The dust has settled following Australia’s magnificent victory over England in The 2006 Ashes series. I decided to wait a few days before posting to see how the reaction of the press and public opinion unfolded. But the bottom line was that…
The Aussies Destroyed The English Team
Australia’s exceptional form
Now lets compare those batting averages to some of the England players…
In 2006 - Cook averaged 49.10, Strauss 39.58, Collingwood 43.97, Bell 45.56, Flintoff 33.15, G.Jones only 12.94 (Compare that to Gilchrist’s batting average!).
(Source: http://uk.cricinfo.com/)
Now these stats don’t tell the story of why Australia won the Ashes (or how England lost them), however it puts into perspective how well the Aussie batsmen have played this year. Ponting is quickly becoming an ALL TIME GREAT batsman (history in the making?). England produced some gutsy batting performances but lacked the consistency and drive to finish off the Aussies when they had the chance.
However, this series I think was lost for England through the bowlers. England lacked the fire power to bowl the Australians out. In Tests you need bowlers who can bowl the opposition out not just once, but TWICE, England just didn’t have this. With the exception of Hoggard and Panesar (who’s addition in the side came to late), England’s bowlers performed average at best. Harmison wasn’t the same as in 2005, he lacked consistency, accuracy and self belief. Mahmood, Anderson and Giles just weren’t up to the job.
It’ll be interesting to see how the final two tests unfold and whether England can recover some pride.
For those of you that don’t follow cricket from Pakistan, Mohammad Yosuf has averaged 99.33 runs this season and scored 1788, very impressive indeed!
Don’t forget to post your comments below.
Happy Christmas!
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there! Australia have just been the better team!!
Sad news though to hear that Warne is going to retire!