The Hindu : Sport : England too hot for Australia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 15, 2005

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England too hot for Australia

Ted Corbett

SOUTHAMPTON: Until Monday night the Ashes fever sweeping England was under control; after England's victory by the huge margin of 100 runs in the Twenty20 International against its old enemy Australia it is a major epidemic.

In the pubs and clubs the return of the little urn that has been Down Under — in theory at any rate since it remains at Lord's — for 16 years is the only sporting subject for discussion. This morning's newspapers explode with dramatic headlines, the radio phone-ins stretch for hours until every aspect of the subject is dissected and television news stations show the highlights endlessly. Expect a motion of confidence from the House of Commons any time soon.

Not even the most fervent cricket fan thinks that victory in this mini form of the game automatically makes England favourite in either the tri-series that begins on Thursday or the five Tests starting on July 21. Instead they recognise that for the first time since the Ashes were so ignominiously handed over to Australia by a margin of 4-0 in 1989 an England team has looked Australia in the face, defied it to do its worst and come away not just with a win but grinning.

That was the most significant part of this triumph.

New-found eagerness

Early in its innings of 179 for eight you could see, not the mournful faces that we are used to when England bows to Australia, but an eagerness to get on with the game, a joy at each boundary, a smiling belief that success was certain, a joyous scramble to be first to the huddle when a wicket fell.

When the wickets began to tumble — the first seven fell with the score between 23 and 31 — turning what promised to be a tight result into an Aussie debacle, the capacity crowd at the Rose Bowl sang and danced and screamed for more.

For all the new hero Kevin Pietersen was awarded the Man of the Match award for 34 runs and three catches — proof I suppose that the English supporters do not care about his South African background — the real hero was Darren Gough. He has the wickets of Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, the openers, he cleared the path that brought the new international Jon Lewis four wickets for 24 and he not only talked the talk in the usual Goughie manner, but could be seen pulling faces like a Maori warrior as he hurtled towards the bowling crease as fast as his 34-year-old legs could carry him.

Only a slog of 12 balls for 24 runs by the tail-ender Jason Gillespie prevented Australia being bowled out for under fifty and in 14 and a half overs — surely a record in quick dismissals in any international match — it had been swept aside.

Rare sight

Happiest of all must be Marcus Trescothick who was mauled by the Australians during the 2002-3 series but who scored 41 and who moved himself from fine first slip to fourth slip to catch Damien Martyn and, with the fall of the seventh wicket, ensure that there were no late heroics. That move enabled him to take the catch easily but more than that it was a sign that England had done its homework, something that the Australians appeared to have seriously neglected.

By the time Trescothick caught Gillespie high overhead on the deep mid-wicket fence he was grinning as if the Ashes were in his pocket. That is a rare sight and one to be treasured.

The Aussies have been surprised by the level of expectation that has arisen in England which is now second in the World rankings after a year of exceptional results. When it looks back on this shambles of a performance it may be able to say that it was only a Twenty20 game but it will have to acknowledge that it has lit a blaze that will be difficult to quench. The fever has turned into a bush fire and the Australians know how dangerous it can be.

Brief scores: England: 179 for eight in 20 overs (M. Trescothick 41, P. Collingwood 46) bt Australia 79 in 14.3 overs (Lewis four for 24).

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