Talking of the phoney war, it was great to listen to Michael Vaughan, Gladstone Small and Allan Lamb reminiscing about past Ashes series on the radio during the week.
The fact that, prior to their triumphant Test series in 1986-87, Mike Gatting's side only had three things wrong with them* has passed into English cricket folklore. So it was great to hear from Small that there were reasons for this. From the sound of it the side spent most of the first few weeks of the tour enjoying themselves, only putting their minds to the main objective of the trip the night before the Brisbane Test, which they went on to win handsomely. The clear implication was that the odd alcoholic drink was consumed.
This time, unlike the last time they were in Australia, England have the opportunity to prepare properly. But I suspect their methods of refreshment might be a little different.
Such is the passing of time and the change of eras.
* According to Martin Johnson, writing in The Independent, England's only faults at the time were that 'they can't bat, they can't bowl and they can't field'.
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Three memories of cricket in 2024
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4 comments:
and who nrememvbers Rodney Marsh's comment after the First Test that they should be dope tested? And had't he also describved the bowlers as "pie-throwers"?
I certainly remember those but I think the 'pie chuckers' came later, directed at the likes of Martin McCague (brought up in Aussie).
It seems as though David Saker really rates this England attack, though, and his opinion is worth taking some notice of.
It's a long time since we went to Australia with an attacking spinner - that makes a lot of difference. I am sure the Aussies will try to hit Swann out of the attack as they tried to with Jim Laker in 58/59 after his success in the 1956 series. Let's hope they are equally unsuccessful this time round.
Yes, that's one of the most interesting aspects of the series. The fact that the best bowler on either side is English and is a spinner and has the sort of personality that's likely to get up the Aussies' noses and make them do thing they'll regret...
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