England March Boldly Into Golden Era

England have done it! Not only have they come to Australia and retained the Ashes, an achievement in itself, but they have also gone on to win the series 3-1. England came into this Test knowing that Australia could have leveled the series at 2-2 with a win, this would have been one of the great injustices in cricket history. Ultimately, Australia never even came close to leveling the series. England produced another dominant performance which ensured that the series was won. The 3-1 score line is emphatic but in my opinion still does not do justice to England’s dominance. It is surely the most emphatic 3-1 in Test history and must be ranked as one of Australia’s most embarrassing series defeats in Tests, not just Ashes encounters. Conversely, it will long be remembered as one of England’s most glorious victories.

Here are some stats which outline just how dominant England have been: It is the first time England have won 3 matches by an innings in a series, and the first time Australia have lost 3 by an innings. The 9 centuries scored by England is a new English Ashes record. The 644 scored by England in this game is their highest ever score in Australia. England had previously scored only one total over 600 in Australia, they scored 2 in this series. It is the first time Australia have conceded a total of 500 four times in a series. For the first time since 1950, Australia’s 1, 2, 3 and 4 did not make a century.

These are damning statistics for Australia. If you dug even deeper I’m sure it would only get worse. This is probably one of the worst Australian sides since 1970/71 when World Series Cricket tore their team apart. They have certainly not done justice to the great teams that have preceded them. Australia now have a lot of work to do to get back to where they were but now is not the time to talk about Australia’s failings. Now is the time to celebrate England’s triumph.

Many people (mostly begrudging Australians) have suggested that England’s victory is because of Australia’s awfulness rather than England’s brilliance. These people could not be more wrong. Admittedly, Australia have been bad but this has been because England have been so good. They have made Australia look much worse than they actually are. Throughout the series England have racked up massive totals and then proceeded to rip through Australia’s feeble batting resistance on the very same pitch, in the very same conditions. They have found swing and seam where Australia have found nothing, something that has led some to believe that England have had the better of the conditions, they haven’t. They have just been far better at utilising the conditions presented to them. Something all great sides do.

Before this series started I suggested that Australia would win the series. Primarily because of two main English weaknesses. I had predicted that because of Alastair Cook’s weaknesses at the top of the order and James Anderson’s struggles in overseas conditions with the Kookaburra ball, England would be too weak in key positions. At the climax of the series, with the urn safely in the bag. Alastair Cook and James Anderson have probably been the best two players in this series. Cook has plundered his way to 766 runs and a batting average of 127 (the best ever by an Englishman on a tour of Australia) whilst James Anderson has finished as the leading wicket-taker in the series and has consistently looked like a truly world-class bowler. Whilst this is mildly embarrassing for me, I am more than happy to admit my misjudgment and bask in the glory of Cook and Anderson’s achievements.

So where to next for England? The team of 2005 certainly didn’t know and they proceeded to lose all their form and struggled horribly for the next 2 years whilst Australia went on a 16 game winning streak. I certainly don’t see that happening this time around. This England side are a determined group and their ultimate aim is to become the No.1 side in the world.

This is an aim that is very achievable, especially after their brilliant performance in this series. India and South Africa are very closely matched, as proved by their 1-1 draw in South Africa. But they both have weaknesses. India have an aging batting line-up which may struggle to cope with losses of key players in the coming years. They also have a seam attack which is very inconsistent and can be toothless at times. South Africa have a strong opening partnership in Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel but they do not have much depth, an injury to either of these two would seriously hurt them. They also lack a world-class spinner which can at times dent their wicket taking ability.

England on the other hand have no obvious weaknesses. Their batting is strong and they have shown in this series that they are capable of racking up big runs. They have a world-class spinner in Graeme Swann - currently the best spinner in the world - and finally, and in my opinion most importantly, they have a strong, varied, skillful bowling attack. There is no other side in the world which can boast of such a complete line-up. You have the swing of James Anderson and Ajmal Shahzad, the height and bounce of Broad, Finn and Tremlett and to cap it all off there is the impressive Tim Bresnan who can swing the ball, gets a bit of bounce and is a very clever bowler. England have such an embarrassment of riches that they can simply rotate their seamers as and when they choose. They can pick an attack for certain conditions, as they did in Perth and Melbourne, with the selections of Tremlett and Bresnan. This depth could well be the key to any future success. This strength in depth was on show with Tremlett’s stellar performances after coming in due to Broad’s injury. Because of this ability to rotate, they will be able to cope with the demanding International schedule, something that is destroying fast bowlers the world over.

This England unit has the added bonus of youth. It will be together for quite a long time yet. Many of the batsmen are coming into their prime whilst all of the bowlers will be around for at least another 5 years. The likes of Broad and Finn should have at least 10 more years at the top. Unlike the Australians, England also have an in-form, ready made replacement in Alastair Cook for captain Andrew Strauss when the times comes for him to relinquish his role.

It seems England are well set to become a very good, if not great side. So as Australia’s golden era is well and truly over, England may just be at the start of theirs.