After one day of the 2013-14 Ashes in Australia one thing has struck me; we are playing Australia again. Every year since 2009 we have played each other in some form of bilateral series, be it the Ashes itself or merely an ODI series.
In part, what made playing Australia so special was its rarity. Playing this regularly may provide the ECB and ACA with financial gains in the short run, but it is highly questionable how sustainable it will be long term. The ECB may be better of trying to secure five match test series against the other premier test nations; India and South Africa both at home and away rather than simply line their pockets with another Australia series or a limited overs only tour of the Caribbean.
The frequency of England-Australia clashes could be the reason why, certainly in my mind, there seem to be less characters and memorable moments than previously. Sure, England have Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad and the Aussies have Dave Warner but somehow, despite being extraordinarily talented players, the likes of Cook, Trott, Tremlett and Rogers don’t have the same aura, the same excitement as Andrew Flintoff, Brett Lee and Steve Harmison.
Perhaps the lack of characters combined with overkill is the reason why there seem to be less memorable moments from the last two Ashes series than in previous series. I don’t have the same emotional attachment to the victories in 2010-11 and 2013 than I did when we won in 2005 and 2009.
In 2005 we had Harmison cutting Ponting’s face, McGrath bowling superbly before injuring himself and the escape at Edgbaston, where Harmison dismissed Kasprowicz to effectively, keep the series alive. The tension, emotion involved and passion displayed by both sides comes second to no other cricket series I’ve followed.
In 2009 we had Anderson and Monty Panesar defying the Australian bowlers, after four Aussie batsmen had made centuries, including that pantomime villain, and Ashes legend, Ricky Ponting. Many of us thought there was no way back from there, but the superb bowling of Flintoff at Lords turned the momentum completely and at the Oval, Swann combined with Broad to skittle the Australians in the first innings and in the second, Flintoff’s unreal run out of Ponting coupled with three wickets for hero of 2005 and villain of 2010-11 Harmison, led to victory.
Maybe I’m being unreasonable, or too nostalgic, but these last two Ashes series have not felt the same.