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POOR POMMY WEATHER TURNS AUSSIE ASHES HOPES
INTO DUST
 It
pains me to write this but the Ashes are no longer
ours to proudly boast about.
But when you look back on the meager performances
of Australia’s finest, one has to admit that
we didn’t deserve to retain them.
It’s a sad state of affairs when your best
performed player is 35 and has just broken up with
his wife of a dozen years on the eve of the series.
The
much vaunted batting lineup failed to fire and
the bowling lacked penetration and accuracy.
The Aussies went into the 5 th Test needing to
pull together one decent game to salvage the tour,
but a mixture of poor weather and clumsy hands put
the game out of our reach.
 Both
captains agree that it was the best test series they
have ever played in and one must have to ponder the
question... was test match cricket the
winner on this occasion? [No,
it was definitely England - Ed] Bumper crowds were entertained with swashbuckling
innings and some great individual performances. With
the boredom surrounding current 1 day fixtures, the
old style of the game is enjoying a renaissance.
In this scribe’s humble opinion, I am surprised
to hear Ricky Ponting talk about how good the series
was. Here in Australia, the national cricket captain
is our 2nd most important job behind that of little
Johnny Howard in the PM’s office. Punter should
be accepting nothing short of a win and generally
be disappointed with the team’s efforts in
my opinion.
I guess the only positive the Aussies can take
out of the series is that they can under perform
so badly and still nearly win the series. The main
negative is that the only way is down for the majority
of the Australian players.
 Careers
are forged or destroyed under the intense spotlight
of an Ashes campaign. Kevin Pietersen and Andrew
Flintoff will go down in history for the Poms, the
same can’t be said for any of the Aussies except
the maestro Shane Warne who picked up 40 wickets
and a few hundred runs in the 5 tests.
The aura of Gilly and Dizzy and co is fading, will
they be able to turn it around over the Aussie summer?
Remains to be seen...
One thing is for sure, when we greet you Poms in
18 months time, you will see a team more hungry and
fired up for the challenge. As the old saying goes,
you never know what you’ve got til its gone!
 Finally,
its farewell to the man who surely is the holder
of the game’s most anecdotes. Richie Benaud
has called his last Ashes in England. Hats off to
the man who made the beige, the off white, the cream
jacket trendy. He is the games true pantsman, I’d
love to see how he’s go in the local Walkabout.
Tommy Kenyon wouldn’t be able to keep with
old silver.
On a brighter note, I hear that the only important
trophy of an English summer was retained by the Southern
Hemisphere lads led by Benny  Boccabella.
I guess its just the thrill of holding the cup aloft
thats keeping him in the country (maybe his mrs has
something to do with it too!). Also it's intriguing
to see the rotation system of the sri lankans from
north to south each time. Surely that influx of water
on boxing day didn’t shift the island into
a different hemisphere?
Now that cricket's over, time to divert the attentions
to the premier league and c’mon you spurs.
On top of north London rivals at this stage and all
is good.
I extend an offer to any of you guys thinking of
coming over here to watch the Ashes in 2006 to do
so. We actually have some decent stadiums that can
actually cater for the crowds that want to go to
the cricket and for 40 quid you’d get a whole
lot more than just your entry to the ground.
Damien Devola, LhB (Aus)
Email Damo
[Damo's
views are not necessarily those of APCC and are
probably just the result of too many tinnies
in the midday sun. MB]
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