The English team were touted as ‘favourites’ in the forthcoming Ashes series in Australia with many ex-cricketers predicting a 5-0 whitewash but it seems so, things could take a vice versa.
The English team were touted as ‘favourites’ in the forthcoming Ashes series in Australia with many ex-cricketers predicting a 5-0 whitewash but it seems so, things could take a vice versa. The Poms are on a verge of facing an ignominious humiliation already 0-3 down in the series. The Urn is rightfully back with the Australians who played with vigil and went toe-to-toe against the English. Michael Clarke and Alastair Cook might have shared 100 Tests amongst themselves but its the latter who will would want to forget this as quickly as possible!
And as we speak, here comes the pinch! Cook and his merry men are already making plans and strategies to avoid a certain whitewash but try telling this to ‘Punter’. Former Australia skipper, Ricky Ponting had very unaffectionate words for the England cricket team. In an article to an English newspaper, Ponting writes, “England are a team past their peak, while the Australians are only going to get better. We saw it in the first Ashes series, when Kevin Pietersen only really played one significant innings, and Alastair Cook and Matt Prior struggled with the bat. Those trends have continued out here. I do think it’s hard to be dominant for a long time – unless your team contains several all-time legends. England have been a good side for a while, and some of their players have excellent records. But at some point, that was going to come to a halt.”
He further writes, ” England now have to take a look at their senior players and decide how many years they have left in them. If they think they can still get two years out of them, then they have to nurture them through that period. If not, they should cut them adrift and give the new guys a go. The question is, is there anyone coming through right now?”
These words from one of Australia’s celebrated players might just be the dose for Cook and his men to awaken from their ‘slumber’ and put up a fight in the upcoming two Tests.
