Alex Massie Alex Massie

Trotting Towards Victory

Sorry for the light posting: a house full of friends and family explains that. Normal peace and quiet has returned this morning. Which means that, yes, as some readers have suggested it’s time to say something about the Ashes and, for that matter, Jonathan Trott. I had, after all, suggested that England’s decision to choose him (and retain Ian Bell) was gutless, pusillanimous and asking for disaster. Well, you calls ’em as you sees ’em. Selectors 1 Me 0. Which is, of course, a Very Good Thing.

This wasn’t a classic series in terms of the quality of the cricket. But it was rarely dull and often fascinating and gripping. In the end, when it mattered most England were able to press home their advantage and Australia were not. The 69 balls Jimmy anderson and Monty Panesar survived at Cardiff changed the summer. Had Australia won there – having dominated the game –  it is much less ikely that England could have bounced back at Lords.

Australia had been so dominant at Cardiff that they must have felt it would be only a matter of time before they had a chance to reassert their supremacy. Perhaps something like that contributed to their casual, slack, careless batting display at Lords. Flintoff’s heroics in the second-innings were splendid, but it was Australia’s feckless batting in the first innings as, if memory serves, eight wickets fell to ill-judged cross-batted shots, that put England in a position to win the game.

At the Oval the combination of the toss and Australia’s startling decision to omit Nathan Hauritz didn’t decide the game, but they did leave Australia with more work to do than England. And, of course, Stuart Broad chose the moment of Flintoff’s retirment to demonstrate that he’s ready to emerge as a proper player himself.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in