England Battle to Ashes Glory

It has been said before that there are lies, damn lies and statistics. As England and Australia reflect over the series both will contemplate that sentence with a very differing emotions.

Australia had 8 centuries to England's 2 and three of the top bowlers in the series. Only Andrew Strauss was able to compete with the Australian batsmen in terms of volume of runs as the rest of England's middle order either floundered or was chopped and changed and yet despite all the stats suggesting an Australian series victory would be guarenteed, the only numbers that count are England 2-1 Australia.

The Test itself was fascinating from the moment the teams were announced. The dominance of the Australian seamers at Headingly meant that their bowling attack remained unchanged while England called on the talismanic Flintoff and emergency batting of in form Jonathon Trott. No spinner for Australia? An untried international batsman in the most important match since 2005 for England? It was almost destined to be an intriguing Test before the first ball had been bowled.

The toss itself played an important role, particularly given the full time spinner England had at their disposal and England were able to press home their advantage with a solid display in the first innings. Bell dogged out a torrid opening hour to top score and Strauss was able lead from the front in the same style as he has done all series. However, although the pitch did have some demons in it it was impossible to say whether or not it was a par score.

In truth, as Shane Watson and Simon Katich steadily built a decent opening stand it may have been difficult to believe that there would be a result inside 4 days. Enter Stuart Broad, the man annointed by many as the natural successor to Flintoff, but one as of yet unable to provide he game changing spells of bowling associated with the great man. He produced a career-defining spell to place England firmly in the driving seat, an advantage that Trott pressed home in emphatic style.

There was always a sense that Trott wasn't going to simply score a couple of quiet 30's. He would either crash and burn and be a wonderful scapegoat for England's batting woes throughout the series or he would produce a display that would help secure the urn for his adopted country. How fortunate that the South African had read the English script rather than the Australian version. His innings was an example to Bopara, Bell and Collingwood that once you get in you don't get out until you have made the opposition pay and it was the perfect compliment to Broad's spell the day before. To bat with so much class on an occasion of such magnitude may secure his place on the plane to South Africa, but more importantly it batted Australia out of the game.

Although the Australians fought manfully from the moment England declared so far ahead it was essentially a question of when rather than if England could regain the Ashes. The only genuine blip was a magnificent partnership between Ponting and Hussey. Ponting was fighting to avoid another failed tour of England and captain, while Mr Cricket was fighting for his place after a poor tour but both played innings of astonishing bravery and determination. It took something great to end their century partnership and sure enough, it was England's go to man who provided it. Flintoff had been quiet throughout the game with only a brief second innings cameo to ignite the crowd, but as he through down the stumps to dismiss the Australian captain the crowd had their moment and rose to adore their hero. He will be missed for a great many reasons, not least of which will be his great sense of timing.

From then on England marched with relative ease towards their goal and sure enough, they retained the Ashes by finally removing the stubborn Hussey. It was the most unlikely of victories for a side that were demolished twice in the series but managed to fight back and on both occasions win the following match. What price Collingwood's innings at Cardiff or for that matter the 11 overs of fight by Monty and Jimmy Anderson?

The series will naturally draw comparison with four years ago but this was a series of less quality. In 2005 there was a memory born every minute whereas this series has been far more about the attrition and battling instincts of two young sides as opposed to the class and maturity of two sets of legends. That said this series has been no less compelling, no less emotionally draining and no less satisfying or heartbreaking for those involved. It provided a timely reminder of why the five day format is perhaps not as under threat by the shorter game as some may think and it was a wonderful example of why this game is so cherished by so many.