Granted, their batting survived the initial Ashes jitters and put up a better than expected score. However, once their bowlers failed to make an impact they fell back to a holding pattern and let the workmen like Australian batsmen pile up a huge total and forge ahead.
It is clear the England bowling strategy rested entirely on hope and a foolish expectation that the inexperienced Australian batsmen will succumb to nerves.
The English think-tank hoped that the ball would swing and their much-hyped spinners would spin the ball. Neither happened and that left them with their eternal hope Andrew Flintoff ,who for all his ‘searching examination’ of Hughes, failed to produce anything inspirational.
To make matters worse, the Australian batting led by Ponting went about their job efficiently and piled up 4 centuries creating further despondency in the English ranks.
If there is one word that sums up Strauss captaincy, then it is the word ‘disappointing’. He appears unable to rally the troops or incapable of making an instinctive move that creates opportunities against the run of play.
Typically, the ever-bombastic English media have started pointing fingers at everything. The have discerned that the pitch at Cardiff is substandard. They have identified Pietersen’s hotheaded shot that cost him his wicket as the reason for the failure of their batsmen to capitalize on the toss.
Having exaggerated Flintoff’s powers to talismanic proportions, they are now creating a haze around him by talking up his one spell to Hughes.
Barring the 2005 series, the Ashes series has been a big bore with the undisputed champions Australia beating the eternal challengers England black and blue. Despite the hype and supposed inexperience of the Australian’s this series appears set to follow a similar pattern.
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