England basks in Ashes glory
Source: Agencies |
January 8, 2011, Saturday
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A SERIES between the third- and fifth-ranked teams wouldn't ordinarily generate much buzz about the victor's potential to become the world's premier test cricket team.
But the Ashes is no ordinary series, and England's dominance over Australia was quite extraordinary.
England wrapped up an innings and 83-run win in the fifth test yesterday morning in Sydney, completing a 3-1 series victory that contained an unprecedented three innings defeats for Australia.
It sparked celebrations for Andrew Strauss and his team on the field and around it, where thousands of England's faithful fans known collectively as the Barmy Army went wild at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Fair enough, too. It had been 24 years since England last won a test series in Australia. Some members of England's Ashes squad weren't born when Mike Gatting's England achieved that in 1986-87. Some weren't even English. But many of them will be cherished household names in England now.
"We have become more dominant and certainly those last two test matches were as good as an England side I've played in has performed," said Strauss, who tips his squad to get even better.
"There are going to be injuries and other guys putting their hands up wanting to be part of the team but the majority of the side should be hitting their peak years in the next couple of years or so. That's encouraging for us."
A generation of England cricketers seemed to think it was impossible to beat the Australians in Australia. Strauss said that, if nothing else, this series had changed that attitude.
"We've proved that it's possible for English teams to win out here," he said. "We've proved that you don't need a mystery spinner or a guy that bowls at 95 miles an hour to do it. You just need a lot of guys performing really well and consistently."
The 33-year-old Strauss, who was born in South Africa and moved to England as a boy, urged his squad not to take it easy now that the hard work had been done.
After winning the 2005 series at home, ending an Ashes drought that dated back to 1989, the English squad was awarded civic honors for its efforts and partied hard. But the celebrations were short-lived, with Australia bouncing back to sweep the next series 5-0.
"We've overcome a barrier," he said, "but if we just turn up next time expecting to win we'll get the treatment we have for the last 24 years."
While some critics have dwelled on how inconsistent the Australians were, and how they've tumbled from the top to the middle of the test rankings in the short space of time since they swept the last Ashes series Down Under, credit must go to England.
Michael Clarke, standing in as captain for injured Ricky Ponting for the last test, conceded England had outplayed Australia in every facet of the game. Australian opener Shane Watson agreed, saying England had the kind of balance required to be the No. 1 team.
England's bowlers worked together as a unit to frustrate Australia's batsmen with nagging accuracy and some reverse swing. The batsmen displayed a discipline that was almost nonexistent in their Australian counterparts.
Opener Alastair Cook amassed 766 runs but left almost as many balls as he played in order to hit the right ones. His three centuries in the series was as many as the Australians scored combined.
The tight bowling, composed batting and almost flawless fielding all contributed to England's lopsided triumph. It was the first time in 31 years that England had won back-to-back test matches in Australia.
But the Ashes is no ordinary series, and England's dominance over Australia was quite extraordinary.
England wrapped up an innings and 83-run win in the fifth test yesterday morning in Sydney, completing a 3-1 series victory that contained an unprecedented three innings defeats for Australia.
It sparked celebrations for Andrew Strauss and his team on the field and around it, where thousands of England's faithful fans known collectively as the Barmy Army went wild at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Fair enough, too. It had been 24 years since England last won a test series in Australia. Some members of England's Ashes squad weren't born when Mike Gatting's England achieved that in 1986-87. Some weren't even English. But many of them will be cherished household names in England now.
"We have become more dominant and certainly those last two test matches were as good as an England side I've played in has performed," said Strauss, who tips his squad to get even better.
"There are going to be injuries and other guys putting their hands up wanting to be part of the team but the majority of the side should be hitting their peak years in the next couple of years or so. That's encouraging for us."
A generation of England cricketers seemed to think it was impossible to beat the Australians in Australia. Strauss said that, if nothing else, this series had changed that attitude.
"We've proved that it's possible for English teams to win out here," he said. "We've proved that you don't need a mystery spinner or a guy that bowls at 95 miles an hour to do it. You just need a lot of guys performing really well and consistently."
The 33-year-old Strauss, who was born in South Africa and moved to England as a boy, urged his squad not to take it easy now that the hard work had been done.
After winning the 2005 series at home, ending an Ashes drought that dated back to 1989, the English squad was awarded civic honors for its efforts and partied hard. But the celebrations were short-lived, with Australia bouncing back to sweep the next series 5-0.
"We've overcome a barrier," he said, "but if we just turn up next time expecting to win we'll get the treatment we have for the last 24 years."
While some critics have dwelled on how inconsistent the Australians were, and how they've tumbled from the top to the middle of the test rankings in the short space of time since they swept the last Ashes series Down Under, credit must go to England.
Michael Clarke, standing in as captain for injured Ricky Ponting for the last test, conceded England had outplayed Australia in every facet of the game. Australian opener Shane Watson agreed, saying England had the kind of balance required to be the No. 1 team.
England's bowlers worked together as a unit to frustrate Australia's batsmen with nagging accuracy and some reverse swing. The batsmen displayed a discipline that was almost nonexistent in their Australian counterparts.
Opener Alastair Cook amassed 766 runs but left almost as many balls as he played in order to hit the right ones. His three centuries in the series was as many as the Australians scored combined.
The tight bowling, composed batting and almost flawless fielding all contributed to England's lopsided triumph. It was the first time in 31 years that England had won back-to-back test matches in Australia.
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