Ashes Reflections

It has been a truly magnificent summer of Ashes cricket.

World class action, enormous excitement, unbearable tension at times, individual genius and 2 highly competitive and entertaining series played out by some brilliantly talented athletes.

Full houses at all games, 650,000 tickets sold, 18m TV viewers, wall to wall positive media coverage, happy fans, delighted sponsors and according to the ECB, England have “reinvented that format and elevated the way Test cricket has been played now.”

Great news, all boxes ticked then – well not quite as amongst all the euphoria, England did not win either series.

The women’s Ashes was an extremely competitive series, just shaded by Australia, largely because of their Test Match win. The crowds, TV coverage and media attention highlighted the interest and increasing importance of the women’s game and showed that this is definitely a stand-alone event and should no longer be an “add on” to the men’s game.

The quality on show by both sides was exceptional and as I have said before, featured the best current English spin bowler by some distance in Sophie Ecclestone.

The format is interesting but needs developing with the addition of an extra Test to the series, potentially at the end of the programme which would almost certainly guarantee no “dead rubbers” and the Ashes still being on the line for the final game.

The men’s series was utterly breathless, intense, controversial at times and some of the cricket played was extraordinary. As everyone knows, the series was tied at 2-2 which meant that the Ashes were retained by the team that was second best for most of the competition, didn’t have the most effective player (take a bow Zac Crawley) and played the least attractive brand of cricket throughout.

Australia, despite losing their most potent weapon with the ball were, however more clinical at the crucial moments and made fewer mistakes at the series defining times– this is the essence of success in high performance sport.

There has been some utter nonsense about England being the moral winners of the series and bemoaning the Manchester rain. There is absolutely no doubt that England would have won the 4th Test without the loss of time but weather has always been a potential factor in Test cricket in England since the Game was invented. In reality, the Ashes were lost on the first 2 days at Edgbaston, not in the pouring rain at Old Trafford.    

We will need to wait until next January to see the Test side in action again in what should also be a cracking series in India and we hope that this momentum and interest in the red ball 5 day game is maintained until the rematch in Australia in 2025 – this will be a great year for the Ashes rivalry as England RL will also tour down under for a Test series.

The cricket focus will now to switch to the white ball as excitement builds towards the World Cup In India in October and the question of whether England can retain that trophy that they won in such dramatic fashion at Lords 4 years ago – it’s certainly never dull watching them.

Anyway, in the meantime we can settle back and enjoy the excitement of The Hundred – what joy!

Talking of other Ashes clashes, great to see the Vitality Roses turning over Australia this week in the Netball World Cup in South Africa. This puts them in a strong position for a semi final against probably Jamaica and potential rematch with the old enemy in the final if they progress.

The tournament is not getting the media attention it deserves at the moment, despite the live Sky coverage – if you have not yet tuned into it, is getting down to the business business end of the competition and the semi-finals and final are a must watch this weekend.

The Women’s Football World Cup has now reached the last 16 stage with England making very comfortable progress and face Nigeria in a game that they should win. Victory in that game and a winnable QF against Colombia or Jamaica sets up the mouth- watering prospect of a semi- final against hosts Australia.

To complete the potential Ashes sporting clashes in the near future, there is a very good chance that England will meet Australia, now coached by Eddie Jones, in the last 8 of the men’s Rugby World Cup in October.

Whilst Ashes bragging rights will vary from sport to sport at times, the one competition that does guarantee total England dominance is music.

However there is the occasional banger that does emerge from down under from bands such as The Saints, Drive By Truckers, Crowded House, Kylie, Men at Work, The Triffids, The Bee Gees and AC/DC (who would both qualify to represent England) but the best track to come out of Australia so far is the brilliant “Beds are Burning by Midnight Oil” – enjoy!

Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning - YouTube