- The Ashes series between Australia and England is one of the marquee cricket Test series with such a historical legacy, signifying the contest. The keen battle between the two equally well-endowed teams was considered a feast for the true cricket connoisseurs, experts, and fans alike. Undoubtedly, the Ashes series has seen some of the biggest cricketers from both sides emerging with flying colours, furthering the cause of the sport’s spread to nooks and corners of the world. For the cricket-playing nations, the Ashes meant the top-of-the-table series, never failing to invoke tremendous interest, following, and anticipation whenever the two teams squared off against each other. Cricket fans across the world simply soaked in the quality on display.
PC: Zee News – India.Com
- However, the growing chasm between the quality of the two teams has been glaring, to say the least, in the last couple of decades. While Team Australia has completely dominated the cricketing scene at both home and overseas conditions, Team England has struggled to match the Aussies in all aspects of sport. Such has been the complete domination of Aussies in the last few series that the Ashes no longer evokes the same aura and fascination associated with it not so long ago. As cricket followers would have noticed, the ongoing Ashes series has already been pocketed by the Aussies in just 11 days of play by winning the first three Tests. The first two Tests of the series barely lasted two and three days, which speaks volumes about the domination of the home team.
PC: Cricket Australia
- Team Australia went into the fourth Test with an unbeatable 3-0 series in the pocket. However, the mayhem unfolded on the first day of the Boxing Day Test at the renowned Melbourne Cricket Ground must have left every cricket fan dumbfounded. The green top on offer was fully utilized by the visitors, skittling out the home team for a paltry 152 after asking to bat. England, in turn, could score 110 in the first innings. The day one saw twenty wickets fall like nine pins. Mind you, the record holiday day crowd would have felt short-shifted by the way things unfolded when all they expected was a quality contest between the bat and the ball. However, the ball completely bamboozled the batters on a green pitch.
PC: Sky Sports
- In hindsight, the Australian second innings could have been better, but scored just 132 with none of the frontline batters rising to the occasion to bat out the visitors comprehensively. England’s batters did not falter in the chase, though, scoring the required target of 175 by losing six wickets. 36 wickets in two days of cricket are astonishing to say the least. Of course, the green tinge on the wicket had a huge role to play, but what about the batters who could have grinded out in testing conditions to score some useful runs in a typical Test match? While the bowlers had a field day grabbing wickets, the batters simply struggled to stay put. Not a great advertisement for the struggling Test format when the match gets over in less than two days.
