Ashes Final result: England 2: Australia 1

England quite clearly owe the Ashes to three factors: the two gentlemen in the picture alongside this post and the rain gods. It was fitting that what held Australia at bay in the final test were the three factors that have made England world-beaters in this series at least - Flintoff, Pietersen and some plain luck. It was clearly the passion and never say die spirit of Flintoff that brought England back into the game in Australia's first innings, when Australia looked like taking the initiative with long-awaited centuries from their two openers. When it was Englands turn to bat, it was Pietersen who dismissed the defensive mindset that had caused the downfall of the rest of the English batsmen and proceeded to put matters out of reach of the Aussies. Yes, he was aided by a generous dose of luck. But then who was it who said that "Fortune favors the brave".

Shane Warne was one Aussie who enhanced his already exalted reputation even further. This series really brought out the competitor in him and it was quite obvious that but for him, England could have won this series much more easily. 40 wickets in 5 tests is no joke against any opposition. However, the question on my mind at the end of this series is "who is going to replace him and McGrath in the Aussie side"? While the senior side was losing the Ashes in England, the Aussie A side was being thrashed by the Pakistani A side. Bereft of these competitors, Australia will have a pretty ordinary bowling attack and the side cannot be as succesful as it has been over the past decade when these two greats were leading their attack. The Aussie side needs to start experimenting and rotating some youngsters pretty soon unless it wants a prolonged period of an ordinary existence in World Cricket.

Ashes finale: England could pay dearly for their defensive mindset

I had remarked in my last post that England should not abandon their aggressive stance if they have to bring the urn back to England. Unfortunately, they have done so and its effects are there to see. First, their batsmen did not carry on in the aggressive vein that had been so effective in the last three tests. That momentary lapse of reason was enough to let Warne rip through the top 4 with only 131 runs on the board. Secondly, and most importantly they replaced their most effective bowler with a batting allrounder. Had Collingwood come off as a batsman, this mistake would have been less obvious. But as things stand he was dismissed cheaply albeit via a debatable decision. Now England has to defend an okay total with a less than full-strength attack.

Another thing to be noted is the Aussie plan for this test match. Quite obviously Hayden has decided to eschew all attack and accumulate. This has paid off so far. On the other hand, there was a definite plan to go after Giles early in his spell and nullify one of Englands weapons. If Giles is rendered ineffective, it increases the pressure on the other 3 bowlers. It will be interesting to see how this plays out on the third day. England is lucky that the weather is on their side and hopefully for them it might have a role to play on the third day. At this point of time, at the end of the second day, the advantage is solidly with Australia and it will be interesting to see how they execute in the next few days.

Ashes: Should have been 3-1, could have been 0-3, is 2-1 now, whats it finally gonna be?

Its been an unbelievable series of test cricket. The finishes in the second, third and fourth tests have been mind-blowing. The second and fourth tests won by the English could so easily have gone the other way. But there is no doubt that the English have dominated the Aussies. It remains to be seen if the English can sustain their intensity in the final test also. For a side not used to winning consistently, that can be a tall order sometimes. But who knows, the momentum is with them and they might just be good enough for the last hurrah.

There are two signs of a well-managed cricket team. First, that personnel get chosen for form rather than reputation. Second, the team is aggressive and plays to win. England has demonstrated these traits amply and Australia has not. England decided to go with in-form Kevin Pietersen rather than the out-of-match-practice but great Graham Thorpe. Secondly, they have gone into all matches with 5 front-line bowlers in all games. Australia on the other hand have stuck with Matt Hayden and Jason Gillespit and used 4 front-line bowlers throughout. In my opinion, the key to Australia's success in the next test will be its ability to overcome these team management issues.

Hayden is not in form and 4 front-line bowlers are not adequate especially if McGrath is not playing or is not 100% fit. They will need to attack if they have to get the confident English batsmen out cheaply. With the current strategy of playing Warne and three other good but not great bowlers, this does not seem to be happening. In England's case they have to resist the temptation of playing for a draw. If Simon Jones does not recover from injury, James Anderson needs to be played, not Collingwood. Collingwood should only play in Tests as a replacement for a batsman - possibly Ian Bell.

Either way, it promises to be a great encounter. I cant wait for it to begin!

India needs a captain who can bat in tough conditions!

The last time India did well outside the sub-continent was the tour of Australia more than two years ago. India was not expected to do well but competed reasonably in the end. The reason not many gave the Indians too much of a chance was that they typically had done poorly batting on the hard bouncy fast wickets down under. However, along came the first test and Saurav Ganguly was on hand to score a splendid 144. What followed was an inspired batting performance where almost every Indian batsman contributed and the Aussie bowlers had the toughest time in recent memory - albeit that Messrs. McGrath and Warne were out of action.

Contrast that to India's lacklustre performance in the last one year. One of the standing issues that India has had to face is the lack of any sort of batting contribution from its captain - Saurav Ganguly. Quite obviously, the rest of the line-up has lacked inspiration. More importantly, if the captain himself is struggling to get bat on the ball and is ducking and weaving to the likes of Sami and Shane Bond, how does he demand discipline and consistency from his fellow team mates. Batting is half the game and if India does not ensure that it is competitive on this front, it will loose more than half the games it plays. Unless Saurav Ganguly can change his batting fortunes soon enough, I do think it will be time for India's most succesful captain to step down.