Hats off to the dynamic Aussies and their great captain Steve Waugh for winning the 7th successive Ashes series

Rafi Nasim10-Aug-2001Hats off to the dynamic Aussies and their great captain Steve Waugh for winning the 7th successive Ashes series. The honour came when Australia crushed England by 7 wickets to win the 3rd Ashes Test at Trent Bridge with more than two days to spare and take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five match series. It was also Australia’s 19th victory in the last 21 tests played between the archrivals.Winning seven successive Ashes series is a record equalled only by the England side of 1884-90 when Ashes campaigns were often of less than five tests. While England face a quandary to try break the Aussies winning streak albeit for face saving, the victorious Aussies have set their sights firmly on matching the achievement of Warwick Armstrong’s 1920-21 Australians, the only team in Ashes history to win a series 5-0.Disappointed with his team’s dismal performance, England coach Duncan Fletcher now appears to be most worried about a ‘complete white wash’ that stares England in the face. In his opinion it would inflict huge damage for the future and being without Nasser Hussain, a shrewd captain whose tactical acumen and man management had helped England win a few series before the Ashes, was a major disappointment.This may not be entirely true because Mike Atherton who led England, was an accomplished batsman as well as a much more experienced captain than Nasser. What makes the actual difference is the Australians are a more experienced side with a professional approach and pride as their symbol. They simply played a higher class of cricket.After losing the battle without really putting up a stiff fight, England is facing the wrath of criticism. Failure in piling up competitive totals is considered to be the major cause of defeat. Unarguably possessing an effective bowling arsenal, England did not bat well enough to make Australia take a second new ball and without enough runs on the board they could not possibly register a win over such a competent opponent. Now, while some of the former England players and critics were out to rip them, the vanquished were searching for a place to hide.Former opening batsman Geoff Boycott remarked, that what the team needed most was a batsman capable of grafting all day, in short, a player like himself. “Our batting is getting worse no better, so many people talk about batsmen being able to play shots. Our problem is that we cannot stay in. The first thing I look for in a good batsman is his ability to defend. Has he got a good defensive technique?”Discussing individual players, Boycott opined that all rounder Craig White and Ian Ward should be dropped with Ramprakash given a final warning. He, however, did not suggest the replacement of veteran wicket-keeper batsman Alec Stewart at this stage. His former colleague Ian Botham, however, disagreed and recommended Essex keeper-batsman James Foster be brought in for the 4th Test at Headingley next week.Offering comments on the team’s performance, former England captain David Gower slammed Ramprakash on the way he threw his wicket away in 2nd innings of the 3rd Test. Considering that the new recruits, if commissioned for the Headingley Test, would be in for a torrid time, Gower did not recommend any wholesale changes in the team at this juncture.Former Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson who terrorised England batsmen in the mid 1970s accused the England players of having glaring imperfections in their technique. With England’s repeated failures, he did not visualize anything but a ‘whitewash’ for Australia.In his rough and tough language Thomson remarked, ‘there must be some young blokes out there with hidden potential that you can just take a punt on rather than picking guys who have been tried and tested for years but are a waste of time.’News trickling down from England’s cricket circles reveal that Australia’s historical triumph in the series has left a familiar question hanging in the air, ‘where does English cricket go from here’? England’s stand-in Captain Mike Atherton, who has been involved in all the last seven Ashes series defeats, picked up the courage to say, ‘the loss is disappointing. It has been a long time (since England last won the Ashes in 1986-87). Over the period I have played, it is obvious Australia have had the upper hand over us. They have had a succession of very good teams over the last 10 years and beaten us comprehensively’.Atherton further added that ‘ there was no great mystery behind Australia’s three huge victories this summer. It is a mixture of reasons. You can look at a lot of things but the bottom line is that Australia have played much better cricket than we have’.Skipper Steve Waugh having injured his calf muscle while batting in the last test, Vice Captain Adam Gilchrist shall be leading Australia in the 4th Test at Headingley. Waugh was the only member of the present Australian squad to have experienced Ashes defeat, way back in 1986-87 and is said to have used that to motivate the team.A day before the 3rd test Waugh addressed the team saying, ‘fortunately no one here other than me knows what it is like to lose an Ashes series and that is the way I want to keep it’. Steve Waugh is a man of philosophical thoughts on cricket. In an article contributed to CricInfo a few days back he highlighted the following points:Any sustained success has to be based on the combined effort of the team rather than relying time and again on the same individuals. If some one fails it is up to the other to step up and fill the void. Players must be flexible enough to recognize different situations and adapt to them to take control of key moments.Whether England succeeds in saving the next two tests or not, Australia has clinched the ashes series with excellent performance and overwhelming grace. The urn that contains the historical and invaluable Ashes is theirs, whether it remains in the Lord’s Museum or elsewhere. Well done Australia, keep it up. The standards of cricket that you have set will go a long way in helping other nations to improve.