LongHopCassidy
International Captain
The English made it close.
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Why England lost The Ashes
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PhoenixFire
International Coach
We got a better 1st innings total than you, it was close, it really was mate.
howardj
International Coach
Few have raised the point that momentum and confidence were by far the major reason for the blowout in the Series. To my mind, Ashes 2005 would have been very similar to this Summer if Australia had have triumphed at Edgbaston. They would have had momentum, and England would have been absolutely gutted by losing the unloseable Test match (as they were after they lost “Unloseable Adelaide”).
Australia are incredible front-runners. They are like savage dogs - their nostrils are highly tuned for any scent of fear and demoralisation. And, once they have that scent, it takes something from the hand of God to stop them (such as a Laxman/Dravid 2001 partnership). In my view, the first four days of Adelaide was a more accurate reflection of the gap between the two sides.
As I said in another thread, in professional sport, if your confidence is down (England's was shot after the result in Adelaide) then a good team will take advantage over the remainder of the Series. If that Series is a five match series, then the gap between the teams can become gigantic, as the confidence gradually drains and the mental scars grow commensurately deeper. It’s largely a distortion of the true situation though.
No journalist really highlighted these obvious but important points, except for the incomparable Simon Barnes.
If I was England, there are certainly some major lessons to be learned from the Series. The major one being that every battle is won before it is fought (i.e. make sure your preparation is near perfect). They do need to improve, but I would not get carried away if I were them by listening to populist tripe of the Boycotts and Botham's etc and start believing that there is this great big chasm between English and Australian cricket. There's not.
Most of the English guys can definitely match it with Australia - their confidence was just shot after Adelaide as it would have been if Edgbaston had have fallen Australia's way in 2005.
Australia are incredible front-runners. They are like savage dogs - their nostrils are highly tuned for any scent of fear and demoralisation. And, once they have that scent, it takes something from the hand of God to stop them (such as a Laxman/Dravid 2001 partnership). In my view, the first four days of Adelaide was a more accurate reflection of the gap between the two sides.
As I said in another thread, in professional sport, if your confidence is down (England's was shot after the result in Adelaide) then a good team will take advantage over the remainder of the Series. If that Series is a five match series, then the gap between the teams can become gigantic, as the confidence gradually drains and the mental scars grow commensurately deeper. It’s largely a distortion of the true situation though.
No journalist really highlighted these obvious but important points, except for the incomparable Simon Barnes.
If I was England, there are certainly some major lessons to be learned from the Series. The major one being that every battle is won before it is fought (i.e. make sure your preparation is near perfect). They do need to improve, but I would not get carried away if I were them by listening to populist tripe of the Boycotts and Botham's etc and start believing that there is this great big chasm between English and Australian cricket. There's not.
Most of the English guys can definitely match it with Australia - their confidence was just shot after Adelaide as it would have been if Edgbaston had have fallen Australia's way in 2005.
Mr Mxyzptlk
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DCC_legend
International Regular
england for the next ashes is what i say!!
Matt79
Hall of Fame Member
I guess what I'm saying is that a match being hard-fought for the majority of its duration doesn't automatically make the result close. It WAS close until England lost three wickets for 4 runs before the first drink break of day 5, after that it seemed at first grimly inevitable and then unbelievably comfortable. So, in the end, it wasn't close.