My long term plan of marrying a girl with an Aussie passport is still at phase one (well, phase two) so I’ll be following the 2011 series from home again. I bit the bullet last night and added Sky Sports to my Freeview package in preparation, risking 2 and a half years of domestic bliss (the exact time since I last said goodbye to Murdoch’s 24 hour Sports coverage). I’ve been more than happy to follow recent home series’ on a mixture of TMS, live from the grounds or at the Local Pub. But the thought of the boys playing through the night in Australia for the most important prize in Sport was more than I could take. I needed access all areas and the day job will have to accept me as a zombie as I try to cram in as much overnight viewing as I can.
Having made my pact with the media devil (I’m truly sorry Aggers) I found myself strangely drawn to watching the obscure live foreign Under 17’s football almost immediately. Quickly coming to my senses, I made a promise with myself that this was for cricket and cricket alone. Of course that includes the Aussie’s soon-to-begin series with Sri Lanka (call it research) and England’s warm up game with Australia A which starts on the 16th November (call it... well, research).
I’m sure you’ll be quick to join me in conceding what a terrible shame it was for Australia to return home from India without a single victory... in any form of cricket... at all... whatsoever. Just imagine how tragic it would be for this run of form to continue against Sri Lanka and into The Ashes. There’s a chance it will. News came through this morning that the Canary Yellow’s have added Tasmanian finger spinner Xavier Doherty to their ranks. For me this is continued evidence that as Australia’s world class players of the last generation hang up their spikes, they are being replaced by hordes of mediocrity. Xavier sounds more like a soap actor and averages over 51 with the ball in first class cricket (okay, so he’s marginally better at One Day Cricket but I’m not trying to be particularly balanced here).
Add Doherty’s name to Marcus North, Adam Vogues, Tim Paine, Doug Bollinger, Ryan Harris, Clint McKay and Nathan Hauritz (it reads like the basis of the worst Australian XI of all time – the subject of a future blog). Then compare this list of journey men to a list of recent retirees: Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer, Mathew Hayden, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne to name a few. The momentum has shifted and we can now boast a more experienced, more settled and more talented roster than our sticky fingered cousins from down under. They’re still admittedly strong up front with Katich, Watson, Clarke and Punter but break through them and they’re as soft as butter.
As the build up continues I’ll look at who I regard as the key players in the series and I’ll consider the Greatest Ashes talking points (Gary Pratt Running out Ricky Ponting, Harmi’s bouncer to Ricky Ponting at Lords and Ricky Ponting’s probable legacy of losing more Ashes series than any other Aussie Captain). There will be endless gushing memories of the summer of 2005 and it will also be important to settle the age old debate: Is Mitchell Johnson just an average bowling all rounder or an average slugger with the bat who bowls a bit?
Finally, after their white wash at the hands of India, Ricky’s team of average battlers dropped to fifth in the world Test rankings. Last month it was announced that the top four sides in Test Cricket would play off periodically for the Test World Championship. I would like to formally propose we hold the first such tournament immediately and without delay!
