Ashes Fever – A New Fan

Well what an ashes series that was. It gave us a little bit of everything, electrifying performances, controversial moments, sunshine and showers. As an Englishman I suppose I should feel aggrieved with the result, annoyed that our long lost cousins have retained the urn, but if anything it’s probably been the most enjoyable series of my lifetime. I’ll be the first to admit that English Test Cricket has seldom held any meaningful attachment to me. Public school boys playing shots straight from an MCC coaching manual did little to fire the imagination of a swashbuckling youngster and I found myself gravitating towards the flamboyancy and flair of Caribbean cricket. Maybe it was seeing Carl Hooper inspire the Red Rose to victory at Old Trafford one hazy summer evening with his unique grill-less helmet and the artistic flow of his blade, or more likely the influence of my dad and his great affection for one of Lancashire and Guyana’s favourite sons Clive Lloyd that fuelled my love for the Windies. Maybe it came down to entertainment, with the genius of Lara or extravagance of Gayle serving up the perfect antidote to England’s dour plodders, it certainly wasn’t down to the respective successes or failures of either side. Both were tripe.

The West Indian devil may care attitude and seemingly ambivalent nature contributed towards some crushing defeats and humiliating criticism but when they got things right they served up pure joy and spectacle. England meanwhile still failed to enamour even when winning. High elbow cover drives smothered in pretentiousness failed to make me a convert. The ashes series of 2005 was a rare highlight with England shaking off their veneer of properness and dismantling the Aussies with a potent mix of aggression, skill and self belief, an early glimpse into what could be possible. In the intervening years, which frighteningly is now almost twenty, England’s ODI/T20 teams have blasted their way to glory but the Test team had up until recently struggled to replicate their engaging contemporaries.

Does anybody need a new carpet?

Cue the appointment of that likeable Kiwi Brendan McCullum. On the field an outrageously talented wicket keeper batsmen who enthralled audiences worldwide, and off the field a horse racing enthusiast and father of three, England’s hierarchy veered violently off their previously well worn path of appointing coaches with pedigree when they handed him the reins. The recently retired New Zealander having experienced only the briefest of stints as a coach in India’s IPL. What a decision it has turned out to be. Twelve wins from seventeen test matches does not tell the full story. The astonishing way in which these victories have been achieved has breathed fresh life in to test cricket when it was needed the most. McCullum’s relaxed approach seems to a have struck a chord with his fellow countryman and England’s captain fantastic Ben Stokes, and together they have revolutionised test cricket.

Gone are the days of predictable rigidity, with the Dunedin born coach actively encouraging players to hit their first ball out of the ground and eccentric field placings becoming the norm. There’s a captivating aura about this team that brims with positive energy and a never say die spirit. From an outsiders perspective it appears that these world class players have been entrusted to play the game as they see fit and without the fear of repercussions from management should things take a turn for the worst. With the shackles well and truly off England’s charges have used their new found autonomy to devastating effect, scoring at run rates rarely seen in the longest format of the game. The negative, what if I get out, prodding and poking at balls outside of off stump mindset has been replaced with outrageous scoops and outlandish sweeps, which for the most part has paid dividends. On the odd occasion it hasn’t there’s been no regression into to the ways of old. Players struggling for form have also been backed to the hilt, with Zak Crawley vindicating his bosses faith in him by finishing as the top run scorer in the ashes after being hounded by English supporters and the press alike (myself included) for his previously uninspiring efforts.

After falling two games behind in matches that they could quite easily have won, the home team produced a cracking comeback that could have been all the more remarkable if it hadn’t been for the Lancastrian rain, in a game at OT that saw the Aussies survive a beating with the help of some Mancunian dampness. Yesterday’s concluding test at the Oval saw an England victory wrapped up with a wicket from the retiring legend Stuart Broad who seems to have thrived under the new leadership, his cavalier style synchronising perfectly with the teams new found sense of direction. It’s perhaps fitting that a draw was the end result, with both teams having played some enthralling stuff and keeping us on the edge of our seats for the best part of the last six weeks, but with the urn returning down under what have England gained from a home series drawn?

I’d like to think my younger self would have gotten a buzz from watching this team, as I’m sure thousands of kids from around Britain have done so in this last month. I can certainly picture me and my younger brother dashing home from school to catch the last hour or two on the TV, before pitching stumps on the garden and attempting to emulate the days heroics. England will have turned casual watchers into avid supporters and rejuvenated the previously indoctrinated, and it is this that is their biggest triumph. Whilst in the past we mimicked Chanderpaul or dare I say Ponting, the next generation may worship Root, Brook or Bairstow.. that is of course dependant on which side of the Pennines you call home.