Another Ashes Test, another humiliating defeat for England. The trend that had been snapped so dramatically in last year's Ashes series has been restored, much to the chagrin of England's very expressive media and the tenacious Barmy Army. To say that I am deliriously happy with the result would be an understatement. I have always been a huge fan of the Australian cricket team, and it would not be too far from the truth to say that I was probably as passionate about Ponting's men extracting revenge from England for last year's aberration as Ponting's men themselves. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit here, but what I'm trying to say is that I support the Australian team more fiercely than a person supports his home team, which may sound strange to some people, but sounds perfectly rational to me. Australia are, after all, the best team in the world, and by quite a long mile at that.
England's woes could not have been better expressed than with the first ball delivered by Steve Harmison, which momentarily caused Andrew Flintoff (who was standing at second slip) to add yet another job to his burgeoning list of duties-that of a wicket-keeper. So much has been written about that atrocious wide that it'll probably go down as one of the most famous, or infamous, if you will, deliveries in the history of cricket. Understandably, the media, especially the English one made known their disappointment very eloquently. Things went steadily downhill for England from that point, and Glenn McGrath's efficient spell must have only made them quake in their shoes at the prospect of facing their old nemesis at his accurate best for as long as four more Tests. Fifteen months of hysterical joy among England's fans were wiped out in a matter of two days. And then, wondrously, inexplicably, Ricky Ponting chose not to enforce the follow-on in spite of having a neat lead of 445 runs. 'He's going for slow torture', said some, while others, presumably English optimists, said 'the rains will rescue England!'. The rains, however, did no such thing as rescuing England, and though Pietersen and company did bat positively in the final innings, it was just not enough. And nothing will ever be enough, believe me, if Australia choose to play the perfect cricket that they played over the course of the five days. In the midst of all the England-bashing, people seem to have forgotten just how clinical Australia's performance during the Test was. Ricky Ponting was magnificent (I'm losing count of the centuries he's scoring) while the bowlers were amazingly unstoppable on an unresponsive pitch.
The English fans might point out that England lost the first Test comprehensively in the last Ashes too, but bounced back most stoically to clinch the series, and that they're sure to do it again. Now I'm not entirely discounting this possibility, but frankly, I don't see that happening twice in two years against a team like Australia, particularly since they're playing Down Under. And if Ricky Ponting's reaction after reaching his hundred is anything to go by, then the Aussies are steeled and pumped and determined and a whole of a lot of other adjectives to crush the English and regain their cherished prize. If they do manage that, the thing I'll be looking most forward to would be the reactions of the grieving English media.
No comments:
Post a Comment