Are England the Unwinnables?
Don Bradman's post-war team toured England without dropping a match and were dubbed The Invincibles. Many teams, namely recent Australian ones, have been compared to them and some speculated that Australia might even go through the 2005 Ashes tour undefeated (that one didn't pan out as hoped). But England's disastrous tour of Australia begs the question - will they leave Australia dubbed as The Unwinnables (or The Vincibles - I'm still deciding on the best title)?
They were hammered in the Test series (supposedly their best form of the game), lost their best player in the first ODI and couldn't even win a warm-up game. Their morale must be their lowest in decades. The team is balanced only in the sense that their batting is as bad as their bowling. And they've made the bizarre decision to debut a 36 year old wicketkeeper. Maybe they thought the Dad's Army thing was working for Australia and they'd have a crack at it themselves.
Don't get me wrong - I want a competitive tri-series. You can't have a triangle with only two sides and if England dud out, it will likely see the end of the Tri-series as a concept. It's on its last legs as it is - this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. But the Australian part of me wouldn't mind seeing England return to their shores without a single victory under their belts. We'll have the defeated, scarred England of old possessing a kitbag full of mental vulnerabilities to exploit in 2009. How the tri-series will pan out will be more evident by next Tuesday after New Zealand have played both teams.
| Posted by JC on Sat 13 Jan |  7 comments |
It's great to hear you Aussies braging again. What England need to do is be as ruthless, on and off the field as the Aussies are. I have never heard or seen such bias, insulting comments or advertising as I've witnessed here. My hope is that English Cricket takes everything onboard and applies it with a vengence when the next Ashes series begins. To consistantly beat Australia at anything you've got to be very well prepared, ruthless and use every trick in and out of the book to do so. Sir Clive Woodwood knew that when he won the World Cup in their own backyard. Againwe saw another example of being a bad loser when Priminister Howard all but threw the winning medals over the Englsih players heads. Not once did he congratulate any of them! Just to remind all you Australians. England are the only Nation on the planet to win and hold the Football and Rugby World Cup. My hope, my dream is for the English Cricket Team to hurt as much as I do. My hope is that Sport in England learns from this humilating defeat. One thing we need to do is stop employing Australian / New Zealand players in our cricket, rugby and football leagues. We need to follow the Australian example of employing and developing home grown talent. We also need to stop employing their coaches and continue building group of home grown coaches. What our Politicians need to do is take 'sport' seriously as it is taken here in Australia. If this happens, and we, as a country put a larger proportion of our wealth into sport then England can, once again, dominate the world this time in sport. Finaly, my experience of the Aussie player, supporter and commentator is of one who is ungracious in both victory and defeat. An example of this was Ricki Ponting's behaviour when he lost the Ashes and in winning them back here. The final insult from your players was their appauling behaviour the other day when Kevin Pietersen broke his rib. Also the appauling remarks from Mark Slater and Bill Lawry whose biased babling detieorated into laughter when Pietersen was hit. Shame on them both and on Channel 9 whose coverage of the cricket this summer has been, at times, as biased as the selective replays, at the grounds in favour of the Australian's. As one of your ads said ...'This is not just the Ashes,this is War' Selectors, Administrators, Players and Politicians of England take note and remember as a nation we have a history second to none when it comes to War!
The history of England is that we have not and do not lose Wars!
Posted by T.Rymer on 2007-01-14 18:19:12
The history of England is that we have not and do not lose Wars!
Posted by T.Rymer on 2007-01-14 18:19:12
Well, I also hope England learn from this tour and prepare well for 2009. The 5-nil result was gratifying but I've never watched a Test series as enthralling as the 2005 Ashes - I hope 2009 will be its equal.
I have to disagree about hiring Aussies in your coaching staff. I'd go so far as to say a great part of England's victory was due to Troy Cooley's coaching and Rod Marsh's lead up work at the England Academy.
I didn't hear Channel 9's reaction to KP's injury as I was listening to ABC radio commentary at the time. Bill Lawry the real person is no different to the caricatured 12th Man version - they're both buffoons.
Posted by JC on 2007-01-14 18:55:11
I have to disagree about hiring Aussies in your coaching staff. I'd go so far as to say a great part of England's victory was due to Troy Cooley's coaching and Rod Marsh's lead up work at the England Academy.
I didn't hear Channel 9's reaction to KP's injury as I was listening to ABC radio commentary at the time. Bill Lawry the real person is no different to the caricatured 12th Man version - they're both buffoons.
Posted by JC on 2007-01-14 18:55:11
I have never heard or seen such bias, insulting comments or advertising as I've witnessed here.
T.Rymer, you do realise this is NOT an unbiased forum? "Cricket from an Aussie Perspective"... it's hardly the BBC sport pages.
As for which team are the most gracious when they win... I don't see the Aussies accepting orders of Australia every time they win something.
They don't get ticker-tape parades and ride around on the top of big red buses...they just go back to training like true professionals.
And that's probably why they are the best in the world.
As for England being the "Unwinnables", I really hope they make the final in this ODI series (especially since we'll be playing the Kiwis again 3 days later).
And I'm gutted about KP, because without him England's chance of making the final is a lot less. He's also a joy to watch. Maybe there's a 36 year-old county batsman who's up for an international debut??
Posted by Timbo on 2007-01-14 20:00:02
Come to think of it, what advertising have you seen here? I've had people ask me quizically why I don't have any ads on this website but noone ever criticised me for biased advertising.
Posted by JC on 2007-01-14 20:33:49
Posted by JC on 2007-01-14 20:33:49
Come on JC. I know CA must be paying you buckets of cash for your comments!
Posted by TA on 2007-01-15 11:50:32
Posted by TA on 2007-01-15 11:50:32
For bagging them at the slightest provocation? No, but I'm expecting a lawsuit at any time. :-)
Posted by JC on 2007-01-15 13:01:27
Posted by JC on 2007-01-15 13:01:27
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