Ashes Aftermath Part 1: The English Perspective

England’s cricketers have finally done what they have threatened to do for a while: live up to their huge potential. They retained the Ashes with consummate ease against Australia and now are on the verge of World Domination in international cricket.

This historical victory, the first time England have won the Ashes in Australia for 24 years, definitely holds them in good stead for the future. But it is not just the manner in which England won the urn, they broke numerous records en route, many of which were deemed unbeatable.

They have gone from players with potential to world beaters, as 2010 has been their year. After the Twenty20 World Cup victory in the Caribbean, they have been climbing the ladder in all formats of the game, and are now amongst the early favourites for the World Cup this year.

One player who rose to the occasion was opener Alistair Cook who was, without any shadow of a doubt, the best batsman on either side throughout the series. He scored the highest individual score at the Gabba with an unbeaten 235, in the process beating the great Don Bradman's previous record at the ground and was also named Man of the Series.

But he was ably supported by his fellow batsmen. Captain and other opener Andrew Strauss weighed in with runs, whilst Jonathan Trott gritted his teeth and put up some important scores. Kevin Pietersen was back to his mercurial best at times whilst the technically gifted pair of Ian Bell and Matt Prior added to the ever increasing scoreboard, and were rewarded with first ever Ashes centuries apiece in Sydney.

But it was not just with the bat where England won the series. They bowled superbly throughout and constantly had the Australian batsmen on the back foot. The Spin-King Graeme Swann looked like taking a wicket every time he stepped up to bowl and at times was virtually unplayable.

But it was the fast bowlers who should take a lot of credit. James Anderson’s reverse swing bamboozled the Aussies, whilst Stuart Broad and Steven Finn were always dangerous, but injury and a needed rest respectively was where the Ashes ended for them.

But their replacements weren’t bad either. Chris Tremlett came in for Broad and left the Aussies in tatters and the previously unheralded Tim Bresnan, who replaced Finn, almost single-handedly, arguably, won the Ashes for England in the 4^th test at Melbourne.

As well as the two obvious cricketing aspects in batting and bowling, there is a third which doesn’t gain anywhere near as much praise as it does, and that is the fielding. One man epitomises England in the field, and that man is Paul Collingwood. He has been the heartbeat in this area for a few years now and is in my opinion the top fielder in the world.

But, Collingwood after struggling with the bat on this tour, has decided to retire from test cricket after this series. He will continue in the shorter forms of the game but is giving up his spot in the test side, which leaves the question, who will take over from Collingwood.

The man that looks the most likely is Eoin Morgan, who has come to prominence thanks to his scintillating performances in limited overs games. He seems to be the man the England selectors will turn to, but there could be others.

Could Bresnan become a legitimate all rounder? Will they look at Ravi Bopara again? Is Luke Wright ready for a test spot? Or will look for a fresh face, especially with Somerset’s James Hildreth garnering a lot of support for a place in the England team. All these questions will surely be answered after the World Cup ready for the next test series.

Either way we will still see Collingwood captaining the Twenty20 side. From one great Captain to another. Andrew Strauss has led his side to the cusp of becoming the top team in world cricket. But it is not just the Captain, the Coach takes a lot of the credit, and Andy Flower deserves all the plaudits as well as just the team.

Flower rescued the team from the Pietersen/Moores debacle and steadied the ship. He then took the option of appointing a brand new Captain in Strauss, and it has developed into perhaps the best partnership that England possesses. After this series win, this run doesn’t look it will stop anytime soon, and looks to be going from strength-to-strength.

So is this the beginning for England? Early signs say that they can go on and win absolutely everything. But this is England and as they say, anything can happen. The team hopes to begin a legacy, similar to the Australian side of the nineties and the beginning of the century. But I’m sure Strauss and Flower will keep their feet very firmly on the ground and not allow anyone to get carried away.

But at the moment, I’m sure many English sports fans will revel in the fact, that we can quite happily beat the Aussies at anything, anywhere. Well except Rugby League.

In next Wednesday’s blog I will do part 2 of this commentary, and focus on the Australian side and what happens next to them.