Buried in the Ashes!!!!

Finally the Buzz around the cricketing circles and fans on who will have last laugh on historic coveted Ashes trophy put to rest with England wining it convincingly challenging, arrogant Aussies. Having a place in the history books as oldest series between the two rival nations it has once again lived up to the expectations of cricketing fans all around the world unfolding some exciting moments in the oldest format of the game. Perhaps this year Ashes did not have the same zeal as compared with the 2005 series but it had its share of excitement. A miraculous escape from the jaws of defeat in the first test courtesy valiant effort from tail enders reminds me of 2007 Sydney test between India and Australia where our own Anil Kumble fighting a lone battle with rest of tail enders departing. That’s the beauty of longest version of the game where it gives joy even playing for a draw in second innings. India has lost that match, however this time around Australians were at the receiving end. But at the end there was consolation of 11000 test runs for Ponting. Inspired from the great escape England when getting ready for the next battle, then came shocking news the retirement of 2005 Ashes Hero Freddie by the end of series from test cricket. Freddie has been the main force and was an asset for England over a decade in whites. Not disturbed by announcement made, Freddie gave his best shot and helped England win in second test with his five for in second innings. He reinstated that he is one among the best and a legend of English cricket. With rain playing the spoil sport in the third test ended in a draw.Fealing the heat from every quarter Ricky Ponting men showed why they are a team to bet upon and still good enough, by wining the fourth test to level the series. With series 1-1, stage was set for the decider on who will have the last laugh on the 2009 Ashes. England dominating and outplaying Aussies in all departments had a last laugh and podium finish with hands on coveted Ashes. For England there was a star born in Jonathan Trot while Freddie moved to oblivion. At the end there was downfall of mighty Australians from the top. Australia is not a same team as it was before with likes of legends Waugh, Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist and Hayden, playing. Ironically Ricky Ponting once considered great captain is now a chicken Kebab for everyone. He is a legend no doubt about it but he is a captain as good as his team.He does not required to be a great captain to lead with all the legends mentioned above in the team,even a ordinary captain can end up on right side of the result. This might not be the end of the road for Aussies to be back in top considering the traits of Aussies playing hard cricket. But it certainly a road map to the downfall of dominant Aussies just like WI giants in the late Eighties, with many countries like India, South Africa, Sri Lanka fighting for the top spot.


Indeed it was a great Ashes this year which has buried not only the invincibility of Aussies over a decade now but also the talk of survival of test cricket due to the advent of T20 cricket. Test cricket is always purists’ choice and will remain forever provided the matches are between the evenly matched competitive teams playing on a sporting pitch. It was all evident through out Ashes with packed stadium all the days in all the test matches.