So, with the cricket world cup almost over, it’s time to start thinking about the main event of the cricketing summer: the Ashes! In the last installment England were once again soundly beaten down under, but they haven’t lost at home for 18 years. On paper both sides have some top players, so it looks like it could be the closest series since 2005. To ensure they come out on top England will need to sort some big issues at the top of their order.
Posts Tagged: The Ashes
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0England in need of Moore summer class
Apologies one and all for a lack of recent musings – it’s all due to a new arrival in the household which has meant my waking (and sleeping) hours are completely dominated by bottle feeding sessions and nappy changes – yes a little bambino has arrived. Give her about 18 years and she’ll be playing for England.
Anyway; to business.
Well, to paraphrase William Shakespeare somewhat, that was a winter of discontent for England. After pretty inept performances in the Ashes most would have thought it couldn’t get any worse. It did – the humiliating defeat against the Netherlands (even if it was a ‘dead rubber’) proving the coup de grâce. Before and since that final shambolic outing there have been some high profile casualties — gone are coach Andy Flower, middle order mainstay Jonathan Trott and spin king Graeme Swann. And then of course there is the whole saga around Kevin Pietersen. Gloveman Matt Prior will also be nervously looking over his shoulder as others threaten his place in the side.… Read Full Article
0Ashes to Ashes, England to Dust
For what I am about to say may I be struck down from above…but I am glad that this Ashes series is at an end. Quite simply Australia have played far better than the sum of their individual parts and England have been, for the large part, absolutely diabolical.
As sure as night follows day the Aussies wrapped up a devastating 5–0 series win, yet again bowling England out for a pitiful total not worthy of an international line up. The visitors now need to go back, re-group and pick up the pieces from this potentially disastrous tour down-under.… Read Full Article
0Australia urn their easy Ashes victory
With a ruthless determination and a killer instinct worthy of a wolf chasing a wounded deer, Australia duly completed the rout of a demoralised England this morning.
England simply haven’t turned up this series and a rejuvenated Australia have preyed on every weakness and every failing to humiliate what is still a pretty good side.
Winning a fourth consecutive Ashes series was a pretty tall order and it was one that was beyond England. The urn now returns to Australia (figuratively speaking, anyway!) and we no doubt won’t hear the end of it from our cousins on the other side of the planet.
As Cook admitted in his post-match press conference, England have been outplayed in all areas and will, I suspect, claim a 5–0 triumph. It’s simply not their style to take their foot off the gas. The wolf has caught the prey, now he wants to finish every last tasty morsel.… Read Full Article
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First blow to England
So the Ashes are under way again with no great surprises so far. Australia won the toss and batted, England came out with the ball and made life difficult for a very average looking Australian batting line-up. The man of the day was without doubt Stuart Broad, who should have now silenced all but the most loud-mouthed of his critics.… Read Full Article
0England’s starting 11 picked by Michael Clarke
In a refreshingly candid interview Australian captain Michael Clarke has announced the England starting 11 for the first Ashes test. We’re not sure it’s a good thing that he seems to know the team, but the team he listed is the team we would have picked ourselves, so it could be just intelligent guesswork.
0Am I in an alternate universe?
Can I just double check with our readers — England did win the Ashes 3–0 at home this summer didn’t they? I’m not stuck in an alternate universe where England were thrashed? I’ll continue on the assumption that I am in fact in the same universe as everyone else, and that England did indeed win, in which case I have to assume that a large section of the media, including the BBC are the ones in an alternate universe.… Read Full Article
0England win the Ashes… again
No, I’m not a week late with this revelation — I’m referring to the England women’s cricket team, who have carried on the good work started by the men by giving the Australia women a good thumping.… Read Full Article
3Ashes 2013: Team of the series
One of the things that surprised me during the series was how the pundits compared the respective wicket keepers — with Brad Haddin getting a pretty good press, whilst Matt Prior got a slightly negative overall rating. From what I saw I didn’t think there was much to pick between them, so I thought I’d see how the numbers stack up. I figured I might as well do the same for the rest of the sides and see if a team of the series emerges that reflects how well individuals have played.
0A cracking final day of the summer
I wasn’t expecting a great deal from the final day of the Ashes. With England still in their first innings, and seemingly with no chance of winning I expected them to bat out the day. Instead a wonderful day of cricket took place with both sides deserving a huge amount of credit.
“The pink ball appears grey/blue in red/green deficient vision, depending on its severity. I did a simulation with colour blindness…”