The ebbs and flows of the 2009 Ashes have been very interesting to follow, even for a neutral observer like myself. And for once I found myself totally neutral at the beginning of the series, probably mainly because I haven't seen a lot of the people involved play enough to have strong associations/preferences.
Its been absorbing to watch so far even if both sides have been quite inconsistent with the quality of their cricket. The one thing that does continue to separate the two teams (and indeed the Aussies from most teams on a consistent basis) is the mental strength and temperament that the players exhibit. Any team that has had to deal with the retirements of players like Warne, Gilchrist, McGrath, Hayden, Langer, Martyn, Gillespie and MacGill in the space of two years would struggle enormously and so its to their great credit that Australia continue to perform so competitively. And a large part of it is down to belief and mental strength. The Aussies believe they are good and play that way.
The English on the other hand are almost the exact opposite. They seem to play more on hope than belief and struggle (panic almost) at the first sign of things going wrong. Talent and skill wise there's probably not too much to differentiate the two sides and for once the English team is probably more experienced than the Australians (with only three players with less than 20 Tests compared to five for the latter in the Headingley Test). You wouldn't know it by the way they play though. Take the bowling attack for example. Anderson, Harmison, and Onions are probably as talented as Hilfenhaus, Siddle and Clark (on a like for like basis) and the first two Englishmen much more experienced as well but if you had to pick a combined team, I wouldn't pick any of them. The batting is no different. Bopara, Bell and Collingwood are on paper a good like for like match for North, Clarke, and Hussey but would any of the Englishmen get picked in a combined XI? Bell and Clarke are a good case in point (since North and Bopara are both quite new and Hussey and Collingwood are both fighters going through a bad patch). They're both a similar age, made their debuts in 2004 and have played a similar number of matches (48 and 51 respectively). But there ends the similarity. Clarke is now easily Australia's best batsman after Ponting, whereas Bell would struggle to make it to a first XI if all players are available. Clarke averages over 50 against Eng, SA, and NZ (and close to 50 against Ind), Bell averages over 50 only against Pak and Ban. The difference though is clearly not one of skill but more of mind and belief.
Diffidence is the word that comes to my mind when I watch the Englishmen play. And I think Justin Langer said it right. Its in the English psyche to be diffident and not enjoy pressure. They do not like being pushed and tested. A nice cup of tea seems preferable to a hot, sweaty session of fierce battle (with some exceptions such as Flintoff and Swann). They didn't always used to be like this though so maybe there's hope. I for one will not hold my breath though :-)
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