The day England regained the Ashes

Posted by Martin Hutchinson on September 12, 2005, 04:02 PM | #

Hey, an excellent opportunity to insult Geoff Beck and JJR simultanously:

Geoff: cricket is a MUCH better game than baseball

JJR: They tell me they’ve discovered a new gene for cricketing ability, which is sadly lacking in Australians.

WOOT

Posted by Phil on September 12, 2005, 04:05 PM | #

Martin,

Such a gentleman; never to hit below the belt.

However, I am sure Geoff doesn’t give two cahoots about baseball.

Posted by Michael on September 12, 2005, 04:21 PM | #

There isn’t many sports where an opposition player who torments your team is given a massive reception by the home fans.  Shane Warne deserved it though the guy is an unbelievable bowler.

However the best bit was the rousing rendition of Jerusalem:

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant land.

Posted by Phil on September 12, 2005, 04:23 PM | #

Australia know they have a problem when Glenn McGrath is fourth in the batting averages!

Posted by Phil on September 12, 2005, 04:26 PM | #

Yes Michael, Shane Warne defies words. Incredible player.

Posted by Martin Hutchinson on September 12, 2005, 04:37 PM | #

Even as the English chauvinist to end all English chauvinists, I totally agree about Warne.  Also, it’s wonderful that he brought the art of leg spin back into the game; it’s a truly fascinating mind-over-matter business, like Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball (yes, Geoff, I DO follow baseball too guess which team I support

Posted by Geoff Beck on September 12, 2005, 04:53 PM | #

> Insult Beck,

I confess I know NOTHING about cricket, the whole thing is foriegn to me, and I like it that way and will keep it that way - diversity you know!

But the pictures are great.

Congradulations to the English!

Posted by Guessedworker on September 12, 2005, 05:01 PM | #

Among the many wonderful things about this series has been the sportmanship, not only between the players but the fans, too.  It will go down as the greatest ever series because of the quality and titanic closeness of the play.  But that greatness has spilled out into the public arena, gilding an already unique sporting event.

The Aussies have eighteen months to rebuild for England’s Ashes tour.  England must go on from here to establish themselves without fear of contradiction as Australia’s successors in the world game.

Great pics, btw, Phil.

Posted by Mark Richardson on September 12, 2005, 05:26 PM | #

From the Aussie side of things, it’s great to have the English back as worthy opponents. Interest in cricket here was waning a bit because we were winning too easily against pretty much everyone.

Mind you, I still would have preferred to win!

Posted by Phil on September 12, 2005, 05:31 PM | #

Yes GW, its been gripping stuff. And the sportsmanship stands in such stark contrast to the primadonnas and louts one sees in Football. Also, the respect for umpiring decisions no matter how controversial (Ponting’s outburst at being run out notwithstanding) stand in stark contrast to the rowdiness and the pushing and shoving that one comes to expect from Football.

I think England can lay claim to being the best team in the world at this moment. The team is young and should be able to dominate the game for a few years to come. There isn’t much serious competition either - Australia have the retirements of McGrath and Warne over the horizon (and an ageing team), the West Indies are a joke, India and Pakistan spend too much time squabbling and knifing their own players in the back, Sri Lanka have never been serious contenders, the South African government cares more about race quotas and New Zealand will never be more than competitive at best. Zimbabwe and Bangaldesh don’t deserve Test status.

Posted by Phil on September 12, 2005, 05:34 PM | #

Mark,

This is the best Ashes series in living memory. Mind you, I was only eight when England won the Ashes the last time and since then its been one walloping after another!

All said and done, only a team like Australia could have brought such phenomenal interest back into the game. What a great team. Warne and McGrath will be sorely missed when they retire (though English batsmen would beg to differ!)

Posted by Geoff Beck on September 12, 2005, 05:35 PM | #

Martin,

Frankly I felt a bit of jealousy while looking at the photos, the stadiums look so clean and the “chaps” looked so bright and athletic.

American(?) athletes are increasingly thugs or foriegn thugs.

Really, I am envious.

Posted by stari_momak on September 12, 2005, 05:43 PM | #

And all without Nasser Hussain!

Posted by Phil on September 12, 2005, 05:44 PM | #

More pics…....

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/53500/53521.jpg

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/53500/53522.jpg

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/53500/53519.jpg

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/53500/53516.jpg

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/53500/53520.jpg

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/53500/53515.jpg

Glenn McGrath. What a great bowler he is.

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/53500/53518.jpg

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/53500/53512.jpg

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/53500/53511.jpg

Posted by Martin Hutchinson on September 12, 2005, 06:00 PM | #

For our US readers, the chap “praying” in the second picture above is the Australian Shane Warne, who was one of Wisden (cricketers almanack) “Five Cricketers of the 20th Century” and now has more “Test” (international) wickets (outs) than anyone who played the game. We’re very privileged; it’s sort of like being a contemporary of Cy Young!

The two other top claimants for “Greatest Cricketer” were W.G. Grace (British, batted and bowled) and Don Bradman (Australian, batsman) who retired in 1899 and 1948 respectively; he’s at that level. All three of those were a real handful for an opposing team, even without 10 other teammates—in this last match, for example, Warne took 12 of the 20 English wickets that fell, and bowled for almost the whole of the last day.

Posted by Matra on September 12, 2005, 06:09 PM | #

Just a few years ago I remember people saying future success for English cricket depended on getting its Asian population into the England team. So much for that.

Football is another matter!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4212920.stm

Geoff Beck - George Washington and his troops played a cricket-derived game (“wickets”) at Valley Forge.

Posted by Phil on September 12, 2005, 06:09 PM | #

Martin,

Yes that is indeed true - Warnie is a one man army and it speaks volumes of his class that he’s in that company. 

The Don was peerless though. No one will ever come remotely close to even matching him (let alone exceeding his achievements). In that sense, Cricket is unique. In Football (Soccer) we can argue for hours about who the greatest Footballer was, same with Tennis and with Baseball (I don’t really understand Baseball but I have read a bit about it). But in cricket, I think that question was settled a long time ago.

Posted by Phil on September 12, 2005, 06:13 PM | #

Matra,

Cricket was actually quite popular in the US up until the Civil War (a legacy of America’s English roots). There were matches between Canada and the US quite regularly until the 1870s.

Posted by Phil on September 12, 2005, 06:17 PM | #

More:

USA vs Canada annual cricket match, started in 1844, is the oldest international sporting fixture in the world….the “Ashes” series between Australia and England did not start for another 25 years ! In the 1860s and 1870s, there were cricketing tours between USA, Canada and the West Indies, and England also sent visiting teams. In 1888, The USA toured the West Indies and even defeated the all-West Indies side by 9 wickets in Guyana, possibly the high-water mark of US cricket.

http://www.seattlecricket.com/history/histmod.htm

Posted by Matra on September 12, 2005, 06:22 PM | #

Phil,

If I’m not mistaken cricket had a considerable fan base in the US right up to WWI. I recall reading somewhere that the MCC passed some resolution (or something like that) banning countries that didn’t swear allegiance to the British crown from participating in the sport. That (apparently) killed it off in North America.

More on American cricket history:

http://www.haverford.edu/library/cricket/site_update/Cricket_In_America.htm

Posted by Geoff Beck on September 12, 2005, 06:25 PM | #

There were matches between Canada and the US quite regularly until the 1870s.

Ah, the old Republic. As Kevin MacDonald reminds Americans, we were a consensual nation at that time.

Posted by jonjayray on September 12, 2005, 06:47 PM | #

My hearty congratulations to the England team for just barely managing to pull it off this time.  Doggedness is rewarded in the end.

Cricket is of course the world’s most widely-played bat-and-ball game, thanks to its avid subcontinental following.

How odd that the British invented most of the popular sports —tennis, cricket, golf, soccer etc and yet are so bad at sporting competitions usually.

Posted by Martin Hutchinson on September 12, 2005, 07:03 PM | #

Phil, as a Gloucestershire man I beg to differ on the true #1.  Nobody matches WG. But if you had to play any of the top 3, it didn’t really matter who their teammates were, and that’s not true of any other player.

Posted by Guessedworker on September 12, 2005, 07:05 PM | #

Mon Dieu, cet homme Ray ‘as stolen our beloved tennis and given it to ze beefsteaks.  Un autre of his petite teases, peut-etre?

Posted by AD on September 12, 2005, 10:15 PM | #

Beaten in the rugby world cup,now this.Congrats En-ger-land.

Do we have anything left besides swimming and Australia vs Ireland ‘world’ championship AFL/Gaelic Football?

Posted by Steve Edwards on September 13, 2005, 12:38 AM | #

I thought we could pull it off last night, but Pietersen was dropped at least twice (including on 0), once by Warne I think. Very depressing.

Oh well.

Say, when is New Labour going to ban cricket? It seems to be a pretty racist, chauvinistic game.

Posted by Dirk van Renesse on September 13, 2005, 09:04 AM | #

Look at this: some stupid game and people go crazy over it.
The same people often proclaim how rational they are. Think that the “Truth” will do it.

Posted by Phil on September 13, 2005, 05:41 PM | #

Phil, as a Gloucestershire man I beg to differ on the true #1.  Nobody matches WG.

As an Englishman, I would want to agree with you there Martin. But you just have to read the records Bradman piled up (on uncovered pitches against some of the finest bowlers in the game) to appreciate what England must have been up against.

To give one small example of his Genius, Bradman was known to be able to read the maker’s name on the ball

after it was released from the bowler’s hand

. This held true even if he was facing medium pace. That sort of eyesight is simply super-human.

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/DB/022001/022664.jpg

He was simply the greatest genius the game will ever see.

Posted by Phil on September 13, 2005, 05:47 PM | #

Mon Dieu, cet homme Ray ‘as stolen our beloved tennis and given it to ze beefsteaks.  Un autre of his petite teases, peut-etre?

Posted by Phil on September 13, 2005, 05:52 PM | #

Martin,

One Gloucestershireman who is often overlooked among the greatest (although he was one by anyone’s yardstick) is Wally Hammond. The tragedy of Hammond’s life was that he played in the same era as Bradman and all his accomplishments were completely overshadowed.

On his own, Hammond was a genius - a superb strokemaker, a brilliant slip fieldsman and a very good fast medium bowler capable of generating pace and movement.

Posted by Martin Hutchinson on September 16, 2005, 08:11 PM | #

I grant you Hammond, although not quite “top three” calibre. But Grace had more than twice the batting average of his next highest competitor for eight years 1870-77, and simultaneously was close to the top of the bowling.  Bradman matched Grace for dominance in batting, but he couldn’t bowl worth a damn.

Bradman was #1 cricketer of the 20th century, with Warne and a couple of others close behind.  Grace gets that position for the 19th Century without anyone close.  And it’s not like baseball, which started properly in 1871; cricket was actively played at a professional level throughout the 19th Century as well as the 20th.