No pity from Pigeon

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I must admit I felt a bit sorry for Andrew Flintoff after Perth. Freddie's a likeable character and tried his heart out but England was simply outplayed over the last 3 Tests. However, Glenn McGrath has pulled no punches, saying he feels no pity for England. In 2005, Pigeon was left with egg on his face after predicting a 5-nil whitewash, or in one moment of condescension, predicted a 3-1 win. When criticised over this remark, he said he was paying England a compliment! Now he's back in his element and the hubris is very much on display:

"You don't feel too much for them. I remember standing on The Oval last year watching England celebrate when they won the Ashes. I'm sure everyone else in Australia who met up with any England supporter since then has really copped it, so no, we don't feel sorry for them. Order has been restored. The boys were really happy we captured the Ashes - it's exactly what we wanted to do, but Ricky Ponting did make the point that there's still two Test matches to go and the opportunity to really play well and win these last two and go five-nil up."

Meanwhile, England cricket CEO David Collier is looking ahead to the next Ashes series in 2009 (someone should tell him there are still two Tests left in the current series):

"We have eight to nine players who will still be around in 2009, and the Australians have only five or six. We had lost only one in 10 series before this and we're still No.2 in the world."

Collier is correct that 2009 will be a completely different kettle of fish as Australia will be a substantially different team, missing a few irreplaceable champions. However, I disagree about England being #2 in the world. The way things stand at the moment, you have Australia first, daylight second.

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Posted by JC on Wed 20 Dec

4 comments

"Order has been restored"...the sun will never set on Australia's cricketing empire.

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Posted by TA on 2006-12-20 15:53:37

One rather wonders if McGrath realises that the "order has been restored" attitude (ie, that the Ashes belong to Australia without exception) is *why* we have not exactly hidden our glee. Pride cometh before a fall and if you're insufferable in your pride, we'll be insufferable in your fall.

Plus, it was the second significant sporting victory for England in two decades in *any* sport, which is probably not an emotion Aussies can readily identify with. (And it's reckoned that our last major victory before the rugby in 2003 was the football in 1966, to give some perspective of how important *that* was to the country.)

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Posted by EofS on 2006-12-20 23:10:20

I look forward to your Glenn McGrath tribute JC. :)

cricket bats

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Posted by Debra on 2007-04-29 12:17:50

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