Initial reactions to Australia’s surrendering of the Ashes

The clock struck 2.48 am in Australia when Mike Hussey was caught and the Australians handed over the Ashes on a platter to the Englishmen. Within minutes of the loss, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Web site put up a headline which read “Australia surrenders the Ashes.”

“England has repeated the euphoric scenes of four years ago,” said the ABC, referring to England’s shocking series win in 2005. From ticker updates to newspaper headlines, the Ashes loss was all over the place. The word “tragedy,” was used liberally to connote this defeat of the Australians to their dreaded “Old Enemy.”

In fact, writers were not at all surprised and were up for the task at hand a day early – with dire predictions in Sunday’s papers, when Australia was still 466 runs behind, albeit with 10 second-innings wickets remaining.

“Australians hypnotized – Ashes hopes turn to dust,” wrote the Sun-Herald in Sydney. Tony Kam, writing in a Comment box in the Sunday Telegraph, said, “So where are all the conspiracy theories now? If this pitch was getting worse then logically England’s 2nd innings should have (been) disastrous and worse than Australia’s.”
With this loss, Ricky Ponting became only the second Australian captain – and the first since Billy Murdoch more than a century ago (1884 and 1890) – to lose the Ashes twice in England.
“Runout madness ruins revival,” Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported in a headline.
“A madcap five minutes in which Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke were both inexplicably run out all but ended Australia’s hopes of retaining the coveted Ashes,” the Telegraph said.
Ponting’s captaincy was under question on the Seven Network’s “Sunrise” morning show, which also led its newscast with the Ashes loss, ahead of an environment-threatening oil spill in the Indian Ocean on the country’s west coast. “Should Ricky Go?” was the subject of Sunrise’s phone-in poll, although most who replied seemed to be siding with the beleaguered Australian captain.
Another who gave Ponting the thumbs-up was one of his most strident critics in the past, veteran Sydney Morning Herald cricket writer Peter Roebuck.
“Ponting will not be evicted, nor is he likely to step aside,” Roebuck wrote. “Although the inside edges are a worry, he confirmed his batting skills in Cardiff and Headingley. And it is rare for an Australian captain to be allowed to keep playing once he has stood down. Other countries may field several former captains in their lineups but that is not the Antipodean way. Ponting knows that resignation and retirement are closely intertwined.”
Former Australia opening batsman Michael Slater wasn’t so sure, criticizing Ponting and the selectors for allowing Australia to slip to No. 3 or 4 in the world ranking after defending the No. 1 ranking against the odds and against a better team in South Africa earlier this year.
“The fact of the matter is that we have gone over to England with the wrong squad. We needed an aggressive offspinner in the squad and our best option was Jason Krejza,” Slater said.
While many will be burying and burning Ponting for the loss, it is time to introspect the circumstances that led to the surrender of the Ashes than starting the famous blame-game which every cricket lover is used to.