Ashes reflections

This summer's Ashes series was, quite frankly, bizarre. It was a series with the closest of scorelines, but where all five matches were one-sided affairs often decided by the end of the first day. A series that made a mockery of the concept of momentum, the way those first three tests swung so dramatically back and forth. It was a series that won't go down in history as a classic, but that had many moments that will though live long in the memory.

Often it wasn't the highest quality of cricket, matches almost being decided by who was the least bad at the time. Batting from both sides often left a lot to be desired, perhaps having some link to the 'attacking brand of cricket' mantra, that buzz-phrase of the summer. Run rates were high, and innings could often be thrilling - but sides often flirted on the borderline between 'attacking', 'reckless', and 'downright stupidity'. When the positive attitude worked, it really worked. Picture Joe Root's innings on the first day in Cardiff, one of the defining moments of the series: 134 from 166 deliveries after England were 43/3, and very nearly four down after Root was dropped on nought. But picture too, Australia 60 all out at Trent Bridge - an innings when really few balls would have hit the stumps, crying out for someone prepared to leave the ball. The captain was perhaps the worst culprit, wildly swishing at the ball with his team already five down in the first six overs. Often there was the sort of batting that, when it came off, would be praised for an attacking approach - but could be easily criticised as foolish when it often failed.

Every match was one-sided. The first match was probably the one closest to a normal test: a first innings lead of just over 100, and no innings totals that were drastically high or low. But events of the test perhaps had the greatest ripple effect. There was the drop of Root - how would England have fared had they fallen to 43/4? There was the further humiliation of Shane Watson - two LBW decisions unsuccessfully reviewed, and doubt cast into the selectors' minds. It also went a long way to damage the aura surrounding Mitchell Johnson, who had so tormented England in the previous Ashes series. Johnson had his spells where he looked as threatening as ever - particularly as England crumbled at Lord's, and in dismissing Bairstow and Stokes in a single over at Edgbaston - but at Cardiff England won their first battle as he went wicketless in his 25 first innings overs.

That was just the first swing of the seesaw. At Lord's, Australia completely crushed England. The pitch did nothing, and all England could do was watch as Smith and Rogers racked up massive centuries. At the close of the first day, the score 337/1, there was only ever going to be one result. And it wasn't only the toil the bowlers were put through: the batting took a hit too, dismissed for just 103 in the final innings for a crushing 405-run defeat. Johnson was on the rampage again, and Steve Smith was the best batsman in the world. England looked in disarray. The momentum, it was said, was definitely with Australia now.

Maybe it was the week off, giving England a chance to recover and recharge. Or maybe it was just that the idea of momentum was always an illusion, ready to be broken at any moment. But at Edgbaston England were rampant again. Finn was back in the side, putting his nightmares in the past by dismissing Smith and Clarke and going on to take six in the second innings. In the first innings, Anderson was the star with his own six-wicket haul - his intelligence as a bowler showing in identifying seam, rather than swing, as his key weapon. Australia were all out for 136, and England were close to passing the total by the end of the day. Another match with the outcome looking decided after a day, and a three day defeat for Australia. And then for once, form began to stick. I'm still almost in a state of disbelief over the Trent Bridge test. Looking back at the scorecard and seeing 60 all out and bowling figures of 8/15 still just doesn't quite feel real.

And so the Ashes had been won, and with a game to spare. Few had given England much of a chance before the series, and yet in those two tests they had won in the most emphatic of fashions. Still though, there was one game left to be played - a chance for England's victory parade, or a chance for Australia to regain some pride and give a fitting farewell to the retiring Michael Clarke and Chris Rogers. It was Australia who got the ending they had hoped for. Well, perhaps not the one they had hoped for, but a moment of redemption and a positive note on which Clarke and Rogers could say goodbye. Steve Smith (143) in particular piled on the runs in a total of 481, whilst England put in their own dismal display with the bat with a first innings of 149. In their second innings they fared better as captain Cook dug in for 85, but it was Australia's turn to trample on the opposition with Peter Siddle doing the damage in his only match of the series.

The scoreline then, reads 3-2. It's a scoreline that masks the nature of the series, yet seems fair at the same time. They are two sides that seem fairly evenly matched, with one at the beginning of its journey whilst the other feels near its end. Both are teams who are capable of putting in good performances, but obviously both lacking in the consistency to set themselves far apart. Neither side had all eleven players really contributing solidly, if anything Australia looking in many ways as the better side statistically. England proved the best in more traditional English conditions, when the pitch suited their bowlers at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, but when in London Australia were the ones at ease. England though, won the key battles. They won in the way Joe Root responded at Cardiff, and in the way the bowlers came out fighting at Edgbaston after suffering so badly at Lord's. They won in the way they stepped up when Anderson was injured, Stuart Broad taking his mantle and arguably being the player of the series. They held on to their catches, something they hadn't done earlier in the summer, whilst Australia dropped a couple at crucial moments. They won as they went on the rampage in the first half hour at Trent Bridge. They won with their twelfth man, the crowd, getting behind them all the way. 

England won the Ashes. It wasn't always pretty, and they weren't always convincing, but they have their hands on the little urn once more. And while it wasn't always high quality, it brought its share of thrills. There were stunning catches, with Ben Stokes taking one that will certainly never be forgotten; exciting, stroke-playing innings; and one of the very best sights for English fans - bowlers tearing through Australian innings. It was a series too that gave a lot of promise for the future - many things to work on, yes - but also a fair share of hope. It's a victory that feels in many ways like the start of something. There are huge, huge, challenges ahead: this winter sees them travel to the UAE, Pakistan's fortress, where they will face great challenges against spin on unfamiliar surfaces; and then on to South Africa, the top ranked team in the world. For the test team, the latest new era has born its first fruits. But the journey is only just beginning. 

Bidding farewell

Whilst the Ashes series has drawn to a close, Australia trampling on and spoiling England's parade, a theme of farewells has prevailed most of all this week. Several significant players play their final matches on the international stage, having all left their marks on this stage in their different ways.

The first one I have to mention though, isn't involved in the Ashes at all. In Sri Lanka, Kumar Sangakkara plays his final match for his country. Sangakkara is one of those players who appears to be universally adored - you will rarely, probably never, find anyone to say a bad word against him, a unifying figure across the game. Certainly, he's one of my favourite players to watch. There's just that beauty of watching him pile on the runs, even when if it was my team he piled them on against. The sheer numbers that alone point to a great of the game: a batting average of 57.71, going up beyond sixty without the wicketkeeper's gloves; 38 test centuries and a further 25 for the one day team. There was the key partnership with Mahela Jayawardene, a friendship that served Sri Lanka so well for so many years. And off the field too, his impact was to be felt: his passionate Spirit of Cricket lecture in 2011 simply exceptional. A true great of the game.

Attracting the most attention here in England is the retirement of Michael Clarke, Australia's captain and an adversary of England for ten years. Looking over Clarke's career, it appears an odd one - a career that touched the highs of the greats, but never quite did enough to cement his place among them. There was the golden 2012, averaging over 100 with scores of 329*, 210, 259*, and 230*, and captaining Australia to an Ashes whitewash in 2013/14 (as well as his part in another, in 2006/7). But there too were the barren periods, characterising these past few months; Ashes defeats; and lingering murmurs of unpopularity within the team. But nobody could fail to appreciate his part over the past year, doing what no captain or anyone should ever have to do, leading his country in mourning after the tragic death of his close friend and team mate Phillip Hughes. England gave him a guard of honour as he went to bat on the first day, a touching and deserved moment for an opposition captain, a veteran of 114 tests at an average near 50.

Chris Rogers, too, retires from test cricket after this match, a decision made before the series begun. Though just playing 24 tests, with 15 of them coming against England as well as his many, many years in county cricket, he's been a familiar opponent over these past two years. Though he waited until 35 before a sustained run in the side, he made up for that in his consistency and reliability - as in evidence when he broke the record for consecutive test fifties earlier in this series. His knowledge of English conditions has shown - where Australian batsmen have frequently struggled, he's often been the man to lead the way and battle on - the reason why it was such a shock when he was dismissed without scoring at Trent Bridge (his first duck in test cricket, too). My prevailing memory of Rogers though won't be from an international match; instead it came last year, a county match between Middlesex and Yorkshire. Set 472 to win, the result was supposed to be a certainty for Yorkshire. But Rogers, the captain, was immovable in scoring 241* and taking the match with it.

The final player I'll pick out is Chris Tremlett, another announcing his retirement - from all cricket - this week. Tremlett played only twelve test matches across six years, but his impact cannot be forgotten. In that glorious winter, in 2010/11, he was on top of the world. A bowler so tall, with pace and bounce, he became a valuable asset as England won the Ashes in Australia, and taking 4/26 as England bowled Australia out for 98 on the first day of the Boxing Day test. He was the one who took the final wicket of the fifth test in Sydney, well and truly securing England's first away Ashes win since 1986/7. He started the following summer strongly too, with his best figures of 6/48 taken at his home ground in Southampton. But then the injuries caught up with him again, and though a couple more sporadic appearances came, it was never quite the same. 53 wickets at 27 from 12 matches shows an international career barely started, but one that certainly had a great impact.

Four players, all following different paths through the international game, all having left their marks on the game in their own ways. As they bid their farewells, their time on the field coming to a close, maybe the only thing left to say is this. Thank you. For all that you've done, thank you.

Pre-Ashes Optimism (Or why England might do better than expected)

I'm optimistic ahead of this Ashes series. There, I said it. It might be foolish, looking at the form guides and looking over results from the last 12-18 months, but the optimism has sneaked in there somehow. And even so, it's a fairly pessimistic sort of optimism - I'm not sure I'll see England winning the Ashes this series, I just think they'll do better than expected. That they do have the potential to cause problems for Australia, that it won't be a simple walk in the park. Maybe it could even be a draw.

I know I have a habit of letting myself get sucked in, of getting my hopes up before the main event. I did it before the World Cup, and I certainly did it before the last Ashes (though perhaps with slightly more justification). I really can't help myself. I don't think England are just going to roll over and die in this series, I don't think Australia will find it easy at all. I've seen enough this season, enough to give me that bit of hope and believe that England can compete and spring some upsets. Of course, Australia are the massive favourites, coming in off the back of a World Cup win and having won the last Ashes with a whitewash. They have the number one batsman in the world in their armoury in Steve Smith, a bowler who gives many players nightmares in Mitchell Johnson. They have the players who can get under England's skin, players who will come at them hard, bowlers who can genuinely swing the ball and cause the batsmen heaps of problems, and batsmen who can and will pile on the runs. Australia have won four of their last five test series and England just one - and much of their progress since the last Ashes has been of that 'two steps forward, one step back' variety. Most pre-Ashes predictions have been favouring Australia, and, on the evidence, it's not difficult to see why.

So why am I optimistic about England's chances? Well this time, I think that step forward could be the start of something more. Over the series against New Zealand, there seemed to be this new attitude around the camp - this greater sense of self-belief that we've been waiting for. It was especially visible during the ODI series, albeit with a largely different group of players, but in the tests too there were signs - the approach of Root and Stokes when England fell to 30/4 on that first morning springs straight to mind. Players like these, Jos Buttler being another, are the sort that can really make this happen. Root is the sort who is always busy at the crease and can easily wind up the opposition just existing, whilst Stokes and Buttler have that X-factor, the ability to turn games around and win them by themselves. Leading the bowling attack are proven performers in Anderson and Broad (Broad can be a bit off and on, but against New Zealand, he certainly looked on). Mark Wood, though inexperienced, has really impressed me and is another that has that something about him, an ability at times to make something out of nothing (though it might be best to wrap him in cotton wool, too).

And, importantly, the captain is making runs again. Cook can lack in tactical nous and innovation, but he can make up for that in part by leading with the bat. When he makes stacks and stacks of runs, England often do well, and it will be crucial that he can do this. Lyth has got off to a good start in his test career with a century but has still played just the two tests, and Ballance and Bell have been struggling for runs of late - so Cook really has to lead that top order. With Australia having an off-spinner in Lyon and England having a lot of left handers (including all of that top three), avoiding early inroads will be important and Cook will be a big part of that. And if Lyon can't get at new batsmen, then England should be able to take advantage and press the attack.

There are though many areas that can be improved upon. The thing that has caused perhaps the most frustration in recent months has been the fielding, and specifically the catching. Catches were going down in the slips especially, and at times it seemed like an epidemic - one person drops a catch, and everyone else follows. There have been mistakes with the bat and the ball, errors of judgement that can be accepted from a team where many are still learning on the international stage - but the amount of drops recently has been inexcusable. I'd really like to see Adam Lyth join the slip cordon, having been doing the job brilliantly for Yorkshire, though England seem to be doing it on experience rather than, perhaps, merit. There are also questions over spin too, after a few poor tests for Moeen Ali and with the man waiting in the wings, Adil Rashid, not yet trusted by the captain and without test experience.

England will have to be at their best, their absolute best, to get that sniff. They really need to start the series well and not be walking away from Cardiff having been defeated, and letting themselves be drawn into a rut. Because maybe they can spring some upsets, and maybe things won't go so smoothly for Australia. Maybe Chris Rogers, playing his final series, might then be playing with one eye on the end; maybe Steve Smith will have problems up at number three against the Dukes ball, and maybe Mitchell Johnson will struggle again when it's in his hand. Maybe the players aren't quite at their best right now: Haddin has struggled for form recently, and Watson looks set to be preferred over Mitchell Marsh when the latter is perhaps more deserving of a place. The retirement of Ryan Harris for Australia is also far from ideal, having been such a brilliant performer who will be greatly missed from the international stage. Maybe then there are the odd chinks in the armour for England to poke at.

Or maybe I'm desperately clutching at straws. I have a lot of hopes for this team - maybe they're inexperienced and unproven, but there is a raw talent there. They won't find it easy and they will lose games - but I really hope the press don't hound them when they do because it is a work in progress (I have been as critical as any in the past, but this is their greatest test yet). And if they do play well, they might just sneak something out of it. As unlikely as it might seem, I don't think it's completely out of the question. The optimism has found its way in.