One of the great contests in world sport gets underway this week as Australia and England do battle for the Ashes. The cricketing world boasts a number of long-standing rivalries but none are as intense or shrouded in as much history as the Ashes.
Dating back to 1882 when Australia won their first ever Test match on English soil – prompting the English media to proclaim the death of English cricket with the body to be cremated and the Ashes taken back to Australia – it has become one of the most fiercely contested events on the sporting calendar.
This latest meeting between the two sides promises to be particularly intriguing. After the Aussies enjoyed a long period of dominance between 1989 and 2005, England has been the dominant side in recent years having prevailed in the last three series and enjoyed every minute of it.
The last of those series wins was just a few months ago. Due to the bizarre scheduling by the International Cricket Council, Australia and England play their home and away series in the same year once every four years rather than splitting them at two years apart and England is still riding high after defeating the Aussies 3-0 in July.
But back on home soil and with what appears to be a more settled batting line-up, Australia believes the gap between the two sides is closing and if they can score a victory in the first Test in Brisbane this week – where they haven’t lost a Test since 1988 – their confidence will soar.
That’s the intriguing thing about this series. While England has been in and around the top of the world rankings for four or five years now, there is a sneaking suspicion that the peak of their powers have been and gone even though they remain a very formidable outfit.
Meanwhile, Australia has been in freefall since the retirement of legends Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and co. with a number of bizarre selections producing wild inconsistency in recent times. 2013 has been particularly difficult for the Aussies, having been belted 4-0 in India before their 3-0 loss in England. However, they were also desperately unlucky that the two Test matches they dominated in England were badly affected by rain and finished in draws as a result, so the 3-0 scoreline is more than a little misleading.
There are plenty of sub-plots to this battle too when it comes to the men who will take the field. England captain Alistair Cook tormented the Aussies the last time they toured in 2009, scoring 766 runs at an average of 127.66 and again looms as a danger man, however he struggled in the recent series back home with rejuvenated Australian fast bowler Ryan Harris causing him all sorts of problems. Likewise, Aussie captain Michael Clarke is one man who could pile on the runs this summer but will his dodgy back allow him to play all five Tests? And can Australia’s faltering top order – particularly the enigmatic David Warner and Shane Watson – finally gain some consistency?
No contest brings out the passions of the fans quite like the Ashes and England’s traveling Barmy Army will certainly provide plenty of color over the coming months. We’re certainly looking forward to the first ball of the summer being bowled on Thursday as the latest chapter in this great clash takes shape.
