It may have lost its good-old charm over the years with the centre of power and performance shifting its base to the sub-continent with India not only ruling the Test rankings but an Australia-England Test series is a mouth-watering contest for the purists. As Ricky Ponting and Andrew Strauss walk out for the toss at the Gabba on November 25, a new era in Ashes is about to unfold.
For starters, the Australian domination no more exists and England has won the Ashes twice in the last five years to know what it feels to hold the urn. Also, the pre-tournament hype clearly suggests that England will be a formidable side going into the contest. It would only be fair to state that the men from Down Under would not be the favourites, for the first in over two decades.
With talk surrounding a rift in the Australian ranks doing the rounds, Ponting will be even more determined to silence his critics who are increasingly turning against his captaincy calls, not to mention his batting. The much vaunted Australian batting line-up looks a mismatch outfit with none of them being in the think of things. Ponting looked convincing in patches in the last Test series against India.
Shane Watson, Simon Katich will be expected to lead the start but they are no Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer. Both Shane and Simon would be cautious to start with while the other two names mentioned took the attack to the opposition. It is often said that the first session of the first Test sets the tone for the series isn’t it?
The English are aware that the Aussies will be banking on the home advantage but the visitors are one of the most improved sides in World cricket today. That can’t be said about Australians who have steadily gone down the ladder and could soon give competition to the Kiwis who are ranked No.8 in the ICC Test rankings.
With Australians looking for a revenge to the debacle in England last year, it would be interesting to see if they have the required arsenal to upstage this English side which on paper certainly looks like not giving the urn to the hosts.
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Very nice flow.Good article