Short And Bittersweet

For just 14 months England held the bragging rights but the Ashes have been relinquished. Despite how disappointed I feel right now, I believe that this was Australia winning it rather than England losing it. Despite the inevitable post mortems and finger pointing that will follow, this needs to be said… Well done Australia!! They took a long hard look at themselves after the 2005 defeat and planned, worked hard and and were completely single minded for 14 months. And from the first session to the last of this series they’ve battled hard and deserved their victory.

So, let the post mortem begin… Troy Cooley: The ECB should never have let him get away from his position as bowling coach; Squad & Injuries: Vaughan was missed terribly, Tres unfortunately unwell, and Simon Jones cursed injury problems continued, all the while Australia replaced Katich with Hussey and Gillespie/Kasprowicz with Stuart Clark - no contest!; Selection: Anderson and Giles didn’t play for most of 2006, so why pick ‘em when Mahmood and Panesar are available and on form?; Captaincy: Should have been Strauss not Flintoff; and Preparation: ICC Trophy and a could of wierd two-day games is no way to prepare for the Gabba, notably for Harmison who needs much better build up and support than he received. If these had been properly thought out and addressed this post would have looked very different. However, post mortem over. Now we get to wait two-and-a-half years for the Ashes re-match by which time most of the current Aussie team will be past it or retired (Warne and McGrath especially) while most of the English players will have 30 months more experience and be a great team. So, place your bets because I have no doubt we will win that urn straight back.

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Tags: Ashes, Australia, Cricket, England, Freddie-Flintoff, Monty, Panesar, SkySports, Sport