It is way too early to say, after one good performance against a severely under prepared, under manned West Indies side, that England have turned the corner, but, what a performance they put in. I always say, (when defending some of Australia's big performances against under manned opposition) that you can only play against who turns up, so "what's good for the goose is good for the gander...".
England have made their return to the Test arena after a demoralising 5 - nil drubbing out here in Australia earlier this year. They have done so, in emphatic style - 5 for 553 and still going. Four centuries, one from debutant Matt Prior.
The English side is not as bad as the 5 nil scoreline from the Ashes series would indicate. They had their share of injuries to key players and they ran into an unforgiving Australian side, full of guys up for their last hurah, desperate to exact revenge from "that Ashes loss in England", where, lets not forget, England showed their real talent.
So my conclusion from this latest outing (5 for 553 with 4 centuries) is that England are showing the signs of a side that is every bit as good as many suspected when they beat the Aussies a couple of years ago.
Cook, although he struggled out here in Australia a litte, continued to show awesome form, Bell, continuing to get runs after getting start and now Prior - a century on debut. So they've done what good sides do - they've put the disasters behind them and go back to doing what they should - smashing sides.
What now remains to be seen is whether they can finish this off. They need to go on an win this match by over an innings. I remember saying something similar about a year ago - and it all went very badly. Let's see if they've learnt from their mistakes. They have a solid 2 years to prepare their revenge for the Ashes loss and most of the key protanganists will be missing (Warne, McGrath, Langer, maybe Gilchrist and others). It will be a very different series then, and England should be trying to enusre, the Aussies come to their shores to face a formiddable opposition, making stacks of runs, with the horrors of the '06/'07 Ashes debacle ancient history.
England reset themselves
Zimbabwe off
So, the Australian Government has stepped in to do something about the situation in Zimbabwe where the ICC couldn't/wouldn't.
I guess it's not the role of a Cricket Council to start playing political activist and manipulating World Policy on Zimbabwe, however let's see now, if they can find a way of following this lead and helping the plite of the victims there.
Surely political stability, acceptance by international bodies of some sort, Commonwealth, UN whatever, should be some precursor to inclusing in World Cricket.
Just my, fairly uninformed, view on things talking here....
Zimbabwe?
I don't get why the Australian Cricket Board is saying they are "obliged" to tour Zimbabwe. Sounds like a cop out to me - I would've thought "obligations" to people like Mugabe are an oxymoron...
I hate to mix politics and sport but isn't this bigger than politics? If being "rejected" by the number one cricket nation in the world helps the cause of the oppressed somewhere in Zimbabwe, it should happen. A message needs to be sent that what is going on, is not acceptable and we want nothing to do with it!
Politics and sport shouldn't mix, but sport and ruthless dictatorships shouldn't either...
Update: Okay, this puts things in a slightly different perspective.
You have got to be kidding!
I read with dismay this week where Sri Lanka question Adam Gilchrist's ethics, regarding the technique improving squash ball he reportedly had in his glove during the World Cup Final.
Several thoughts popped...no exploded, into my mind simultaneously it was hard to write them all down, but here's a list in no particular order...
- So...up until the final, where, contrary to popular belief, Gilchrist was using the technique, did anybody mind then, you know, when he was averaging about 2!...
- And...coming from a side that boasts Muralitheran as their main "bowling" weapon, I would suggest any claims of unethicalness would appear a little empty
- And also, "just imagine if Australia pulled this stunt after losing a final..." - can you imagine the outcry...