I can’t remember too many England defeats at the Oval and long may it continue. An even game after two innings, England’s batsmen took the game away from Australia in the third innings then the bowlers done the job. Two really good partnerships made us nervous but both were interrupted by rain breaks and couldn’t get going again. Woakes was brilliant, Mo bowled his best spell of the series and Broad finished the job, of course he did!
Before the Ashes began my only prediction was that this
series would not be close and despite the 2-2 score line I was right, England
were by far the better team throughout and only our own mistakes plus a bit of
weather stopped this being an emphatic win.
In 2019 we had the same result but Australia went home wondering how
they didn’t win, this time around England will know how they felt.
Whatever the result of the series BB* has worked, England
have competed against and for long periods dominated arguably the best team in
the world. BB is real, it works and it
is here to stay, whether we like it or not Test cricket is going to
change. The way England have played has
forced Australia to change their approach.
Where England have been on the front foot, at times Australia have tried
to counter punch but mostly went into a totally defensive mode. This has led to mostly highly entertaining
cricket and a really good series, but a great one? Maybe, certainly the best for several years.
But it could and should have been better! In my opinion England got selection wrong and
did not put out their strongest XI in any of the five matches, when this is
down to injury there’s not much to say but when a key player is unfit for his
role then the selectors have got it wrong.
Yes Mad Johnny deserved his place in the team but he should never have
been given the gloves. Also the Oval
looked a test too far for a couple of bowlers.
Worst of all fielding, dropped catches and extras (FFS!) cost England
the first test and arguably the second one too.
We should have been heading into the Oval test with at least a two – one
lead. There was a sharp improvement in
the field in the latter stages of the series but by then the damage was done.
The Captains…
Ben Stokes led well but made mistakes which some have argued
led to defeat in the first test at least.
However he learned from adversity and was in control most of the
series. When under pressure Cummins was
inept.
The players…
Crawley and Duckett done well enough in this series against
an excellent new ball attack to ensure their selection will not be debated for
some time. At last, for the first time
since Andrew Strauss retired in 2012, we have a settled opening
partnership. In fact all the batsmen had
their moments this summer, only Ollie Pope will frustrated at having to miss
most of the Ashes. Root and Stokes had
brilliant moments as we’ve come to expect and Brook looks like a future
superstar. Bairstow had a good series
with the bat to be fair but I’ve said enough about his keeping. The problem going forward is squeezing
everyone in, which is a nice one to have.
Stuart Broad took wickets regularly throughout the five
matches and it was great to see him bowl the winning ball, his last act in
cricket. What a player, it’s been a
privilege to watch him bowl over the years and we’ll miss him. His long time partner, the great Jimmy
Anderson had a quiet series, he kept control and the Aussies played him
carefully but he seemed to be lacking something. He’s said he wants to play on but it seems
that the end is in site. I couldn’t
believe it when Woakes was selected as I’d thought his test career over but
with Stokes not bowling we needed an all rounder and to be fair he’s been
brilliant with the ball and chipped in with a few runs too and you couldn’t argue
when he was made man of the series. I
wouldn’t pick him for too many away tests but he’s proven he’s as good as
anyone on home wickets. Mark Wood, if
fit, was a far more obvious selection and his extra pace did make a difference
and has shown we are a better team when high pace is an option. If not Wood then Tongue had his moments this
series and we hope we’ll see Archer, or Stone in a white shirt again. A word for another player going (back) into
retirement, Moeen Ali. After answering a
call for help Mo had probably his best Ashes series and took big wickets at key
times.
Almost all the Aussie players had decent series too but the
batsmen scored slowly and the bowlers were expensive, in the field they rarely
had any kind of control. Carey’s form
dived after the incident at Lords and the much vaunted Cameron Green didn’t
show us much. I find it difficult to
dislike this bunch of Aussie cricketers, Smith is bloody irritating but Warner
finally seemed to grow up after the sandpaper controversy and Stuart Broad made
him humble. We probably won’t see him in
Ashes cricket again but I won’t miss him.
At the beginning of the series people were wondering if we’d
see 2005 all over again and there are similarities, we had a legend (or two)
retiring at the end of the series and we’ve had some squeaky arse puckering
finishes. Also after going behind
England came back and dominated the rest of the series but for me 2023 does not
compare to that classic series.
For a start, in 2005, after a near 20 year drought winning
the Ashes meant more, the stakes were higher which added a whole other layer of
tension. Also I believe both teams were
stronger back then and played cricket at a higher standard, they made far fewer
mistakes. The Aussies were already
rightly considered a squad of all time greats and many of the England players played
the best cricket of their lives in that series.
I’d go as far to say that around the world, all the test playing nations
were playing at a higher level twenty years ago. I put the decline in standard down to the
influence of white ball cricket; obviously the techniques of players have been
changed but also test cricket has been squeezed into tighter pressurised
windows. I think test cricket peaked in
2005 which coincidently was the first year we saw international T20 cricket.
Now this year our Ashes series has been staged early to make
room for the fucking ‘hundred’, what a load of bollocks. Honestly if I find it on the TV I’ll probably
watch it, but it really is a pointless tournament and the sooner its replaced
the better.
For our cricketing future we’ve got a fifty over world cup
coming up but no test cricket until next February!!! What’s more we’re away in India, probably the
most difficult place to win and the ultimate test for the cult of BB.
Squad for India :-
Stokes (c) Crawley, Duckett,
Pope, Root, Brook, Lawrence, Bairstow, Foakes (w)
Leach, Jacks, Ahmed
Anderson, Robinson, Wood, Tongue,
*I refuse to use the media buzz name for the style** of
cricket played under Stokes’ captaincy, so for convenience I will use BB.
** Brand is something used to identify and/or sell.
