The Ashes Catch Fire

Each series you would get used to the usual formula:

The hype before the a ball was even bowled with all the usual suspects talking up our chances, the emergence of a new "Talent" who would lead us forward into a bright new era aka the "New Botham", then the normal sinking feeling would kick in and lo and behold we would just end up getting trounced.

Of course we didn't always lose, but you knew, that when the big occasion came, these players who you would follow to the ends of the world to watch them whack a bit of leather with some willow, would perennially let us down and crumble to a humiliating defeat.

Seriously, I reckon Morrissey used to skip down the streets singing "I love Candy" until he started watching England play cricket.

I am one of the most optimistic people in the world, and yet even I would sit there and see the score as 175-1 and just know that somehow we would get bowled out for under 200.

Then it all changed...........2005 came around and suddenly England lived up to the hype, they manned up and took it to the best team in the world at the time, and in winning the Ashes that year, showed the world what we were finally capable of.

This was going to herald in a new era of English cricket, finally we had discovered some back bone and guts to go with our undoubted talent, the future was looking rosy and cricket in this country was not only popular once more........but actually cool (don't believe me - watch the video of the open top tour they did parading the Urn around London, they were gods to us!) and we had a talisman called Freddie to place all our hopes on even at the darkest times.

Alas it was not to be, as that fabulous team got decimated through injuries, mental breakdowns and sheer lack of form, and once again we seemed to be settling back into a rut of underperforming when it mattered most.

That is until Sunday afternoon, honestly, I had no idea that we were capable of holding on for a draw against the Aussies. Yes this Aussie side is not a patch on the team that was here 4 years ago, and neither is this England team, but I tell you what, the guts and determination shown by some of the boys yesterday blew me away, and has restored my faith in this 11, because even if they may not be the best ever players to take to the field, if they keep playing with heart like that I would watch them playing tiddly- winks until the end of time if needs be.

After 4 days of some pretty lacklustre cricket (not taking a wicket for 24 hours when North and Haddin was in was probably the harshest point), and with England having managed to deflate any thoughts of a similar performance to that of 2005 simply down to some awful shot selection and uninspired bowling, something remarkable happened.

One man stood his ground and said "No.............no more..........I will not let that weasel faced git and his boys get one over on me anymore, this is where I draw the line!".

That man was Paul Collingwood.

I predicted that the match would be over by all intents and purposes by 1pm, mostly so I could then watch the Formula 1 without feeling any guilt, and lo and behold, by 12.50 we were 90-5 and all was looking glum.

Imagine my surprise when I turned over a bit later from the Formula to see how badly we had been beaten and..............well we hadn't!

Collingwood was simply having none of it, and he stopped the rot that had seemed so set in stone earlier in the day, that some of the England players (KP and Ravi anyone?) didn't even seem to want to put up a fight.

My dad always use to talk to me as a child about Derek Randall, and how he was such an important part of the England team back in the 70's and 80's. He was by no means the best batsmen in the side, but what he could do in the field was incredible, and more than that, he inspired others. I have seen his dogged innings he played against the Aussies in 1977 at the MCG, where after narrowly avoiding a lethal bouncer from Dennis Lillee that almost took off his head; he simply doffed his cap at the moustachioed fast bowler and said "No use hitting me there mate, nothing to damage!", and this summed up his brave and incredibly focused attitude (which a lot of people just mistook for charm). He may not have had the most talent but he was so brave, and what he did to England in the field was immense, as he would pull off such remarkable feats of athleticism that people such as Botham and Gower would be so jealous of him stealing the limelight, they would try to outdo him.

That's what a team does, inspires each other when you need it most, look at Freddie when he comes into bowl, even if he was missing that usual spark after his first spell in this match, and how he lifts the fan and his teammates, now transfer that onto Collingwood and look at how he inspired the tailenders.

Colly only scored 74 in total, but he faced 245 balls in a stay of something like 6 hours,
and I don't think anyone would try and pass him off as England's most talented batsmen by any means. He stayed at the crease through determination, application and a sheer will not to give his wicket away.

It was awesome, and as each over passed, I suddenly found my faith being restored in English cricket.

Could we do the impossible and bat out the final day (it would seem so easy to most sides), could this obdurate man stop us from losing the first test in the most crushing way? Let's not forget we had been outplayed in pretty much every session of the game so far, and a defeat in the manner we were playing would have pretty much destroyed the moral of our players for the rest of the series.

The legend couldn't quite make it all the way through, and when he departed, after some good support from Swann (who wore a few and put his body on the line old school style) and Broad, you really thought, "Ah well, that was a nice ray of hope, never mind eh, back to miserableness in all its form"..............but no!

Colly had shown Jimmy Anderson what could be done, and Monty "The Absolute Blooming Legend" Panesar stepped up to see us home in one of the most remarkable 11th wicket stands I have ever watched.

All through the game my hopes for a series to match the 2005 epic, where every ball was filled with drama and consequences, had been slowly dashed as I realised we simply didn't have the heart to compete with these industrious and fiercely competitive Aussies.

Suddenly though, as the sun shone down on our 10 & 11 at Cardiff, the impossible seemed on, could Monty (not exactly the best batsmen to pull on a set of pads) and Jimmy (who has now gone 50 innings without a duck - a world record!) see us home??

They stuck at their task admirably, nurdling us into a lead and then finally seeing off the last few agonizing balls as the clocked ticked down..........you simply couldn't have made it up.........and when Punter offered his hand to Jimmy A at the end to say "Well done boys, you've done it!" you could see what it meant to the two men at the crease.

A huge amount of credit must go to the amazing crowd at Cardiff, who created one of the greatest sporting atmospheres I have ever witnessed at the newest test arena, and I genuinely doubt that we would have seen it home if it hadn't been for some of the most vocal support I have ever heard at a cricket ground (all those Welsh Male Voice Choirs you see!)

Along with the increasingly whacky and surreal but always loyal Barmy Army, they should really been written down in the scorebook as the twelfth man that made all the difference..............well much more of a difference than the actual twelfth man when England tried to time waste......something that really disappointed me, but at least even that was overshadowed by the vociferous crowd who maintained incredibly high spirits despite having little to cheer for all game.

Cardiff I salute you!

An awesome end to a poor test match from England, and wow how that has shaken up the series, we will now go to Lord's with a belief that this touring side can be taken, and if some of our top order take a leaf from Colly's book and don't give their wicket away (there is a huge difference in being positive and batting recklessly) then wow, we could be in with a chance.

I am worried about our bowling though, as at no real point, apart from Flintoffs first burst, and a few over's from Jimmy, did we ever look like actually really threatening their batsmen, and expect the talented, but ineffective Broad (he is one for the future) to be replaced by an on fire Harmy for the next test. Personally I would also plump for Panesar over Swann at Lords, simply because he is such a talisman for the fans and the team, and Swanny looked like he couldn't turn a steering wheel on the slow pitch in Wales.

One thing is for sure, as the legendary band Journey would say:

"Don't Stop believing!" because this England side could be just about to discover their potential and more importantly a bit of self believe, and if they do, we could be on for one hell of a series!

So this week I am mostly going to be recovering from the shock of us not losing the first test, and I shall mostly be doing my brand new show on Kerrang from 11am-3pm Mon-Friday!!

Don't miss it, and now that I have got my whole new schedule in place for my working day, I am hoping to be able to blog at least every other day to keep you up to date with my comings and goings and my general ramblings on sport!

I also caught the Grand Prix at the weekend, interesting result which shows that Red Bull are in the ascendency now, and although Hamilton will be gutted with the puncture that ruined his race on the first corner, he will be looking forward now to the next race in Hungary now that his McLaren car appears to be competitive, and also expect a backlash from Brawn, as Button will not give up this title race that easily.

Right I am off to bed, as I am up early to continue my first week back in training in 6 after ruining my neck, I'm taking it incredibly easy and just doing some very light core work, but I have to say, just being back in Arch 20 gym training with Scott feels wicked!!

Until Next time my illustrious compadres!