Sunday 5 January 2014

Ashes Pain All Over Again

Stuart Broad beats Brad Haddin's bat.
A rare English plus.
Take nothing away from the Australian cricket team, they deserve their Ashes victory. England have been extremely poor and there isn't much for an England cricket fan that could be more painful. Until now my most
painful England cricket memory was losing the Ashes 5-0 in 2006/07 made worse by the fact I was there at 3 of the games and experienced it in person. This year it is rapidly overtaking it and losing 5-0 again is almost a certainty, meaning that I would be here in Australia for 10 losses out of 10. Coming so quickly after a 3-0 Ashes victory in England where there was talk of England winning 5-0, it makes it even more painful.

Generally I think I am a respectful and fair person when losing. As biased as I may be with my desire for England or Tottenham Hotspur or Macquarie University CC to win sporting events I think that my assessment of events is a fair one. In this instance, England have been out-skilled. Even in victory I like to think I am fair. It is natural to enjoy your team/country winning more than losing, and of course any England Ashes victory makes me very happy. But I won't gloat about it, mainly out of respect but more and more out of realisation that the teams I support have an extremely good record of screwing things up in a short amount of time. Also because gloating is poor form, and the only thing worse than a bad loser is a very poor winner. What goes around, comes around.

The beautiful Sydney Cricket Ground
from the new Member's Stand
Everyone can give their opinion of why England have been so poor, everyone has let me know it too, being the only Englishman at an Australian cricket club. Australia have been good but the press and fans are making them out to be absolute World-beaters and some have even said they are the best Australian team ever. I don't think so by a long shot, one good (ok, great) series doesn't allow that title. Let us not forget that Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Michael Clarke, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Lyon and Shane Watson have all been part of what can at best be described as a mediocre Australian cricket team over the last 3 or 4 years. Johnson's struggles in the 2009 Ashes in England and the reverse in Australia in 2010-11 are well documented, Siddle and Watson both played in those series and Ryan Harris played some of 2010-11 and the 2013 series in England. Johnson played well in 2 Ashes tests out of 10 until this series, he was Australia's Steve Harmison. The team I witnessed beat England 5-0 in 2006-07 would be more deserving of the title of Best Australian Team Ever with the likes of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee who all had long careers of high success. But do either of these teams deserve to outrank Don Bradman's "Invincibles"? To me the current Australian side have been like McDonalds serving up 5-star quality steaks with Champagne and Caviar, and punching above their weight against a very poor and off-colour England team.

Going into this series there were question marks over just about every Australian player. Would Mitchell Johnson succumb to nerves again? Is Steve Smith really a number 5, and how the hell does he score runs? Can Dave Warner hold his place? Chris Rogers, really? George Bailey a Test player? Can Shane Watson bowl, or go on after making a start? Can Ryan Harris play more than 3 Tests? They have emphatically answered all questions and gelled to an extent that Australia have played the same 11 in all 5 games. The last time England came close to that was in 2005, and it was only because of an injury to Simon Jones that Paul Collingwood played at The Oval. As Shane Warne pointed out, he got an MBE for scoring 7 and 10 in that match...

Consistancy is a key element to a winning side, as is showing positive intent. England had that for the last 3 or 4 years and that was why they rose to Number 1 in the world with a nucleus of Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Johnathon Trott, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Kevin Pietersen. Strauss retired last year and Trott is suffering from a stress-related illness which I can certainly sympathise with, as you will know if you have read my previous blogs, and what the hell REALLY happened with Swann will be revealed in time I am sure. But with an experienced Cook, Bell and Pietersen in the order, England have succumbed and surrendered easier than a French army and that is frustrating.

The moment Australia won 5-0
in 2006/07
It is inevitable that this series is going to end 5-0 to Australia. As I write this off the back of being at the SCG for Days 1 and 2, England are 300 behind with 6 wickets still to get having only made 155 first time around. After Perth I said 5-0, I now wish I'd not joked about putting $50 on it and just done it. In 2006-07, it was painful enough but a fitting score to a side full of all-time greats like Warne, McGrath, Ponting, Gilchrist, Hayden, Lee, Mike Hussey and even Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke and Stuart Clark in there. Michael Clarke survives and leads Australia now, but with the greatest respect I don't think any of the current players will go down in history as all-time greats in the way the Class of 2006-07 will and in many ways that makes this 5-0 even more painful. England winning 3-0 seems a long long time ago.

Yet I still feel that Australia are beatable, and certainly England's focus will be and bringing that little urn back to where it belongs in 2015. Who will still be playing for Australia in 2015? Can Johnson really back up this outstanding series in the face of an English home crowd on slower English pitches? Will Brad Haddin have retired or will he want one last crack at winning the Ashes in England? Will Chris Rogers have retired? Will Ryan Harris's knee have given way? What of Siddle and Watson?

A painful sight for England fans
England have to find answers and quickly. Hopefully the debutants this series will have not been too scarred by the experience and over the next 18 months can build their confidence up again. Even back at The Oval we debuted Simon Kerrigan and some are saying that will be his first and last test match. Ben Stokes looks like a find and his battling century at the WACA could be the start of something special, and his 6 wickets at the SCG shouldn't be forgotten. Alastair Cook made a ton at the WACA in 2006-07 and next time he came to Australia he scored over 700 runs in the 5 matches so there is a precedent, and a faint glimmer for England. Scott Borthwick needs time as leg-spin is an art not easily mastered, Gary Ballance needs time in the middle and Boyd Rankin has the height and pace that England need to utilise and bring on in the right way, not using the short ball too often.

At the start of the series I predicted 3-1 to England. This is the first series prediction (including score) I have got wrong since 2005 when I predicted 2-2 and England won what is seen by many as the Greatest Ever series of Test cricket 2-1. In 06-07 it was obvious from before the start that Australia would win, but even during that series I said England would win in 2009 and they did. In 2010-11 it was obvious that England were in the ascendancy and would win and in 2013 there was nothing in Australia's side to worry England as Mickey Arthur had made them into a laughing stock. In came Darren Lehmann and suddenly the Australian attitude changed and that old Australian doggedness returned, they had fire and fight about them again and suddenly it feels like Ashes battles of the 1990's all over again, where aggressive Australians leave defenceless "Poms" nothing to cling to.

If England do have anything to cling to, it will be that Australia have not won an Ashes series in England since 2001. Although I have been wrong about the outcome of this series I still have a feeling that 2015 will be England's series and that is largely because of what I said earlier about this Australian side not being a "great" side. They may well become one, they travel to South Africa next and host India next summer before heading to England and if they play the same brand of cricket over that year then they stand every chance of winning the Ashes in England and becoming the World Number 1 side. England have to stop the rot, in 2011 we were the number 1 side and lost that to South Africa in 2012. As the end of the series rapidly approaches England will have a 6 month break from Test cricket before they host Sri Lanka in June and India later in the summer. And boy, don't they need it.
2006-07... History to repeat itself
in 2013/14.