England outplay Australia in all departments

Alastair Cook

LONDON, (Reuters) – Meticulous preparation, thorough   professionalism and unprecedented fitness levels underpinned   England’s 3-1 Ashes triumph in Australia.

They possessed the best batsman in Alastair Cook, the most   successful bowler in James Anderson and a management team of   head coach Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss who scarcely   put a foot wrong.

The English test cricket team celebrates winning the Ashes test series after they beat Australia in the fifth Ashes cricket test at the Sydney Cricket Ground last night. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne

England outplayed a team who have dominated world cricket   for the past 15 years in all departments of the game.

Strauss joins Len Hutton as the only English captains to   win an Ashes series home and away against a full-strength   Australian side in a five-match series.

Five months ago Cook was playing for his test place. Now   the former choirboy with the streak of steel and insatiable   hunger for runs occupies a place in the record books alongside   the giants of the game.

He scored 235 not out in Brisbane to save a match   Australia had dominated, 148 in Adelaide to set up an England   victory, and 189 in Sydney to extinguish the home side’s last   faint hopes of levelling the series.

Cook batted more than 36 hours, longer than anybody in a   five-match series, and his Ashes series aggregate of 766 is   second only to the great Wally Hammond’s 905 in 1928-29.

Still only 26, Cook could break every test scoring record   in the English game.

LEADER OF
THE PACK

England’s commitment to a four-man attack in the absence   of an all-rounder of sufficient test class since Andrew   Flintoff’s injury-enforced retirement placed James Anderson   squarely under the spotlight.

Anderson graduated to the role of senior England pace   bowler with his ability to bend the ball late both ways at a   lively pace. Doubts, though, remained over his temperament and   ability to find an alternative strategy if the ball was not   swinging.

James Anderson

The unassuming Lancastrian delivered with 24 wickets,   including some brilliant spells in which the batsmen were not   good enough to get an edge.

When the ball stopped swinging he adjusted his length, and   his accuracy was such that the batsmen were never able to   wrest control. He also looked the part of a strike bowler.

“Body language is a huge thing,” Anderson said. “I try to   keep my shoulders back now and to be positive. In the past   I’ve been pretty average at that.”

HARD WORK

Flower identified Jonathan Trott’s contribution in the   innings win in Melbourne as an example of the improvements   made in England’s conditioning and fielding.
Trott had made 46 when he dived full length to avoid a   runout. He went on to score 168 and was still alert enough to   run out Phil Hughes when Australia batted.

“Those on the inside know that Trott has worked incredibly   hard at his fitness and fielding this past year and, when it   comes together, that is an example of something that makes me   proud as a coach,” said Flower.

Alastair Cook

Flower inherited his job in the most unpromising of   circumstances after former head coach Peter Moores and captain   Kevin Pietersen were sacked before the tour of West Indies   early in 2009.

He took from over from Moores while Strauss replaced   Pietersen and the pair quickly established a close rapport   after an awful start when England were dismissed for 51 in the   first test.

England lost that series but with Strauss leading from the   front as opening batsman and leader they won the Ashes back in   the same year.

Flower had shown his skill as a player when he was briefly   the world number one batsman while playing for lowly Zimbabwe,   and his character as a man when he protested against Robert   Mugabe’s regime at the 2003 World Cup.

Now he has proven an equally effective coach.

“He looks at every aspect of the team’s performance, at   what things we could do to make it two percent better,” said   batting coach Graham Gooch.

NO GENTLE GIANT

Stuart Broad’s premature exit through injury gave Chris   Tremlett the chance to show he was more than a gentle giant   and he grabbed his chance in Perth, bowling with bounce and   aggression.

He will now be hard to dislodge as Anderson’s new ball   partner.

Similarly, Tim Bresnan fully vindicated his selection in   Melbourne ahead of Steven Finn, who had taken the most wickets   for England in the first three tests but who had also leaked   runs and was showing signs of strain on his still maturing body.

Their success meant the world’s number one spinner Graeme   Swann did not need to play as influential a role as expected,   although he still managed a five-wicket haul in the second   innings in Adelaide.

Duncan Fletcher, coach of the England side who defeated   Australia in the unforgettable 2005 series, said the current   England bowling unit was as good as his.
“The performances of Chris Tremlett and Tim Bresnan show   it has more depth,” he added.

Unlike the 2005 side who possibly celebrated too long and   too hard, Strauss’s men will remain grounded with a World Cup   imminent.

Flower said the team who regained the Ashes in 2009 after   the 5-0 humiliation in Australia two years earlier had been   encouraged to keep their feet on the ground.
“I think they have done so,” he said. “I definitely think   we have what it takes to get to the top. England have not been   number one before. We want to get there and we are heading in   the right direction.”