Aggers’ Ashes
An inside account of England’s Ashes triumph in Australia 2010/11.England’s much celebrated Ashes win by two clear matches with three comprehensive innings victories must rank as one of the finest of any English cricket team from any era. It kept people at home glued to their televisions, computers and radios – often all three at the same time – long into the night as the bitter winter and a depressed economy were forced into the background by the sheer joy and exhilaration of giving the old enemy a trouncing.It had been twenty-two years since a touring side won three Tests in Australia and twenty-four since the Ashes were last won on Australian soil. The current England team bears worthy comparison with some of the legendary teams of the past, captained by greats like Brearley, Hutton and Jardine. Andrew Strauss with back-to-back Ashes wins can now sit amongst that illustrious company.From the first ball of the tour in Perth to a closing rendition of the infamous ‘Sprinkler Dance’ on the outfield in Sydney some two months later – a clip that received some 250,000 hits in just three days – one person was there throughout, BBC Cricket Correspondent Jonathan Agnew, better known to his legion of Test Match Special fans as ‘Aggers’.Following the success of his last book Thanks, Johnners, Agnew has written a highly personal diary of his experiences in Australia. Whether he is sharing late night conversations in the bar with England coach Andy Flower, exchanging banter with new TMS recruit Michael Vaughan or keeping cricket junkies around the world sated with his daily Twitter feed, Aggers brings his unique sense of theatre and excitement to every day’s proceedings.With additional contributions from the best BBC cricket bloggers and the resident TMS statistician, Aggers Ashes is the only companion you will need to relive those glorious days when history was made Down Under.
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JONATHAN AGNEW
AGGERS’ ASHES
The Inside Story of England’s 2011 Ashes Triumph
This book is dedicated to England’s Ashes heroes past and present
Contents
Foreword by Jim Maxwell
Preface
Chapter One - The Phoney War
Chapter Two - Brisbane Test
Chapter Three - First Test Interlude
Images from the Series 1
Chapter Four - Adelaide Test
Chapter Five - Second Test Interlude
Chapter Six - Perth Test
Chapter Seven - Third Test Interlude
Images from the Series 2
Chapter Eight - Melbourne Test
Chapter Nine - Fourth Test Interlude
Chapter Ten - Sydney Test
Images from the Series 3
Chapter Eleven - Afterword
Chapter Twelve - The Records
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Also by Jonathan Agnew
Copyright
Foreword
by Jim Maxwell
Two performances stood out as England completed a comprehensive Ashes victory just before high noon on Friday, 7 January 2011 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Throughout the series the Barmy Army chorused every moment of play. They should have been given free entry because they were so entertaining, rapturously encouraging the dreaded Poms, and alternately mocking the Aussies. Mitchell Johnson was a favourite target.
Johnson found his mojo in Perth with some surprising swing bowling, but like his accomplices, Hilfenhaus and whoever passed as a spinner, the bowling was mediocre, chasing the game that Australia’s batsmen had lost.
While England celebrated with a traditional victory lap and acknowledgement of their supporters, the BBC correspondent Jonathan Agnew conducted the post-match interviews as he had done so thoroughly in 2005 and 2009 when England regained the Ashes at The Oval. Formalities completed Aggers broke off into a weird gyration, twisting like a Hills Hoist clothes line (for our English readers, a Hills Hoist is a height-adjustable rotary clothes line invented just after the War in Adelaide), or a giraffe on speed, he thus began a nervous performance of the Sprinkler Dance. Having watched England cop Down-Under hidings for twenty years and endured Australian co-commentator Kerry O’Keeffe’s jibes about the Poms going for silver and not for gold, Aggers cut loose.
Like the Barmy Army he had earned the right to celebrate, because Andrew Strauss’s team played better cricket than any England team in Australia for at least 56 if not 78 years.
Alastair Cook’s expedition was the most significant tour deforce by a Cook since Captain James’s visit in 1770, and his polishing skills made the Kookaburra laugh at Australia’s batsmen, helping Jimmy Anderson to swing through the top order.
Andrew Strauss’s composure and maturity formed a strong partnership alongside Andy Flower, whose hard-nosed managerial skills rivalled Sir Alex Ferguson’s at Old Trafford. When will Andrew and Andy get their gongs?
Cook’s remorselessly efficient batting was complemented by Jonathan Trott’s hungry accumulation. Aussies expected them to be nicking catches to slip or getting whacked on the pads in front. Instead, they settled in for a banquet.
In the TMS box ‘Sir’ Geoffrey Boycott was in full flight at Australia’s batting ineptitude, with just a hint of schadenfreude when wickets were tumbling. There was a moment when England were on top and, as you can on radio, I digressed to Australia’s rugby league connection with Yorkshire. I’m ready to continue that reminiscence in 2013 if Geoffrey appears to be gloating again!
Michael Vaughan showed his versatility by tweeting as frequently as Shane Warne, extolling England’s virtues; Vic Marks sagely scrutinised the contest and wondered where James Hildreth might fit in; while scorer Andrew Samson answered every ridiculous question from the ABC commentator as calmly and accurately as a quiz mastermind.
Shuttling between the TMS and the ABC commentary boxes, Aggers had been preparing, anticipating England’s historic moment. Happily for him that moment coincided with Christmas in Melbourne in the company of wife Emma and stepson Tom. I look forward to seeing them again in England when our friendship is rekindled and the Ashes are regained.
Preface
For an England cricket correspondent, an Ashes tour of Australia should be as good as it gets – the pinnacle of one’s career. It is a wonderful country with plenty to keep you occupied and, despite the traditional semi-serious Pom-bashing by the media, a genuinely warm welcome is guaranteed. Comfortable hotels and easy travel make it difficult to argue against this being the best job in the world. But, and it is a big but, for the past twenty years the cricket has been anything but competitive, inevitably robbing each of my last five tours of the continent of its key ingredient. I have witnessed England winning only 3 of the 25 Tests they played in Australia during that time, and losing, sometimes quite badly, 18 of them.
It has not always been easy reporting on those disastrous campaigns. My emotions would typically range from initial disbelief – how can England be this bad again? – through anger at the team’s continuing ineptitude to ultimate despair. It has been impossible for me to be entirely impartial as I am sure many
