Win the Ashes, get ignored

Austin Barry

Sean? Who he?

Nicholas

The decision for the BBC not to televise the Ashes live was bonkers. At the time I put it down to left-wing class warfare and anti-English spite from the various foreign idiots and traitors holding power over us and running the BBC. Only in Brown's mean little socialist Britain, I thought, could this happen - that the national team playing the national sport in a great commonwealth sporting tradition could be relegated to satellite by a BBC which regularly interupts regular viewing schedules for Romanian tiddlywinks or Lesser Pangonian Dwarf-Hurling. In communist inspired jock-land, where there never is short a gripe, a whine and a grievance, cricket seems to be on a par with Eton as the accursed province of English toffs.

Then I remembered. We don't even have our own parliament so why should the British public service broadcaster pander to the English?

Tiberius

The cricket was less intense than 2005, with both teams having terrible drops in form during the series.

England had been something of a mess prior to the series, both on and off the field, and so the build up was indeed lower key with less expectation.

And, yes, with live TV coverage being confined to Sky, fewer viewers could watch, although Channel 5 provided excellent highlights.

Overall, the 2009 Ashes win was not the product of a carefully worked out strategy against a legendary foe. In 2005, Duncan Fletcher and Michael Vaughan did manage such an outcome. Such successes are rare, certainly in English sport, particularly after having waited so long for it to be delivered.

But one should not forget the fine line between success and failure. In 2005, Australia would probably have retained the Ashes had Shane Warne not dropped a straightforward slip catch from Kevin Pietersen on the final day at The Oval. In 2009, if Flintoff hadn't managed that magical throw to run out Ponting on the final afternoon at the same ground, who knows whether Australia would have gone on to register the world record win they were busting their gut for.

Alan Scott

Good on yer, Rod! Another pot well stirred!!

Baron Pipin II

The death of England cricket dates from when the men began dressing like clowns, (and then more often than not performed as such on the field, sorry). What does winning the Ashes once in about two decades prove?

Anyone ever getting close in either scores or runs to the likes of Ian Botham, Fred Trueman, or Geoff Boycott, ha?

Good on you, women cricketers, I say.

Verity

Of all the sports, cricket has the best looking men. That's reason enough to watch it, although it's also a rivetting game. (But only when played in whites.)

Fergus Pickering

Kevin Pietersen averages more than Geoff Boycott and scores his runs about twice as fast. He also plays for the side and not his bleeding average. What is this Boycott stuff? Here are some England openers who were better than Boycott. Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hobbs, Hutton, Hobbs, Cowdrey, Hobbs, Trescothick, Vaughan, Hobbs, Strauss, Hobbs. Oh, and W.G. Grace.

daniel maris

I think you'll find it was South Africa, led by Strauss, that won the ashes :)

A.MacAulay

Of course the BBC won't show the Ashes cricket stuff. Nobody in Scotland is in the slightest interested.

Dirty Euro

Nicholas - You are stark raving bonkers you claim an anti English war that a South African did not win the British Sports personality of the year award.
Message form Planet Earth. SOUTH AFRICA IS NOT PART OF ENGLAND.
I hate English cricket. They are the worst type of English they think England is another word for the UK.
Scotland was forced to be less than the status of an English county in the eyes of English cricket.
Plus it was a snobby sport of bizarre English proportions with commoners and the upper class being separated in a very odd manner.

Baron

my fault for not consulting the records Fergus, but I enjoyed watching the careful man from Yorkshire, and the other two.

The best thing on cricket is, I reckon, that one can be in the game, and sip a cup of tea at the same time. Ice hockey, now, that’s the game for real men.

Superficial Sexist

Verity's reason for watching cricket,although it comes as something of a surprise to me, is every bit as valid as mine for watching women's beach volleyball,or women's mddle distance running.

Fergus Pickering

Come on Verity. Who is the best looking man in the present England side? Cook? Jimmy Anderson? Big Kev? Swannie - who looks like a streetwise criminal to my eyes, but I can see that might well be a recommendation.

For us poor bastards, it has to be said those winning women weren't half bad.

blanc

Reminds me of the joke. Where do the England cricket stay when touring South Africa...With their relatives.

toby forward

Two points.
First, I also wish that the Test Series could be on free-to-air TV. Channel 4 made a very good job of it. But, we shouldn't forget that the Sky deal made them televise a lot of county cricket and other matches that free-to-air would not be able to show. This put money into the game and it made a lot more cricket available to viewers. So it's not a simple problem.
Second, the Geoffrey Boycott issue. Other players on his own team sometimes deliberately ran him out, so that runs could be scored, and, in a one day match, Clive Lloyd deliberately dropped him, so that England would not score at the needed rate. Not a good batsman. Not a good cricketer.

Paul B

Quite right Rod as usual and Strauss should definitely should up there on the individual nomination. Why is Button up there. Quite frankly, hes useless. Yeah hes world champion, but that is not due to him, its all down to Ross Brawn's brilliant engineering decisions at the beginning of the season,my sadly departed old Gran could have win in that car, it was so far ahead of the game and anyway motor racing is not a sport in its true sense and Button has zero personality.

Why no Man U, much as I feign to dislike them, they were a brilliant side last year. With the unsurpassed brilliance of the sadly departed for foreign shaws Ronaldo, the evergreen and masterly Giggs and Scholes and the pugilistic but glorious skills of the very fine Wayne Rooney. Would have nothing to do with Fergie refusing to speak to the Beeb would it?

rod seacole liddle

Fergus - surely Broad? I think even I would sleep with him.

Paul B - dead right re the orrible Button, but then I don't class Formula One as a sport. And maybe right re Fergie - except he SHOULD speak to the Beeb, it's part of the deal re tv rights and I don't see why he should be exempt simply because the corporation did one of its increasingly rare investigations into his family.

Len Phillips

Why do I always find myself agreeing with Rod Liddle? You are perfect in your judgement Rod and the magnificent effort made by the team was sadly forgotten within weeks and now will be by the voters who look for glamourised,publicity seeking sportsmen and women.
The decision not to allow the series live gave was a grave error.How can we, the viewers, get the message to these buffoons to try and understand what we the public require.

Nicholas

Dirty Euro:- Strauss was born in South Africa but has an English mother and lived in England from age six, being educated here.

Next time you park up your caravan and go on line you can Google him and check for yourself. His name is spelt S-T-R-A-U-S-S. If you're having trouble with the big words get an English passer-by to help you.

Fergus Pickering

I am on delicate ground here. I think sweetiepie Broad might be the chap that chaps prefer but perhaps Jimmie Anderson... Hell, this is getting a bit dodgy but I think I can say without fear of contradiction that Victor Trumper was the Adonis of cricketers - also the finest batsman. Did you know he used to habitually play a stroke that died with him bewcause nobody else was quick enough of hand and eye to play it?

A. MacAulay

Superficial Sexist, try the Cuban ladies Volleyball team. You get a special bonus of being superficially racist as well.

Mrs. Robinson

Why don’t people listen. Only one club should remain in the Premiership – ARSENAL. All the others do as much for the beautiful game as does Gore for the advancement of science, or the multy-culty pap for the cohesiveness of the society. And as for the butchers of Manchester?
Where do I start?

Carl

The trouble is that there always seems to be some kind of Cricket competition going on, each one indistinguishable from the other.

As for County Cricket, who can watch it but the retired or unemployed?

Paul B

Mrs Robinson, Jesus may love you more than you know, but you are just another mad delusional gooner. You may play pretty football against lesser sides, but on the days that matter you come up short. Give me Fergie anyday over the blind pizza tossing Whinger.

Rod you are right that SAF should speak to Auntie, but I quite enjoy the old buggers obstinacy. Michael Owen for England?

Dirty Euro

How on earth does beating Australia at the ashes every two years make you win the team of the year what a load of rubbish it was a below average aussie team. What happens when England get a good team? Barely any developed serious sporting nations play the game you beat one team and give them the award what a load of rubbish.
So from now on England win the sports team of the year every year after all beating one average team in a test series ins the greatest achievement in the whole world what load of rubbish. Ireland (as Ulster is in Britain) should have won the team of the year what on earth do they have to do to win the award.
England the team who lost 6 one day internationals in row. Wow that makes sense. English Losers win again,

Mrs Robinson

No need to get your knickers in a double twist, Paul. The whatever Whinger’s Arsenal beat Liverpool today. You missed it? And remind me whom did Man U play yesterday, at home, and what the result was?

Still, only Arsenal play the beautiful game beautifully.

Paul B

Hers to you Mrs Robinson, but I`m a Chelsea fan to start, the No 1 team in London...Rod keep out of it, the `Wall don`t count. Its nothing to crow about beating Liverpool nowadays is it, recently they have less won less than your mob, will be lucky to escape relegation and in fat Rafa they have a manager more deluded and blind than Whinger,if that's possible.

Arsenal are they Katie Price of football, with a couple of obvious attractions,but dig deeper and all you find is a vacuum where the brain should be.For the Joan Bakewell of football you need to look to Stamford Bridge, proper winning football. Arsenal are good one won night stand, pleasing but ultimately unfulfilling. In the words of the Special one- Whinger the voyeur.

BTW- I`m pleased that Giggs won.

Mrs Robinson

Paul B: OK, you win except for this: the only club that plays the beautiful game beautifully is (wait for it) – Arsenal.

You’re so right though to keep Liddle out of it. The village club he supports, the name escapes me, is only good for someone who doesn’t mind getting kicked. Both before and after a game.