England comes on top, Australia’s heart is bleeding. Such is the magic of Ashes. The English wanted to gain an early advantage over the Aussies so bad they had been planning their game since the summer. The team worked hard, travelling through the scenic
valleys of Europe to sky-dive, injure each other during a boxing match, and sing patriotic songs while roasting marshmallows during a campfire. They reached the land down under almost a month earlier to get use to the Australian heat and the occasional rains.
They warmed up to the food, the people, the beaches and they aced the warm up matches.
The Ashes began on 25 November with the first Test ending up in a stalemate, but England went into the second Test match at Adelaide Oval to win. And they won alright, securing a sweet victory of an innings and 71 runs to lead the Ashes series
by 1-0.
The Aussies are understandably in shock, even the English are flabbergasted. They can’t believe they won something at Adelaide. The stands were filled up by the Barmy Army. People were flying England’s flag high above as they sang God Save the Queen. There
was not a single Australian flag in the stand. The Adelaide Oval was ruled by the English.
However, outside the Adelaide Oval a different kind of clash was taking place. According to reports, veteran cricket rivals Ian Botham and Ian Chappell were involved in a furious batter in the car park.
As the day ended, Sir Ian Botham and Ian Chappell had to be pulled apart as they were seen exchanging hot words.
The English and Aussie veterans have a long history of a conflict since 1980 even though they are working as cricket commentators during this year’s Ashes. They both share television booths which are placed in close proximity.
Reports say that the English http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Knight-c71599 was waiting for his ride from his channel, Sky TV in the parking area of the ground. Chappell who is a part of Channel Nine commentator box, hurried past him as he was “muttering something highly provocative” and Botham
lost his cool turning around and asking him, “What did you say?”
Like a perfect scene from a cowboy movie, both the rivals dropped their bags and faced each other. The tabloid papers reported that both Ians “went for each other” as their colleagues at Sky TV and Channel Nine came to their rescue.
One of the witnesses, who requested to be anonymous, said that things could have gone “nasty if there hadn’t been people on hand to keep them apart.”
“They reacted quickly because we all know the history between these two. They might be aged 55 and 67, but neither of them are the type of people to give an inch in the face of conflict,” the source said.
The mutual resentment shared between them goes back to 1977 when a 21-year-old Botham- who played club cricket in Melbourne- got into in an argument with Chappell about how the English people are bashed in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. According to Botham, one thing led to
another and they ended with punches, blows and a hurdled car bonnet.
However, Chappell gave another twist to the story that Botham taunted him and pushed him off his chair.
The legendary players have also worked together at Channel 9 for the 1998-99 Ashes but failed to reconcile and this little incident flamed their rivalry to greater heights.
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