Ashes – the boys done good!

Yeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

Dame Edna Everage, Jason Donovan, Harry Kewell, Rolf Harris….and a certain weasel faced Ricky Ponting, your boys took one hell of  a beating!!!!

So we have done it, repeated the glory of 2005, and brought that little urn full of ash back to the UK. Wow, is all I can say, what a summer!

From the word go I really thought the series would fail to live up to the hype surrounding our momentous win back in 2005, but boy was I wrong! While it may not have had the panache or class of that series (the players back then were a bit special!) it actually probably ended up having more drama.

From Jimmy and Monty’s last wicked partnership down in Cardiff, to the super Fred show at Lords, the dismal defeat at Headingly, to one of the biggest comebacks of all time in the final game at sun drenched Lords, it had everything!

Add to that the fairytale that occurred with Freddie retiring, the debutant Trott scoring a ton on debut and of course game winning bowling spells through the series by Jimmy, Graham Onions, Stuart Broad and Swanny, and you can see why I am still excited just thinking about it 3 days after it has ended!

Oh and in case you missed it, to top it all we only went and won! Yes this is not the same Aussie side that ruled the world 5 years ago, nor is this England side exactly the best in the world, but all of that was put to one side as two extremely determined and focussed teams went head to head in the heat of battle and gave there all.

Strauss was a legend the whole way through the series, a rock with the bat, I thought his captaincy was spot on, especially in getting the players to bounce back from the two shocking 1st innings performances at Cardiff and Headingly, and his contribution, in a team of mis-firing players, should not be overlooked. I also think his partnership with the new coach Andy Flower (a top bloke) is one that could really allow England to build something special….but i am getting ahead of myself….back to this summer!

That we came out on top is awesome, I must admit I have been sitting back during the summer while everybody who has ever happened to accidently switch the radio on to TMS ranted and raved at me about who should be coming in to replace Ravi, about why Strauss is a useless captain, how the whole England team need to be replaced by an army of flannel wearing Ooompah Lumpahs (okay I might have made that last bit up!) and how they could do better….yeah right! All the time I just nodded, listened to what they had to say and carried on, as I genuinely, deep down had faith in this side (see blogs from earlier in the year!) and with all the band wagon jumping that was going on about bringing Ramps back, bringing in Harmison, and reanimating WG Grace so he could come back from beyond the grave and spank the Aussies driving me mad, I ended just nodding my head and keeping schtum. I simply could not put up with all the negativity surrounding the side, especially as most of the people spouting it wouldn’t know an off cutter from a googly, let alone have the ability and balls to face a guy bowling a  ball at you at 90mph.

I mean that's the thing with cricket, you could be the best batsmen in the world, and you can still get out cheaply by playing a bad shot, or getting a poor decision (that’s the whole point of the game), or you can have a lacklustre bowling spell when conditions don’t favour you, it doesn’t mean you are suddenly a bad player.

Obviously I want the uninitiated to get into cricket, as it is a truly wonderful game, but when people who have no idea bout the game start spouting off it does leave me angry! Why not just enjoy it, without feeling you have to try and tell everyone else how it should be played!

Dealing with all of this negativity and bad press, made the England task even harder, and the players should be admired in the way they did not let it get to them (some of the headlines after Headingly were hilarious – we were still 1-1 in the series, not 5-0 down!) and instead used it to spur them on.

I could sit and write for hours about everything that made this series special, but I will instead focus on one huge moment which for me summed up what the whole summer was about.

In Australia's 2nd innings at the Oval, they were set the mammoth total of 546 to reach to win the Ashes, simple as that, or so you would think. While they had had a solid start, the loss of two quick wickets seemed to setup the inevitable win, but Messrs Ponting and Hussey had very different ideas. Two batsmen who are truly world class, but were horribly out of form, decided that they were not going to let England get their hands on the urn without a fight.

Cue some brilliant batting, showing the edge and determination that had been prevalent in the whole series, as the two men at the crease were seemingly making a mockery of the record books and putting the Aussies in a position to actually go on and win the game.

Anyone that has seen these two bat before, will know when they do get in, they normally go on to make big scores, and I could really see Punter getting a double ton at one point and making it so that the urn would be heading back to Oz that the next day.

Then up stepped a man who, in my opinion, is one of the most talismanic sportsmen this country has ever seen, Freddie Flintoff. Having already made his mark on this series at Lords, injury and his impending retirement, and of course the emergence of Broad, seemed to have meant that in his final test match (cameo batting performance aside) his contributions would be minimal. Hardly fitting for the big man when you consider how often he has carried this side almost singlehandedly in the past.

Not to be out done by the young healthy whippersnappers though, Freddie had one last trick up his sleeve! From the moment Mr Cricket Hussey called Punter for the single to mid on, taking on the bg mans throw, I watched in almost disbelief as he nonchalantly picked the ball up in almost slow motion, set himself and then precede to throw down the stumps.

It was a moment of sheer genius and inspiration from the Lancastrian, and one that couldnt have come at a more pivotal time, the crowd were restless, the Aussies believed they could do it at 217-2, and yet suddenly their whole world came crashing down, especially when England picked up Clarke for 0 with another amazing run out a few balls later, with the team clearly pumped up now after Freddie's “Intervention”.

It was classic Flintoff, and as he stood still, with his arms held aloft in his now customary celebratory style, I knew that the Ashes were ours, and that however little you may have felt Freddie actually had done with bat and ball, he had left his impression on this series like no one else could!

As Fred ventures off into retirement from the test arena, he can hold his head high as being the man, for me anyway, who restored my faith in the England cricket team and who managed to seemingly get the whole nation on their feet believing the impossible, every time he got the ball in hand, and I hope more players come thorugh the ranks who give as much as he did, and wear their hearts on their sleeves….although maybe they could have a few less late nights!

So with the Ashes in the bag after an epic series, you’d think the England boys would be having some wild celebrations this week, although it is back to the grindstone in reality as they have a one day game against Ireland tomorrow, but one thing is for certain, that victory will do wonders for those Englnad players, and the big challenge ahead is to not get carried away like we did after 2005 and let our standards slip.

Hopefully though the lesson has been learnt, and this is the beginning of a great era of English cricket…fingers crossed!

As for those idiots down in London on Monday night after the West Ham Millwall game, honestly, what a bunch of wimps and eejits! You want to get in a fight boys, get in a boxing ring or on a rugby pitch with someone who can handle themsleves…..but oh no you won’t do that will you? Because you are complete and utter cowards and bullies, and take away the big gangs that you hide behind, and what have you got left at the end of the day? Pathetic individuals who have no care for life at all, and certainly no passion for football.

Seriously, I have travelled the world for many a year having to deal with the fact that from Mexico to the Middle East, every time you introduce yourself as an Englishman, the first thing that people associate with our country is “England? Oh yeah football Hooligans!”

Enough is enough, and it makes me sick!

Right then, rant over, I’m off to watch my beloved Arsenal play Celtic, in what will hopefully be a vindication of everything that is great about football!

Until next time my illustrious compadre’s!