Left field
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England regain the Ashes — your views
England have regained the Ashes after beating Australia by 197 runs at the Oval to seal a 2-1 series victory.
How important was Andrew Flintoff’s run out of Ricky Ponting when the Australia captain looked well set? Flintoff did little with bat or ball in his last test before retiring but still made sure he grabbed the headlines.
Australia put up the fight that everyone expected but England were always likely to grind out the win.
So probably not as exciting or as skilful as the 2005 series, but much more competitive than Australia’s whitewash win last time. The series probably pivoted on Monty Panesar’s defiant batting in the first test in Cardiff.
Where will this series rank and did the result reflect the strength of the two sides?
PHOTO 1: Andrew Strauss of England celebrates winning the Ashes against Australia with the traditional urn trophy after their fifth Ashes test cricket match at the Oval in London August 23, 2009. REUTERS/Toby Melville
PHOTO 2: Ricky Ponting of Australia is run out by a direct throw from Andrew Flintoff. REUTERS/Toby Melville
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The series didn;t quite have the drama of 2005 but the way england came back, after being sritten off in the wake of headingley, was stunning.
especially stunning given Pietersen didnt play for most of the series and the Australian averages with bat and ball are much better than England’s. But that’s test cricket
You beauty. Aussies blew it by picking the wrong team and then bottling it in the first innings with the bat. At least they made a game of it today but really, that must have been embarrassing to punter and the boys
Brilliant England. But Im mind blowingly angry that I can not watch England win the Ashes on terrestial TV. I do not and will never have Sky TV, therefore I am unable to watch my national cricket team win an international match of such importance. Unless I managed to catch channel five’s recap which I didnt because I was having dinner, I can find no video anywhere on the match in question. I am v v v angry.
Simples!
but sarah baker is right. i had to go to the pub to watch it. hic! still more sober than fred, i bet.
This series proved that sport is not about statistics, individuals or arbitrary discussions over who is the most talented. England won because they did what they needed to do when they needed to do it: the heroic test saving defiance in Cardiff when we had been completely outplayed; the authoritative batting and bowling in the first two days at Lords; the awesome resilience with bat and ball at The Oval despite the fact that everyone had lost faith in the wake of the Headingly capitulation.
It doesn’t matter that previous series’ have seen better all round play and skill – sport is about drama and inspiration and this series had those attributes in abundance. England still have improvements to make, but knowing we can win and get better makes the victory all the more sweet..
A remarkable win really considering how flaky England’s batting was throughout the series, but I’ll take it!!
The key now is to push on, not rest on our laurels like after the 2005 series.
Uncovering a new Flintoff would be helpful too…
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Someone wake me up when the world cup starts!!
Nobody I know thought they would do it. Overall it was a superb performance against very tough opposition. We’ve all been through so much recently we need something to celebrate, and frankly I think most of us deserve it!
Couldn’t agree more, Ashley. Stats don’t begin to tell the story of this Ashes series. It was about key moments, match-winning spells of bowling and batsmen tsuccumbing to pressure, or thriving on it.
I thought it was a great series.