to justify their selection. England has made the same mistakes again, and again, and again both in this series and in recent years. It is getting somewhat tedious having to watch a comedy of errors. Then you have the captain saying all the right things afterwards.

England favour a defensive approach rather than attacking the opposition. Delaying the final power play until tail-enders is at the crease defies all logic although it sums things up perfectly. Either the players cannot be bothered or they are demonstrating a lack of intelligence. If players are not performing then others should be given their opportunity. Geoff Miller talks about consistency in selection but this is a weakness when it produces endless defeats.

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England Win The Ashes

It was like 2005 all over again as England took the 10 Australian wickets needed to win The Ashes. England has a reputation for making strong comebacks after a poor result. And after crumbling at Headingley there was no margin for any errors. The toss was crucial and allowed England to dictate proceedings. They were helped by the lack of a frontline spinner in the opposition ranks. In hindsight, England could have gone with 2 spinners.

The 2009 Ashes series will be remembered for years to come. There will be inevitable comparisons with the 2005 series triumph. Of course, back then the Australian team contained some huge players which made the win special. It could be argued that both teams are now weaker and in transition. Otherwise the obvious difference with this series is the fact it was won on the field. When Swann took the last wicket, a packed Oval was rocking amid amazing scenes.

This has been a strange series where facts and figures are concerned. If anyone studied the batting and bowling statistics, they would wrongly assume that Australia had won hands down. The crucial match was the 1st test which England should have lost. When the Aussies did not get the win they deserved it was always a possibility it could come back to haunt them.

Andrew Strauss has carried the top order throughout the series. A special mention must go to Matt Prior whose wicket keeping has been faultless during the five test matches. He has eradicated the dropped catches and missed stumpings and he now looks to be the best option behind the stumps. Jonathan Trott proved a fantastic selection and a player who looks completely at home in the test match arena.

Flintoff had a quiet game by his standards yet still managed to run out Ricky Ponting with some excellent fielding. His buddy Steve Harmison also got in on the act with 3 wickets. Overall this was a tremendous display by England who had to remain patient when Australia built some strong partnerships. Andy Flower might not have been first choice but the partnership between him and the skipper appears to be work well.

There will be no over the top celebrations this time which is a good thing. This triumph gives Strauss, Flower and the team a great platform to build on. The tour to South Africa is already looking like a mouth watering proposition.

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