England warm up for the Aussies and the Ashes
Last updated 20/05/2009 10:48:11
Cricket England warm up for the Aussies and the Ashes
England were so dominant in their two test series win over the West Indies they did not even miss the injured Freddie Flintoff.
What is more they achieved their two victories with only a minimal input from their "superstars" as new boys Graeme Swann, Graham Onions, Tim Bresnan and the superb Ravi Bopara carried the burden and pointed the way towards the Australians and the Ashes later this summer.
They have every reason to be optimistic about their chances as they showed that England has the depth and the quality to continue their improvement into those crucial games against the oldest of enemies who, themselves, are in the process of rebuilding.
With the likes of Ian Bell, Monty Panesar, Michael Vaughan and Ryan Sidebottom keeping the pressure on for places in the Ashes there will be no let up.
There has been criticism of the early nature of this mini two test series with the chilly weather, rain and unpredictable pitches but I didn't notice England being troubled by the elements as they outbatted, outbowled and outfielded rivals who had beaten them in their own conditions in the winter.
FOR TOO LONG ENGLAND HAVE LOOKED FOR THE BEST PITCHES FOR THEIR TEST MATCHES RATHER THAN THE BEST PITCHES FOR THE ENGLAND TEAM. PERHAPS A THROW BACK TO THE OLD GLORY DAYS AND CERTAINLY NOT SOMETHING ANY OTHER CRICKET NATION WOULD DO.
Can you imagine the Australians or South Africans producing pitches that would suit England better than their own players or India and Pakistan changing the nature of their pitches to make matters more even? No chance!
The ever improving opening bowling partnership of James Anderson (11 wickets at 7.72) and Stuart Broad (8 at 2.37) backed up by new boy Onions (10 at 20.00) and the spin of Swann (7 at 17.00) gave the surprisingly inventive skipper Andrew Strauss and the new coach Andy Flower what they asked for and they will not rest on their laurels and stop there.