Anticipation was at a fantastic peak this summer in England as we finally returned to the spot where we claimed the Ashes in 2005. It was time for the Poms and the Aussies to reignite their age-old hatred of each other in all codes sporting. Only it didn’t really happen that way.
Going back to the last Ashes tour in England, in 2005, both sides were biting at the other’s heels. The stump-rophones picked up some hilariously offensive sledging, England fans would grimace at the sight of Shane Warne (now offering some of the best insight on UK television coverage), and everyone’s love-to-hate South African was sporting a hideously irritating skunk-stripe in his hair. The great cricket helped the series along, producing nail-biting finishes and brilliant banter.
In 2006-07, while I was whitewashing my living room (sadly, the only whitewash to occur in that period as the Ashes was regrettably cancelled and never existed), there was a rumour that some good old hatred was being had Down Under. Glen McGrath made his usual predictions, the Poms rolled their eyes in disgust, and the hatred lived on.
Fast-forward to 2009, and there just didn’t seem to be any spark in the old rivalry. The British media attempted to rouse some animosity as there was uproar in the cricketing world at the abuse of Ricky Ponting. In all seriousness, has there ever been an Aussie in England that hasn’t expected at least a little bit of stick, and visa versa? In the end, the Barmy Army was actually feeling a bit sorry and Ponting was almost adopted as some sort of talisman of the spirit of cricket.
For England, Kevin Pietersen’s annoying presence was lost to injury early on, Freddie Flintoff had become ethereal in the closing minutes of his Test career and the likes of Broad, Strauss or Bopara were never going to offer wit in spades.
For Australia, potential controversy maker Andrew Symonds didn’t make the squad and retirement had subjected McGrath, Warne and Adam Gilchrist – players who could really get under the skin of their opposition – to the annals of cricketing history.
Justin Langer almost raised a bit of distaste with his England team ‘profiling’, but even this was shrugged off with a sigh of ‘fair enough, really’.
There are some great rivalries in sport – in rugby the Springboks and the All Blacks and in football the English and the Germans, to name but two. But no rivalry spills out into the culture of a nation like the banter between a Pom and an Aussie; and no sporting event quite embodies that culture like an Ashes series.
The Aussies, reportedly, are still in England playing a great game in a dying format. Quite why any organisers chose to play seven ODIs in the shadow of the Ashes is beyond me. Autumn is on the way, and the soggy English weather is inevitable. Yet again, it all seems a bit friendly.
Viscount Crouchback
Guest
It's a question of image, old top. Mr Sutherland is rightly concerned that his nation's cricketing representatives not be viewed as gum-munching Outback psychotics with a penchant for language that would make a navvy blush. There is - believe it or not - a deep strain of propriety in the Australian psyche, and it tends to emerge most forcefully when its chaps are on display in the Mother Country. The real puzzle is why there is such a constant tension between behaviour and cricketing performance in Australia. No other nation on earth seems to struggle with this balance. They just play cricket - and when they have better players, they play better cricket. Only the Australians, it seems, require a diet of red meat to play well. I daresay there are good historical and cultural reasons for this. I invite others to speculate.
Colin N
Guest
Er.....I seem to remember certain sections of the Australian media and public complaining that it was too friendly in 2005 and not making the same mistake again. I don't see how they would be 'friendly' in 2009. You're quite right regarding the 50-over game, both with Australia's excellent performances, and the actual notice anyone takes to the format. I believe England actually won the 50-over series in 06/07, after the humiliation we received in the test matches. No one remembers it though.