Ashes Urn is England's Once More

The Ashes triumph has been an overwhelming achievement for people in the UK and made their summer a memorable one. The result of a 2-1 conclusion has been a repetition of 2005. But yet the quality of play and team strength of both sides greatly differed. Although the series wasn’t as attractive as that of 2005 no one can exclude the meaningfulness of an Ashes victory from an English point of view as so much historical context and national pride goes into that precious urn and the fact that they regained it once more in such a minor margin of time sparkles a cause of celebration especially when taking into consideration the mammoth margin of time Australia retained beforehand.

The series produced some magical moments that swayed the game in the different directions each time. This promotes an advert for the need and existence of test matches in the foreseeable future.

Australia’s decline from world domination was further demonstrated in this series. They had no such ruthless individual that could dominate proceedings single handily. This suggests contests are beginnings to become more competitive and therefore more interesting to view.

Freddie's Career

Andrew Flintoff has now officially retired from the bounty of test match cricket with 2 Ashes victories under his legacy. He has been renowned as iconic figure of inspiration for younger cricketers. His all-round credentials have been astonishing as has his on field anticipation. However many would label him as an "underachieved" cricketer who should have achieved more but was bogged down with several injuries to halt his career. Additionally his off field behaviour was shameful with that Caribbean scenario in 2007 to name one. One can't fundamentally ignore his failings as captain with that humiliating 5-0 whitewash down under in the 2006-07 season. But all in all he is now retired and therefore we should look upon the positive aspects of his illustrious career or "larger then life " personality.

The immense power he had to loft shots over the rope with the simplest ease was a gifted but admirable art. He will be right up there with the "king of sixes". Technically he was correct, right out of the coaching manual some shall say.

His hands were as comforted like a circular bucket. This enabled him to become a valuable slip fielder. His bowling probably was the one that suffered the most from his ankle injuries but nevertheless he sustained a fine track record and produced some breath taking spells to change round the whole emphasis of a game. This came under as an admirable attribute. He had an invincible run of years in 2004 and 05 , this is when he really began to rise to the fame and was unarguably at the peak of his prime then.

So in conclusion Mr Freddie was an entertaining and talented cricketer but also had his down sides. We need more of these modern all-rounder's in the game as they provide the ultimate source of entertainment for spectators. Stuart Broad's records thus far with bat and ball has been rather impressive and he sooner then later could be ready to step in those heavy shoes. Is he capable of coping with the pressure and expectation of the fine all-rounder in order to become Fred's successor ? Only time shall tell......

Pakistan's Champions Trophy Fixtures

Wed 23rd Sept VS West Indies (DN)

Sat 26th Sept VS India (DN)

Wed 30th Sept VS Australia (D)


Fri Oct 2nd , A1 VS B2 (DN)

Sat Oct 3rd , B1 VS A2 (DN)

Mon Oct 5th , ICC CT FINAL (DN)

Firstly Ramadan Mubarak to the Muslim blogging colleagues. Here are the dates for the diary posted above. Let me just highlight the "D DAY" of 26th September when we have our patriotic neighbourhood rivalry.

The dating of the final is a poor one as its a week day just like that of the 2007 T20 WC final..... This need an explanation one shall feel..............

I wonder how we all rate our chances ! I feel we have a rather strong squad and believe as long as our players rise to the accasion like they did in the T20 WC then we have to potential to go the distance ! Talent wise we have all the ingredients required to become a champion unit btw consistency and individual form holds the key .Can we go one step further and capitalise on our T20 champions status in order to make this 2009 a glorifying year of tournament success for the cricketing mad nation ?

Time For Heroes !

The Ashes series is poised at 1-1. Evens Stevens is the phrase! In one sense we could regard this as the “perfect finale” to conclude a thoroughly eventful 2 months of rivalry.

However, one has to remember that a draw is of no use to the home side as that will result in Australia retaining the urn. From a statistical perspective the Oval isn’t renowned as a “result” ground as pitches in recent times has been rather flat and therefore not assistive to enforce an outcome. Furthermore the victorious momentum is flowing with Australia so unless England produces something out of the ordinary they could have missed their opportunity to repeat the heroics of 2005. Brett Lee’s return to the frame will also strengthen the in-form Australian attack. The speedstar was amongst the wickets in the recent lion’s fixture.

Looking at the optimistic side of proceedings let’s see how England can maybe upset the odds.

- 2 spinners – the pitches tend to be dry and after all England simply need to take the magical 20 scalps one way or another.
- Winning the toss and batting first=crucial. England needs to draw first blood and set the tone.

If there is ever a time for heroes to stand up and deliver, now it is!

Sledging !

"Chin Music" has to flourish through the words.

Is sledging in the limitations of the sports spirit? During this thread I would like to look into various perspectives.

On the one hand cricket is a non-contact sport and therefore some on field banter shall be acceptable as it adds that extra spark to the game. It can really pump up one’s body language and provide him with the motivation to deliver the credentials as a player will be eager outclass his opponent in a contest especially if some words have been exchanged. Or in other terms a player will be keen to prove him better then what might have been spoken of him. Therefore the banter provides some challenge for a player to relish upon and makes cricket rivalry’s seem more meaningful to watch.

But for the players fielding can get dull and dim in patches as one may experience. So consequently some banter may just increase a side’s liveliness in the field. Australia have had some tendency of doing this for decades so one can ask “why can’t other sides join in with the fun and games” and seek somewhat of a psychological boost from “words”.

However cricket is a combination of 3 departments in batting, bowling and fielding so ought one not to let the cricket do the talking as opposed to the mouthy stuff. Also it kind of causes distractions for batsmen so why shall one want to seek such a large advantage from this so called sledging phrase because as highlighted previously cricket should let the action do the talking not the words : “Actions speak louder than words”.

I am too indecisive to be able to weigh up the factors over this topic so I’ll stand on the fence and let the bloggers voice their thoughts on this debatable gamesmanship issue.