Little more than a month ago it hardly seemed worth England turning up for the Ashes, so remote did their chances appear against a formidable Australia. Perhaps now, however, they can dare to dream.
It is the hope, of course, that kills you but England really do go into the first Test in Cardiff this morning with a lot more hope and perhaps even a little more expectation than seemed possible when they came back from West Indies.
Things have changed over those last few weeks and while they may not quite have changed quickly enough for England to regain the Ashes it is at least feasible now to expect a closely-fought series and maybe a surprising outcome.There is more than a little irony in the fact that England’s renewed optimism comes from a one-day series but there is no doubt that the thrilling and fearless
way they threw off the shackles against New Zealand was a watershed moment.
At last the bitter aftermath of England’s capitulation in the last Ashes has been laid to rest and at last the many emerging players in English cricket have started to fulfill their potential by giving full rein to their expansive talents.
Then there are the Australians. They have already lost one potential match- winner in Ryan Harris while other members of an attack that has earned their status as firm favourites did not have everything their own way in the warm-ups.
Spinner Nathan Lyon was absolutely mauled by Essex at Chelmsford, Josh Hazlewood was taken for 27 in one over by Jesse Ryder and Mitchell Starc struggled for accuracy as he attempted to adapt to English conditions.
And Mitchell Johnson, for all his speed against Kent at Canterbury and the noises coming from the Australian camp, still has to prove he can be as formidable in England as he undoubtedly was last time at home.
To complete the case for the English defence (or perhaps that should be attack) there is the growing feeling that Andrew Strauss, who has not put a foot wrong as director of cricket, has recruited very wisely in coach Trevor Bayliss.
Getting excited yet?
Well, the last thing England need is the sort of blind faith that so often accompanies their footballing counterparts at the start of a World Cup. They will still have to be at their very best to upset Australia now.
The biggest question is whether they really can channel that sense of fun and wonderment seen against New Zealand and let it loose in the ultimate form of the game against their ultimate opponents.
And the key to that will be whether Alastair Cook, the last senior man standing from the last Ashes debacle, can overcome his innate conservatism and fight fire with fire, as Bayliss last week said England would.
Cook is a much better captain than his noisy detractors give him credit for but he faces a real test of his leadership skills here as he attempts to prove he is still the best skipper for a side that changed dramatically in his one-day absence.
The England captain is adamant that this old pack leader can learn new tricks.
‘This is a different team and we’re going about things in a different way,’ said Cook at the Swalec Stadium yesterday.
‘As a leader you have to change your style to the players in the changing room and what gets the best out of them.There’s a lot always said about my captaincy but I think at certain times I will have to get on that front foot. When I was first captain we had a methodical team with bowlers who liked banging out the same areas time and again and batters who were relentless in grinding down the opposition. We got a lot of success with that but the guys who are coming in now are more free-spirited.’
Spirit is a key word in these Ashes for as well as brilliant, attacking cricket, the visit of New Zealand to England also saw a wonderfully refreshing, good-natured atmosphere.
Is it really too much to ask that an Ashes series can be played the same way?
‘It’s a good question,’ said Cook. ‘People want to see competitive cricket with both sides giving their all for their country, but I also think there is a line in the sand that everybody knows you can’t cross. I hope we can play to that.’
Michael Clarke, the Australian captain looking for his first Ashes win in England, admitted he made a mistake in telling Jimmy Anderson to ‘get ready for a broken f****** arm’ in Brisbane but insisted his side will still do it their way.
‘I think I speak for all Australians when I say we have a brand of cricket that sees us at our best and the way we are brought up is to play tough, competitive cricket,’ said Clarke. ‘But I certainly understand the rules and where that line sits. As captain of this team I need to be more disciplined and I know I will be.’
Clarke, who tweeted last night that he and his wife Kyly are expecting their first child, admitted Australia were considering playing an extra seamer in Peter Siddle when they saw grass on the Cardiff pitch on Monday but there is a lot less of it there now and Lyon seems certain to keep his place.
England, meanwhile, look sure to play the team that drew the series against New Zealand on what is likely to be a low, slow, flat Cardiff pitch, with Adil Rashid having to wait a little longer for his Test debut.
The stage is set and I still think Australia will win.
I’m just not as certain of that as I was before McCullum and New Zealand came to town and things began to change.– Daily Mail