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It is said if you walk three times round the shaft of the stone cross which marks the site of the Battle of Neville’s Cross in old Durham town and then put your ear to the ground you hear the ghostly sounds of armies clashing weapons.
Just as they did on the bloody day of the fight on October 17th, 1346.
The battle was the culmination of a Scottish invasion of northern England, ending with the rout of the Scots and the capture of their king, David II of Scotland.
There was a rout of a different nature on Monday.
England won the fourth Ashes Test to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series and claimed the Ashes outright.
If Old Trafford was a damp squib then Durham – or the Riverside in Chester-Le-Street to name it properly, as Durham is actually 15 minutes away, was a joyous release. If you were English.
Ian Bell is having the series of his life, and I will gladly tell my grandchildren I saw his third Ashes century of the summer.
A motivated Stuart Broad has looked unplayable at times, and even with a balding pate overwhelmed with gel, was actually an intimidating sight when he bowled in both innings.
KP is batting with a maturity borne of something that smells like team spirit – even if his leading edge was a disappointment.
And Alastair Cook, despite the nonsense that Piers Morgan spouts on his leadership, is actually a calm considered captain who despite struggling for form has still hit three half-centuries in the series.
It was also instructive to hear him praise Tim Bresnan at the end of the game for holding up an end which if he hadn’t have done, “Broady wouldn’t have been as successful”.
If I was Steven Finn I wouldn’t be holding my breath about a call for the return in Australia, certainly as Tremlett is now a serious consideration for the last Test on his home ground of The Oval.
There are also serious concerns about Usman Khawaja’s temperament and technique, certainly in English conditions at least, Shane Watson is now a dictionary definition of unfulfilled talent (see a description of a refusal or inability to learn from past mistakes also).
Jackson Bird, though full of potential failed to impress, leaving the estimable Harris to once again trouble English batsman along with the redoubtable Siddle.
It is revealing that many of the lauded Aussie quicks have failed to kick on in this series, Pattinson though hugely promising won’t take wickets on a physio’s couch, management appears to have lost faith in Starc, (see Mitchell Johnson who wasn’t even considered for the tour) and heaven help the team if Harris’s body refuses to co-operate.
As for the batsman, Cowan is not a Boof man as it were, it could be argued Hughes is enough of a consistent failure to be considered for a recall, and what on earth would happen if Clarke’s back finally gave up?
And yet.
There is a reason why Cook won’t score 766 runs this time round and it’s not simply due to poor form.
He has looked vulnerable to the ball moving away, especially with his worrying lack of footwork, which at the best of times isn’t particularly dynamic.
Joe Root is providing succour to Nick Compton supporters by appearing to lack experience in how to deal with the new ball.
Is his 180 at Lord’s which I witnessed, merely an impressive outlier at this stage of his development? If you took that score away from his aggregate, his average would be severely depleted.
Jonathan Trott has appeared forthright, engaging and dynamic in every interview he’s given this summer, mirrored by a more vibrant batting style which has entertained.
The fact he has scored far less runs through being far less adhesive is the concern.
It’s almost as if he’s having a mid-life crisis in terms of his batting style.
I know for a fact the majority of English cricket fans wish he would metaphorically ditch the Ferrari, earring and young blonde and head back to being a boring old accountant.
Matt Prior, after being given England’s player of the year trophy ahead of the summer, has had a desperately poor series with the bat and has failed to reach his normal consistency with the gloves.
Class is permanent however, so he simply needs to get over the line at The Oval, have a little rest and a chat with his mentor Bruce French to make things right in his world. Let’s hope so at any rate.
Jonny Bairstow needs a solid last Test with no more dismissals by playing too square or being bogged down in a Trott-esque style resistance (a pre-summer 2013 Trott at any rate) that is completely alien to his natural game.
And even then if Root is moved back to six he won’t be in the team for the winter – and that’s without assuming Flowers hasn’t completely written off Bopara, Morgan or Taylor.
England’s wait for a player to fully convince in that troublesome number six role continues.
Jimmy Anderson has momentarily lost his mojo, though the thirteen overs he bowled at the death at Trent Bridge in the searing heat may be catching up with his body.
I think there will be a serious discussion over the merits of resting him, either at the Oval or for the ODI series afterwards.
England need a fully fit and firing Anderson in Australia this northern winter.
So, after four Tests of variable content, in terms of quality and entertainment, if never intensity, for that is a given in an Ashes series, it is difficult to make any predictions for the return series.
England, I feel, if you discount the Lord’s thrashing have never been completely dominant, certainly not to the extent of a 3-0 lead, especially as you could argue at 37-3 at Old Trafford the weather saved them, and were only 14 runs from a potentially series altering defeat at Trent Bridge.
Yet the Australians haven’t been consistent enough to claim that they deserve to be anywhere other than at the end of an Ashes defeat.
I have seen many great Australian Ashes sides that I will take to my grave marvelling at, not to mention still shuddering at the way they beat, nay humiliated us at times for eight series in a row: this 2013 team is not one of them.
So after spending three days at the Durham Test I failed to hear any ghostly sounds – although like Shane Watson this time around, after his fright of 2009 where he ended up so spooked he slept on Michael Clarke’s floor, I also didn’t stay at Lumley Castle; where it is said the murdered wife of the castle’s builder Lord Lumley still haunts the elegant brownstone fortress that overlooks the homely Riverside ground.
What is still ringing in my ears however is the noise of the 17,000 capacity crowd during each day of the match when England won the Ashes.
And for now – like my hangover from a long weekend spent at the Riverside in the midst of the Barmy Army (and Newcastle’s riotous Bigg Market area on Saturday night, which is a different story altogether) – that is a strangely special feeling that won’t leave me for a while.
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