April 29th 1770 was the day Captain James Cook first set foot on Australian soil. Three centuries later it is a different Mr. Cook who took command and conquered the same foreign land with three centuries of his own.
The day before the first test I was asked for my Ashes prediction. Ever the optimist, I told friends and the world of Twitter that I believed we would regain the Ashes and win 3-1 after a draw in Brisbane. I only wish I had the same conversation with a bookmaker and had asked him to safeguard my money for a few months. That may have been a worthy investment...
Last night I once again turned to my now finely tuned Australian body clock and watched as England’s heroic warriors completed the very feat I had predicted way back in November. The final test had already provided another Australian wobble in the first innings, followed by another glorious ton from man of the match Alistair Cook (189), backed up by maiden Ashes centuries from the effervescent Ian Bell (115) and powerful Matthew Prior (118).
The final day of Ashes cricket began with Australia 213-7, having had their top order knocked over by the visiting seamers without any of the batsmen reaching a half century on day four. Victorian Peter Siddle (43) and youngster Steve Smith (54*) shown rare Aussie resistance on a showery Sydney morning, putting on eighty-six for the eighth wicket before England made the breakthrough. Siddle departed after a swipe to leg off Graeme Swann just moments before the visit tourists decision to take the new ball. He was quickly followed back to the old style pavilion by Ben Hilfenhaus who was caught behind and debutant Michael Beer who played the ball onto his stumps, giving big man Chris Tremlett the match winning wicket.
From here English jubilation and celebration once again unfolded. It was 2005 Ashes winning captain Michael Vaughan who presented the little urn to Andrew Strauss breaking the tradition of the losing captain handing over the small replica. Surely not sore feelings from Ponting and Clarke we hope. Cook took the Compton-Miler award being announced the man of the series with 766 series runs piping king of the swingers James Anderson who was the leading wicket taker.
From here the English players continued celebrations with the vibrant barmy army who had comprehensively supported them over the past three months. Once again the travelling support made the Sydney Cricket Ground seem more like Edgbaston. By far the pick of the songs from the series was “the Mitchell Johnson song”. Well worth a view on YouTube! Pardon the expletives.There was also heartfelt support for the out of form Paul Collingwood who announced his retirement from the test game after another unfruitful innings at the SCG. Colly was not only a determined batsmen but a handy part-time bowler and inspiring fielder with team presence. The Durham man will undoubtedly be missed but this does open the door for up and coming cricketers such as Irish-born Eoin Morgan and Somerset man James Hildreth.
I believe part of England’s dominance in this series is down to team spirit. It is easy to enjoy personal triumphs but the sign of a great team is a team in which players seem to enjoy the achievements of others just as much. England have shown bowling in depth and fielding far superior to that of years gone by over the past eight weeks. A real pleasure to lose sleep over.
So as I bid farewell to my Ashes reporting for a little while, my only wish is that I was in Melbourne and Sydney to watch the action unravel and celebrate with the players as well as the army. An enjoyable winter of Ashes cricket is now over and we can reminisce over this Ashes annihilation for many years to come. Ashes cricket, over and out.
Thanks for reading!
