Home and Away - The Ashes Tour: 5th Test

Crack open the champagne and bring out the Sprinkler - England have won the Ashes away from home for the first time in 24 years. There is no way you understate just how well this side has done, regardless of the quality of the opposition. Three innings defeats are not to be sniffed it. Of course, there are further tests to come - this cannot be seen as the pinnacle for this side, as it was back in 2005. There is a World Cup and a home series against the No.1 Test side India upcoming in 2011 - only then can we make a judgement on just how good English cricket is right now. But for now, let us bask in the glory of the SCG. This is the last test match I'm covering until the summer, so I'm going to modify my style one last time before the anniversary review that the BtC board of directors will undertake. I promise there will be some continuity in 2011. And much less county cricket!

5th Test (Sydney): England 644 (Cook 189, Prior 118, Bell 115, Strauss 60, Johnson 4-168) beat Australia 280 (Johnson 53, Anderson 4-66) and 281 (Smith 54*) by an innings and 83 runs and win the series and the Ashes 3-1.

The Good: England's batting once again confounded all expectations after their well-documented (check our archive) problems against the swinging ball at home in the summer. Chiefly tormented by the Dukes ball was Alastair Cook. The runs that he has scored in this series have totally reversed his fortunes and cemented his place in the record books. His performances have also ensured that I will always refer to him with Frank Keating-esque whimsy to my grandchildren. He may not be flashy, but Ian Bell and Matt Prior certainly are. So often they frustrate and do not make the runs their style deserves, but they made hay against a flagging Australian attack, both particularly strong in front of the wicket. I might as well also mention Usman Khawaja as a genuine hope for the future in the Aussie batting lineup. His subcontinental roots have blessed him with a wristy approach and legside bias although a weakness just outside off stump remains. But then, that was Cook's major weakness as he started out - look at him now! Finally, the England pace attack looked superb with the old ball. James Anderson in particular completely buried the demons of four years ago with a devastating spell of reverse swing bowling. Big Chris Tremlett also continued to show his development and thoroughly deserved to take the wicket that sealed the game

The Bad: Whilst the overall performance of the England pace attack was good, the way they dealt with the tail in the first innings. From 189-8, Australia recovered to 280, thanks to lower order runs from Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus. I felt there was too much short pitched bowling outside off, allowing the batsman a free swing and some big boundaries. Eventually Tim Bresnan wised up and pitched it up - full and straight to the tail will work eventually. There is no point in fearing Johnson's batting, yes, his backlift is enormous and he may swat you for six now and again, but he has not the temperament to play a defensive innings - he'll get himself out eventually. Other teams may not be as forgiving as this fragile lot! We should also continue to despair the selection of Steve Smith - not because he's a bad player, just because they Aussies don't know what to do with him - is he a 6 or 7? Can he bowl or can't he? On this evidence, his bowling is not yet good enough, and his batting, whilst good, is not yet good enough to bat in the top 6, therefore he is not currently worth a place in the side. His time will come.

The Ugly: Not for the first time, the final decision reached by the UDRS was not to the satisfaction of the Australians, indicating perhaps a flaw in the way it is implemented. Ian Bell was given out on 67 off an inside edge. Nothing showed on Hotspot - the Snickometer could not be reviewed because it takes so long to be of use. The decision was overturned, despite Bell's uncertainty in taking the review. Snicko showed he'd nicked it. More work needs to be done to make the decision making as flawless as possible. Also ugly were the shots played by the Aussie batsmen in getting out. Too often have Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin in particular wafted hard at balls outside the off and been caught behind the wicket. But ugliest of all was the no-ball bowled by debutant Michael Beer, just as Alastair Cook holed out to mid-on. This reprieve essentially lost Australia the Ashes.

So there you have it. A classic series won comfortably by the best side. Here are my series highlights with the slightly bizarre contexts in which I saw them:

• The first morning at Adelaide. Simon Katich run out brilliantly by Jonathan Trott without facing, with Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke soon traipsing off to the pavilion in his wake. Aussies 2-3 and never came back in the match. I sat with my teammates screaming at the box, having just turned up 24 pairs of trousers for a tournament that weekend. Domestic bliss!


• Ricky Ponting's meltdown at Melbourne after Kevin Pietersen is correctly given not out on review. You knew the Ashes were lost when Ricky's top finally blew and he launched a tirade at umpire Aleem Dar. I took all of this in alone on a night shift in a nursing home. Fortunately nobody had a call of nature in the small hours to disturb me!


• Paul Collingwood's dismissal of Mike Hussey at Sydney in what turned out to be his final test match. We salute you for all your hard graft over the last 7 years Colly! I had just said he'd get Hussey out as well. For I was sat with a friend entirely heterosexually eating cheese and drinking wine. What? We had a lot of food left over from Christmas!

ODIs and T20s to follow
RM