England vs. Australia: Ashes 2010/2011 - Keeping Test cricket alive.
With the introduction of T20 cricket, many feel the need to come up with some innovative techniques in the longer format of the game in order for Test cricket to remain competitive and interesting. Without doubt, T20 cricket has taken lime light since its very introduction. Cricket stadiums and stands remain empty during a test match. Despite the lack of interest, one thing is for sure that the Ashes guarantee jam-packed stands, emotional comebacks and two nations completely over taken by the Ashes fever. The Ashes have a long history full of quality and competitive cricket. It is cricket’s oldest rivalry that dates back to 1882. The series is named after a story published in a British newspaper, “The Sporting Times” who which wrote an obituary which stated that English cricket had died and that “the body would be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”. This news was published after England lost a Test series against Australia at the Oval in August, 1882.
It is currently played on a biennial basis, with alternate Ashes conducted in England and Australia. The teams contest a five test match competition for the Ashes urn on a regular basis. One team must win a series of test matches to gain the Ashes. In case of a draw, the country already holding the title gets to keep the urn. England’s failure to win the Ashes for a record 16 years dating back to 1989 had taken the light away from this tournament. However, a fiercely fought series in 2005 greatly boosted the attention amongst cricket fans across the globe. England, under the leadership of Michael Vaughan, broke the 16-year-old record with a convincing win over the Aussies.
England is the current holder of the Ashes after they came out victorious in 2009 which was played in the United Kingdom. The urn, which happens to be world’s most famous trophy, has a label containing the following six lines:
"When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;
Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;
The welkin will ring loud,
The great crowd will feel proud,
Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;
And the rest coming home with the urn."
A total of 305 test matches have been played between these two countries, with Australia coming out victorious on 122 occasions while England managing to bag 97 test match wins. In the process, both teams managed to draw a test match on 86 occasions. A total of 65 series have taken place where Australia came out victorious in 31 tests’ while England won in 29 series. Now the series will take place in November, 2010 where England will tour Australia in order to defend their title with all guns blazing. England, in recent times, has developed a test team which has become very competitive. The series may be some time away but discussions and strategies regarding this anticipated tournament have already begun. The series will start from the 25th of November, 2010 and will end on the 7th of January, 2011.
“The recent Ashes series was the sporting highlight of the summer and has really whetted the appetite of all cricket supporters as England seeks to retain the Ashes next winter”. ECB chief executive David Collier said, “I am sure many thousands of England cricket fans will be eager to purchase tickets when they go on sale and get behind the team in Australia”.
The Ashes without doubt has kept the interest in test cricket alive. The cricketing world is expected to yet again fall under the Ashes fever in this November where the contest is expected to a closely fought battle. Australia will have the home advantage while England will be counting on their newly discovered players. No matter what the results turn out to be, one thing is for sure, the crowd will get to see some high quality and competitive cricket. The Ashes has a long history of competitive cricket, and it is expected to prove itself once again.
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