19th September 2005
Hi all,
Let me take you back to when I was ten. I lived in Somerset, I had a wonderfully long summer holiday, and given where I lived and the amount of spare time I had it was only natural that I spent most of that summer watching England win the Ashes, beating Australia 3-1 (with two draws in the six match series).
England regained the Ashes in the 1986/87 series in Australia, but my memories of that are hazy. I vaguely recall highlights being shown at some point in the early evening, but the series took place in the middle of winter and without the depth of media coverage that there is today there wasn't the same buzz about the series. I have a video of the highlights of that series. I will probably find myself bookending that video with a dvd of this summer's triumph. Eighteen years ago you couldn't imagine buying sports highlights on such a format.
It had been sixteen years that Australia had held the Ashes following their 1989 win, eighteen years since England had won them themselves and a whole twenty since we had won them on home soil. We never held the Ashes while I was in my twenties. Finally we had a team to compete with the Australians, although the way the Australians won the first test at Lords it didn't look that way. Back came England with a dramatic win at Edgbaston, which saw me jumping around the living room. An almost equally dramatic draw at Old Trafford took place before an English win at Trent Bridge. I wasn't watching as much as I was twenty years ago (stupid terms of employment!) but what I was able to see was utterly enthralling.
Needless to say then last week's conclusion to the latest Ashes series was both a joy and an enormous relief. Going into the final test leading the series 2-1 we could get away with a draw. Twenty years ago we went into the final test at The Oval we were in the same position, and I watched at home as Graham Gooch and David Gower both despatched the Australian bowling all round the ground. Although we only needed a draw we won the Test easily, and the Ashes were regained.
Hopeful of a similar start to this game I was to be disappointed, as for the most part resistance to the Australian bowlers was in short supply. England topped 300 on the first day, but on a perfect pitch it was unlikely to be good enough. As Australia started making back the deficit with seeming ease in their innings Englishmen around the world started to wish for bad weather in South London, and it came, as both dark clouds and rain interrupted the game.
However as the weather settled on Monday it appeared that the result would have to be earned. Like many others I suffered a nervy morning, hearing snippets of news of wickets falling. I spent most of my lunch hour in Dixons on Glasgow's Argyle Street, trying to look interested in the models of televisions on display and not on the cricket being shown on them (probably without success, although I was left in peace by the staff there). Two sets alongside each other had Channel 4 (live coverage) and Sky Sports News (highlights from the morning's play) on them. I watched Kevin Pietersen attack the Australian bowling on one and Ian Bell being dismissed cheaply for the umpteenth time on the other.
Back to work and a long afternoon awaited me. As Pietersen secured his hundred and kept going it looked more and more likely that the game would end in a draw and we would win the Ashes back. I really regretted not being at home and watching the action as it took place. I figured the end would come when I was commuting home.
As it turned out when I got back to my car Australia's innings had begun, but had again been suspended due to the light. Various national radio stations speculated when the end might come while I got frustrated behind the wheel. Traffic on the roads may have been lower than usual south of the border, but in the Old Firm obsessed west of Scotland it was just another day. Cue crawling buses and low-speed learners clogging up my road home.
Just as I entered Law Radio 4 told us what was going to happen. The umpires would walk out to the middle, take off the bails and that would be the game over. I had a couple of minutes to get home and flick the TV on to see the final act. I just barely made it. The Ashes had returned to English hands, for the first time in far too long.
The last time we held the Ashes I would kill the time between lunch breaks by going out to the back garden and bowling at some stumps in the back garden. If my Step Dad was off work or if it was a weekend I had someone to bowl to, or face deliveries from. It's a major difference in living in Scotland - there really isn't a summer sport here. There is a minority who take an interest in Cricket, others who indulge in Golf and a there's a small queue for the Tennis/Andy Murray bandwagon, but that's about it. As a matter of fact with the earlier SPL season start and a later finish the Old Firm obsession is almost a year round affair. To an outsider it is pretty depressing.
Even in England football is in danger of taking over, but at least there is resistance. I'm regularly reading mutterings about the Premiership isn't all it is cracked up to be (and from supporters of clubs in it, in case you think it fans of relegated clubs like myself who become bitter). England's recent defeat to Northern Ireland couldn't have come at a worse time for the game. Will it change football's place in the pecking order in the long-term? Unlikely, but a break from the norm is welcome.
Also welcome was the overwhelming sportsmanship of the series. Was this Australia, the noted sledgers, involved in this? Sure was, and to their credit they played their part in a perfect series. Ultimately though it was only perfect if you were English.
We've got them back, finally.
Have a good week!
Tony
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