Sifting Through the Ashes
• Jim Johnson

Australia are currently without doubt the most accomplished side in Test and one-day cricket. They tour England this summer having not lost an Ashes series here since 1985. First blood went to Australia on June 10 in the one-day match, but it was at least close. The run rate Australia required to win the match was quite a tall order. Somehow, though, you never quite doubted their ability to make it. They are not a team that you expect to cave in. With only three balls remaining in the game Steve Waugh scored his second boundary of the over and gave his team the necessary runs.

If only subsequent matches in the NatWest series could have been so close. England have been totally outclassed in the triangular one-day competition by Pakistan and Australia, losing all six of their games. It now looks as though the dream of winning the Ashes is slipping away again.

There is something special about the Ashes. No other cricket series has quite the same excitement and passion surrounding it. There are few sporting fixtures that date back quite so far. Individual performances, whether good or bad, become the stuff of legend, as do the series themselves. To understand what makes the Ashes great you have to look back at the history of this rivalry.

It was Australia’s inaugural tour of England in 1868 that had a lasting impact on the sport of cricket. The tourists were scheduled to play 47 matches against various English teams. At this time England were the sole bastions of cricket. It was totally inconceivable that a team from the colonies could provide a real challenge. 14 wins, 19 draws and 14 losses later and this perception had been changed forever.

In one of the first matches on this tour, at Lords in June 1868, the Australians outbatted the MCC by 21 runs in the first innings. This caused a sensation at Lords and the realisation slowly dawned that the tourists were a force to be reckoned with. Although the MCC went on to win the match, an Australian named Johnny Mullagh became an immediate star. His bowling figures for the match (5 wickets for 82 runs off 45 overs) were surpassed only by his own batting ability.

Dr W. G. Grace, known today as the father of English cricket, was a spectator for this game and was so impressed by the Australian that he challenged him to a contest. Known then as ‘the long throw’ the winner was the man who threw the ball over the longest distance. Mullagh averaged 104 yards, while Grace reached 116.

The fact that such an eminent English cricketer had laid down this challenge was more than enough to show that he had a great respect for his Australian counterpart. This event became part of the foundation of Australia v England cricket culture, which was soon to become known as the Ashes.

The Ashes originated in 1882 when the Aussies won a Test series against England for the first time in the ‘motherland’. The series was won after a thrilling match at the Oval, Australia dismissing England for only 77 and narrowly winning by 7 runs. The win was marked by the famous obituary to English cricket. The ‘body’ of English cricket was cremated and the ashes were taken back to Australia. Or, to be more precise, it was the bails from the stumps that were burned. The Sporting Times published a mock RIP memorial ‘in affectionate remembrance of English cricket’. Each test series from then on became known as the Ashes, and both teams would compete to retain the tiny urn that contained them.

A good-natured and competitive sporting rivalry developed. But this was in danger of disappearing altogether in what became the most infamous Ashes series ever. The 34th series in 1932-33 stretched the relationship between the two nations to almost breaking point.

In the 1930’s Ashes the great Donald Bradman devastated England’s bowling attack. During the series he made the highest score yet by an Australian in Test cricket, only to follow this with the highest score yet by anyone in a Test match. Intent on stopping a repeat performance in the subsequent series the England Captain Douglas Jardine was eager to limit Bradman’s effectiveness. He had observed that Bradman was not particularly good at getting into position for hooking and pulling. So Jardine devised a method of bowling and fielding to capitalise on this weakness. These tactics were to become known as ‘Bodyline’.

The technique involved bowling short-pitched balls that quickly bounced up at the batsman’s body, forcing them into playing defensive stokes. However, the batsman was at serious risk of injury if a suitable defensive shot was mistimed. To complete Jardine’s strategy a close field was set around the leg-side of the wicket. Five or so close in fielders would have the added advantage of distracting the batman’s concentration whilst they were fending off Bodyline bowling. Under pressure of self-preservation batsmen were forced to make defensive strokes which the close leg-side fielders had a good chance of catching.

The English bowler Harold Larwood became synonymous with Bodyline bowling. His pace made it even harder for the batsman to survive. Several Australian batsmen were hit during the series but contrary to popular belief, Larwood was only responsible for hitting two. He was so hated by the Australian public that his notoriety became exaggerated.

It was in the 3rd Test of this series that Bodyline caused a complete breakdown in relations between the two sides. At the start of the Australian innings, the batsman Woodfull received a severe blow over the heart from a conventional ball from Larwood. When Woodfull had recovered and returned to bat again Jardine signalled the field to move into the Bodyline positions, much to the disgust and anger of the crowd. The Australian batsmen were dismissed in fairly quick succession. Mounted police had to be called in to control the crowds when one batsman, Oldfield, mis-hooked a short ball from Larwood onto his own head and fractured his skull. Oddly enough the most successful England bowler in the 3rd test was Allen, who refused to bowl Bodyline throughout the tour.

Later that day the Australian Cricket Board sent a telegram to England protesting about the use of Bodyline tactics, saying that it was making protection of the body the main consideration of the batsman. There were brawls in Australian streets between supporters and critics of Bodyline. Politicians and diplomats of Whitehall and Canberra debated the issue as the Test was being played. They eventually ordered Jardine to refrain from his dangerous strategy. The laws of cricket were changed to ensure that the debacle could never happen again. The term Bodyline, coined by journalists of the time, is still used in Australia to mean underhand tactics.

Since then the game has thankfully reverted back to the fierce but friendly rivalry encapsulated in the original Ashes. The mocking epitaph a far more appropriate symbol of the rivalry between the two teams than Jardine’s Bodyline bowling.

England haven’t won the Ashes since the 1986-87 series in Australia, back in the days when Chris Broad, Ian Botham and Mike Gatting were pretty much at their peak. Since 1989 England have lost six times out of six. Australia will start as favourites again but as V. V. S. Laxman proved earlier this year - whose double century tilted the balance in the Test series between Australia and India - it only takes one man to make a difference.

If it wasn’t for the NatWest Series disaster, England’s hopes would be higher than usual. Australia’s recent Test series defeat to India has ended their 16 successive Test victories record. Players, like Shane Warne, that have tormented English batsmen so much in the past are no longer at their most effective. He is Australia’s all time leading wicket taker.

England, on the other hand, in terms of Test matches, have been improving of late. They are unbeaten for 5 Test series, drawing the last against Pakistan and winning the four previous. The highlight of which was beating Pakistan at Karachi last December. Ending the hosts' unbeaten record in 34 encounters in this southern port city. If England can draw strength and confidence from this unbeaten run then just maybe this year could see them reclaiming the Ashes for the first time in 14 years.

As we have seen in Nat West series and the 1999 World Cup, England have a total lack of experience in one-day cricket. Darren Gough pointed out that Pakistan and Australia have 21 year-olds who have played over 100 one-dayers where as someone like himself, aged 30, who has only missed 7 games in 7 years has still only played 94.

There is a major concern that the psychological scars picked up during the NatWest Series could be carried over into the Tests. England’s performance in the one-day series was hit hard by injury problems. The experience of Hussain and Thorpe was evidently greatly missed. They should be making a return in time for the Ashes and hopefully the team will bear little resemblance to the one-day side.

To stand even the slimest chance of winning the Ashes England must forget the disappointment that was the NatWest Series and return to the strong and competitive side that performed so well in their last five Test matches.

The opening Ashes Test starts on Thursday July 5th at Edgbaston.

© Jim Johnson 2001

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