The Old and the New
Ashes 2005 was Test
cricket as theatre
The deciding
moment of Ashes 2005 was Shane Warne dropping Kevin Pietersen .England was five down for a hundred-plus runs and Pietersen , then on 15 ,was its only hope to save the Oval Test and hold on to the 2-1 lead.Australia did not recover from that dropped catch as Pietfive down for a hundred-plus runs and Pietersen , then on 15 ,was its only hope to save the Oval Test and hold on to the 2-1 lead.Australia did not recover from that dropped catch as Pietersen hit Glenn McGrath and company all over Oval.By the time he was out for 158,the Ashes were England.Warne desperate attempt for redemption and one final bowl at immortality had failed.Pietersen moment of glory also symbolized the triumph of the new and young England over an old and ageing Australia.The urn holding the Ashes has been with the Aussies since Allan Border led them to a
series victory in 1987.A generation of English has played and retired without ever holding the urn.Both McGrath and Warne are in the last lap of their careers whereas it has just begun for “Freddie” Flintoff, undoubtedly the difference between the two sides., and Pietersen.The English win wasn’t exactly a walkover ; McGrath and Warne wouldn’t allow that.The moment the game appeared to swing decisively towards England ,these masters of seam andspin would conjure up some magic to slow down the inevitable .In the end ,youth won.The new heroes of England are not just talented players, but men who dared to challenge history and reputations.
Ashes 2005 was ultimately the triumph of cricket .No moment during this series was boring or predictable .Skills were evenly matched , so were passions.Crowds lapped up the all mean for the game? One , the era of Aussie dominance is perhaps over. It is too early to predict an English summer.For that , they need to win in Australia and India.Two,Test cricket is alive and kicking .One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 games though popular pale before a really well-fought Test Match.The India-Pakistan series in 2004 and the India-Australia matches in the last few years have shown that Test Cricket is unrivalled as a game rich in skills and theatre .More importantly ,it is a money-spinner as well.
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