Word: englands
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...overcast November morning, Craig Gill is watching the England players practice in the Sydney Cricket Ground nets. From Leeds but a Sydney resident since 1992, Gill will spend the summer as part of the Barmy Army, the relentlessly merry 30,000-strong force of traveling England supporters. There's a lot to like about the tourists' session. Despite a long layoff due to injury, Flintoff's bowling looks as lively as ever. Perfectly balanced over his bat, his work devoid of superfluous movement, Andrew Strauss looks impregnable against all comers. A sense of harmony prevails. But Gill sounds so pessimistic...
...idea that defeat in England didn't say anything too troubling about the strength of Australian cricket is being propagated by virtually everyone associated with the home squad, from Ponting down. In post-mortems, the skipper has avoided the conclusion that England might now have better players than Australia does. Instead, he's argued that Australia simply had a poor series in which their discipline lapsed and their attitude was never quite right ?fixable problems caused by a lack of concentration in practice. As for this series, "While our personnel might be similar," Ponting writes in his just-released Captain...
...Stuart MacGill's take is that England in last year's series built to a peak that they probably won't be able to match. Flintoff and Simon Jones bowled the best they'd ever bowled, he says, while a new talent emerged in Kevin Pietersen, for whom the Australians weren't as ready as they will be this time. "There were a lot of things that contributed to their success, not the least of which was that they played better than us from time to time," says MacGill. "But I don't draw too much relevance from that series...
...There are other grounds for Australian optimism. England surged into last year's series, dropping just two of their previous 20 Tests. Since regaining the Ashes they've been inconsistent, while Australia have demolished everything in their path. Australia's batting is stronger than it was for Michael Hussey's inclusion; England look weaker without the injured Simon Jones, opening batsman Marcus Trescothick (ill) and the leadership of Michael Vaughan (injured). Australia hardly ever lose at home?though occasionally they're held to a drawn series, which is all England need to keep the Ashes. "Australia have played poor matches...
...even in a five-day Test the inferior side sometimes wins. But excluding weather interruptions, Ashes series are played over 25 six-hour days, long enough for class to tell and the cream to rise. It was apparent from the first morning of the First Test last year that England would be formidable. Australia had ample time to adjust their attitude, to crank up the intensity of their practices, to tinker with tactics and personnel. They did all of this and still lost...