Cricket Frenzy...

Well it is everywhere. Everytime I walk my dog I see kids and families playing cricket. They are playing in the park and in the street. I have never seen anything like it in this country. It just shows that winning is still the key to getting people to play sport, and finally the message may get through to the liberals who took competitive sport off the school curriculum. Hopefully our government will finally get it and start supporting the national teams and sportspeople more.

It gets even better, the ramshackle 6 or so kids who have been using the all weather strip in the local park, today staged a game with about 20 of them playing, they even had an umpire with a notebook! The funniest thing was that the guy who was next in to bat was padded up on the boundary and one of the lads batting had no pads on at all. The over I saw consisted of a couple of beamers, 3 wides and a couple of streaky singles. But at least they aren't using their bikes as the slip fielders anymore!

Freddie, what have you started?

Pietersen's Problem

Having just watched a highlights show from the Ashes series, it would seem that Pietersen was out and dropped playing exactly the same shot, a drive outside off stump to a very full swinging ball. On the basis that I have spotted this you have to assume that Duncan Fletcher has this one covered. The Pakistan bowlers will definitely have got it logged and they love swinging yorkers, they practically invented them!

Overall Series Stats

By session:

I score it like this:

England 32 sessions
Australia 26 sessions

Which seems a big difference overall, that is 2 days cricket difference. In fact I reckon there is about 1 hours cricket in the overall result. Another 30 runs at Trent Bridge and it was an Australian win, Another 5 overs at Old Trafford and we may have got a result, Edbaston was 1 shot away from being an Aussie win. It could have been 3-2 to the Aussies on that basis and what a travesty that would have been.

Maybe Test match cricket is the true test of two sides and the better team does win, regardless of toss, weather, umpires, crowd, pitches etc etc.

England Batting

Top order 1150
Middle order 1292
Lower order 326

TOTAL 2768

Run Rate 3.6

Australia Batting

Top order 1071
Middle order 942
Lower order 542

TOTAL 2555

Run Rate 3.4

So a measly 213 runs, a session and a half difference on the batting.

Here come the jokes...

Well it never takes long does it...

Billy was at school this morning in the outback and the teacher asked all the children what there fathers did for a living. All the typical answers came out, Fireman, Policeman, Salesman, Chippy, Captain of Industry etc, but Billy was being uncharacteristically quiet and so the teacher asked him about his father. "My father is an exotic dancer in a gay club and takes off all his clothes in front of other men. Sometimes if the offer is really good, he'll go out with a man, rent a cheap hotel room and let them sleep with him. "The teacher quickly set the other children some work and took little Billy aside to ask him if that was really true. "No" said Billy, "He plays cricket for Australia but I was just too embarrassed to say."

Love it.

Head to Head: Series Review

Before the Series began I had Australia winning in the following areas:

Openers
Keepers
Middle Order
Spinners

I called it even in the following areas:

Captains
Opening bowlers
Quick bowlers

And the funny thing is I have called all categories except Spinners in Englands favour now the series is over.

Head to Head: Series Review - Part 4

Opening Bowlers

Pre-Series: "This one will depend on how they both start the series - I would call this one even at this stage."

Post Series: This all changed half way through when Gillespie was dumped by the Aussie selectors through poor performance. That was absolutely correct as he was dreadful. And of course McGrath missed two tests through injury. Interestingly neither Hoggard and Harmison were not the best England bowlers in the end, they weighed in with 33 wickets in all. McGrath and Gillespie took 22. Just through their fitness and performance this one goes to the England boys - just.

The All Rounders

Pre Series: "Well we've got Freddie and they've got.....is this the edge for England I wonder????"

Post Series: In simple terms Freddie was the difference, the other batsman and bowlers all pretty much cancel each other out. Australia had 3 bowlers who took more than 10 wickets and 4 batsman who made more than 300. England had 4 bowlers and 5 batsman and in both cases that extra man was Flintoff! Case closed.

The Middle Order

Pre Series: "This could be where this series is won and lost, across the board in all other categories it works out pretty evenly. I fear that the Australians may have the edge here."

Post Series: Hats off to England again here, the middle order put together 1292 runs compared to Australia's 942. This is the biggest difference in the batting and was indeed, as predicted, where the ashes was won. Martyn and Bell failed to impress for both teams. Clarke and Pietersen played well overall, Jones out scored Gilchrist and Freddie did the same to Katich. Australia did not have the dominance they needed in this area in the end, that has to be mostly down to Adam Gilchrist who will be disappointed with hiw own batting.

Head to Head: Series Review - Part 3

The Keepers

Pre Series: "Geraint Jones has come on a treat and is a key part of the England set up, unfortunately it is not enough, Gilchrist is one of the best players in the world and wins this one easily for the Aussies."

Post Series: Adam Gilchrist must be gutted on this one, Jones outscored him by 229 runs to 181. Gilchrist was worked out by England's superb planning and suffered at every turn, not making 1 50 in the whole series. Credit must go to Duncan Fletcher here. But also Hoggard and Flintoff for picking him up with great bowling, and as Luke referenced, "Gilchrist does not get out lbw"... he does now! Jones was rightly criticised for dropping catches and some shoddy work but I think England must persevere here, he could be a huge asset in years to come.

The Quicks

Pre Series: "They could both do a good job but both sets of batsman will enjoy themselves with these guys dishing up pace on hard wickets in the sunshine. I am guessing they will be as ineffective as each other."

Post Series: Simon Jones turned out to be one of England's key man with the ball, he was used as a strike bowler to great effect time and time again. His consistent movement both ways had the Aussies struggling in the key Tests at Old Trafford and Trent Bridge. Injury did for him in the end, his old problem. I am going to call this one even though but not because of "ineffectiveness" but because of excellence, Brett Lee was the find of the Tour for the Aussies, he has matured into a brilliant, gutsy performer and if he had been a bit luckier he may have got a few more wickets. He was expensive but made up for it with some great batting displays at vital times.

Head to Head: Series Review - Part 2

The Spinners

Pre Series: "I will surprise some people here, but I think this is much closer than it looks. I am going to call this even, on the basis that Giles will get more runs with the bat than Warne."

Post Series: Well, you have to say that overall both of these guys over performed, Giles batted well scoring the vital runs at Trent Bridge and he bowled much better than the Aussies thought, their manager fingered him as the weak link in England's attack and he was certainly not that. But hats off to Shane Warne he was absolutely brilliant, far from being even - Warne bowled out of his skin, batted well [at times] but most importantly was Australia's rock, when all else was going wrong Warne was on hand to bowl, advise or encourage. His sportsmanship was top drawer and he was pushed to the physical limits, bowling 250 overs! His figures of 40 for 797 are incredible. That is like bowling for a whole Test match, bowling out both teams twice from both ends!! Awesome. He is by far and away Australia's star man.

Head to Head: Series Review - Part 1

At the beginning of the Series I did an analysis of the players against their opposite numbers, it is only reasonable to go back and look at this in light of the resulting performances:

The Captains [No 3s]

Pre Series : "My view would be that these guys are extremely evenly matched. They both weigh in regularly with runs at 3 or 4 and have great cricketing brains. Vaughan has been able to show an agressive style on England's winning run and has not been found wanting in his decision making on the field. Although Ponting is no Steve Waugh he has certainly been around the block and will have learnt a lot from the players around him. I would have to call this one a tie."

Post Series: Vaughan has to take this for his excellent captaincy throughout, with Ponting out of his comfort zone at times with some poor decisions. Ponting did weigh in with more runs but he was often under extreme pressure. Ponting also let the pressure tell at Trent Bridge with his outburst and subsequent fine. Although to credit him, both he and his players were tremendously gracious and generous in defeat.

The Openers

Pre Series: "I give Australia the edge here as I expect Hayden out perform Trescothick."

Post Series: England all the way here, they made good starts repeatedly and up until the Oval Hayden had totally underperformed, he will be lucky to keep his place in the team. Tres batted beautifully and without Pietersen's heroics at the Oval would have been the series' top scorer, he didn't make a ton but averaged 43. Strauss turned his game around brilliantly despite pressure from all the Aussie bowlers at one time or another. I can not give Langer the edge here because of this intelligent approach and hard work that was clearly going in between Tests against Merlyn [Englands spin bowler simulator]. Strauss and Tres also excelled in the field where the Aussie boys were fairly anonymous. On paper the England openers outscored their couterparts by 824 runs to 712.

The Pietersen Phenomenon

From a very small survey of people I have spoken to my belief was upheld that before his 158 at the Oval Kevin Pietersen had not made his mark in this series. Luke has said below that he was one of England's disappointments and I wrongly [corrected later] accused him of being under pressure in the batting line up.

But lo and behold he was the series' top scorer! He scored nearly 500 runs at an average of over 50.

So why did we all think he had failed to live up to his billing?

I think the issue was two fold, and you have to ignore the last innings at the Oval for this to stack. For one thing despite his volume runs he didn't really stick around too long, certainly no more than one session in nearly all his innings. He also scored half of his runs in the first two test. He failed at Old Trafford which was probably the most watched Test and of course was being generally rounded for his Teflon hands and lack of catching.

Without the Oval innings he would have scored the same runs as Vaughan so could not have been criticised out of hand but the bottom line is he did get the 158 and good luck to him. But conversely if Vaughan had not got the 166 his place would have been in question!!

Pietersen has to bat at 4 going forwards with Bell demoted to 5 until his form picks up.

England's Champagne Moments

Obviously there were key moments when England won matches but here are a few of the moments when England supporters would have drawn breath and ruminated on the phenomenon that is now England cricket. There were certain points when individual players did something a bit special which made you realise that we are now playing cricket on another level...

Pietersen's 6 off Shane Warne at Lords
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Now that does not happen very often! And from an England player, this was a big reminder to the established England players that they had to get their game together against Warne. Pietersen was the catalyst to this new found confidence and strategy which was key to England's victory in the series.

Harmison's slower ball to Clarke at Edgbaston
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Harmison did not have a great series with the pitches not suited to his usual style but he caused problems and certainly unsettled the Aussies allowing other bowlers like Jones to exploit. But the slower ball to Clarke with the last ball on Saturday night set up the victory but was also executed to such perfection that it established Harmison as a bowler with guile and precision. My personal feeling is that he failed to deliver that variation enough overall but hopefully something to work on in future.

Vaughan bowled off a no ball by McGrath at Old Trafford

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I didn't think Vaughan had a great series with the bat but when your in luck you have to fill your boots. He was clean bowled by Glenn McGrath and to his relief it was a no ball. He went to score 166 and set up a match winning position for England.

Strauss's catch off Gilchrist at Trent Bridge

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Getting Adam Gilchrist was always the line that had to be crossed by England in every Australian innings and this catch was absolutely sensational, like Collingwood's catch of Hayden in the one dayers it left you speechless. The Strauss catch was absolutely fundamental to the Aussies following on and it gets better and better every time you watch it.

Flintoff's 18 over spell - 5 for 38 at the Oval
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For the shear endurance and determination this is not a moment as such but a sustained spell of brilliance from a fast bowler. I cant remember a feat of physical excellence of this nature in any sport. It totally turned the game and gave England the chance of the draw and the series win. To have the Aussies scoring at 2 an over and hemorrhaging wickets was superb, a marvel to behold and an example to team mates which must never be forgotten.

Oval Stats

Result: DRAW

Run Rate

Much closer which determined the draw in the end.

England run rate 3.6
Australia run rate 3.4

Runs

England Top Order 262
Australia Top Order 278 [only 1 innings]

England Middle Order 269
Australia Middle Order 59 [only 1 innings]

England Tail End 143
Australia Tail End 7 [only 1 innings]

All very skewed due to the nature of the match, Aussie openers finally bothered to show up!

Best Bowling

Warne 12-246
Flintoff 5-78

Ludicrous performance from Warne, he totally carried the Aussie attack.

Key Men

Pitersen: a timely innings which guaranteed his place in the winter tour, oh yes and it won the ashes for England.
Warne: mental, thankfully last time we have to face him in England.
Flintoff: 18 over straight, 5 for 38, absolutely staggering physical performance which was a marvel to behold.
Strauss: good knock in the first innings.
Aussie openers: about time really.

Trent Bridge Stats

Run Rate

This was closer, interestingly Australia's run rate is identical to Old Trafford.

England run rate 3.9
Australia run rate 3.5

Runs

England Top Order 208
Australia Top Order 170

England Middle Order 290
Australia Middle Order 248

England Tail End 57
Australia Tail End 149

Top and middle order will be disappointed here, the Aussie tail nearly scored more than the top order!

Individual Contributions
The England bowlers were excellent with bat and ball, with everyone weighing in after Jones was injured, Warne and Lee were both excellent as well. Ironically the individual contribution most remembered will go to Gary Pratt for running out Ricky Ponting.

Best Bowling

Jones 5-44 [one innings]
Warne 8-133



Key Men

Hoggard:bowled well with 3 quick wickets in the first innings and picked up Gilchrist in the second
Flintoff: 100+ runs which set up the lead and 3 key wickets.
Warne: he produced a horrible spell as far as England were concerned in the second innings.
Lee: Annoying with big runs from the tail end and real passion in his bowling.
Strauss: brilliant catch to dismiss Gilchrist in the first innings.

Just in case you are new to Cricket...

It is not always like this!

The last few years have been excellent and England really have scraped home in this series, it is a fabulous achievement and I am thrilled to have witnessed it. It will take a while to sink in and more comments will follow...

England: Congratulations on the Ashes win...

Unless something drastic happens. It is all over for the Aussies to win the Ashes...

I know it is an early call, however I cannot see them getting over the line. Secondly, they simply do not deserve to win. They have been outplayed by England emphatically.

Such a wonderful, wonderful series indeed. So many highs and lows from a spectator point of view.

I am so excited for the future as this will enforce changes across the board. This is something the Aussie selectors have refused to do throughout the series.

Player of the series: Andrew Flintoff - followed by Shane Warne.
A.Best newcomer: Simon Jones
B.Best Batsman: Knowone
C. Best Bowler: Andrew Flintoff, Shane Warne
D. Most dissapointing players: Australia - Damien Martyn, Simon Katich, Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie (Hayden only just missed selection here). England - Ian Bell (not the worst though), Kevin Peterson (not the worst either)
E. Key players to turn the tables:
1. Gilchrist v Jones - Jones has won the battle.
2.Flintoff versus Katich - Flintoff completely killed Katich (and he is a specialist batsman).

Oval Day 4 Review

There is absolutely no question about it - over the 5 matches England's bowling attack has been better that Australia's. It has outperformed the Aussies at practically every turn.

The batting has been about even I reckon but today's performance of Freddie Flintoff was probably his best of the Summer. What a cricketer, he inspired the whole team with one spell of 18 overs, what a feat of fitness, strength, guile, skill and sheer patriotism! He took 5-38 at an incredible 2 an over. He was passing the bat time and time again and had a whole host of close calls as well as the wickets. Ably supported by Matt Hoggard he destroyed the Aussies today.

The game is still finely poised and can still can go either way, the England victory is impossible, the draw looks the favourite but an Aussie win is by no means out of the question as long as Shane Warne has a breath in his body. He for one will take most imspiration from Flintoff's performance. The standard of play is getting higher and higher and could all come to an incredible climax tomorrow, but me? I'm hoping for it to go out with a whimper and England get a draw in the rain.

Unbelievable...

England have a first innings lead!!!!!!

That is utterly incredible, another massive performance from Freddie with the ball. I'm afraid the conditions look way too friendly though and I am afraid it is all in vain. I'm glad I am not at the Oval, at least I can turn the telly off if it gets nasty - which it will!

AUSTRALIA WIN ASHES 2-2

I thought I would try it on for size, as it is [more or less] my prediction for the series, I actually said 1-1. Not sure how the Aussie press will take this one but England must see it as a springboard and a measure of how far they have come.

Shane Warne will yet again be the stand out cricketer with an incredible display and records falling all over the place. He fully deserves the plaudits but there wont be many Englishmen shedding a tear that this is probably his last tour to our shores.

Next time the Aussies come here they will certainly be without Warne, McGrath, Gillespie, Kasprowicz, Hayden and Langer. I would also expect them to come without Ponting, as this is the beginning of the end for him, Michael Clarke will replace him as he looks too uncannily like Steve Waugh in the way he plays, and Brett Lee will be the main strike bowler.

Oval Day 2/3: The Weather is the winner...

Well, it is for the moment, and England will be hoping it comes to their rescue. There is an inevitability to this one that England will end up batting on the last day and trying to survive against Shane Warne. Australia will only need to bat once the way they are playing and that will be the difference.

The pitch was made for Steve Harmison but for one reason or another he has been ineffective, although not alone in the England attack which has been impotent.

I have watched some of today's play and without sounding like sour grapes Billy Bowden appears to have decided that he is not going to give England anything else before he goes home. That is the big problem with having an umpire standing throughout a series, he may try and even out decisions made in other games as he goes which is unfortunate [for England] to say the least. Langer was absolutely plumb lbw to the first ball of the day and Ponting was clearly bat pad to Giles shortly before today's close.