The Dawn and End of an era

Wow!!! Atlast England won the ashes and after a gap of about 17 years it is more satisfying than anything else. Mmm australia atlast stepped down from their glory. Since the 87' world cup they have been ruling the cricket world with a little scare from the mighty south african Hansie Cronje's team that was heavily expected to do what England has done today. Cronje's team was as superb as today's English, I feel it was more powerful with likes of Kallis, Kirsten, Pollock,Donald, Rhodes, Cronje, Butcher all of them at their peaks. Then what would have been the difference, I think there was nothing wrong on their side but it was Australian side that had the gutsy Steve Waugh and the brilliance of McGrath , Shane Warne and Gilchrist that made the difference. Steve Waugh single handedly saved them from clutches of defeat. However today's Aussie team has the same Mc Grath and Shane Warne who are globally viewed as the all time best bowlers but this time their age made the difference and there was none like Steve Waugh who could have saved the matches for them.

While saying that Aussie lost it we must not forget that England won it. They rightly deserved to win and beating Australia is not an easy thing. They had the hefty Hayden, the lingering Langer , Ricky ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne. Freddie Flintoff , what an all rounder, kevin peitersen a match saver, Simon jones who might have made a difference in his debut ashes when England toured Australia( do not remember when) but he suffered an ankle injury. Then they had the classy Vaughan, trespasser Trescothick, harmer Harmisson and the swinger hoggard who were the envy of any team. Now comes the question whether it is the dawn and end of an era. With the Australia defeated by the Bangladesh team it was said their era is ending and with the loss of the ashes it is for sure they are now a normal team that could be beaten. But to say that English are going to rule the cricketing world now is quite early. Their real test is when they tour Pakistan, India, and Australia. If they manage to win 2 of the series then they are for sure to don the roles of the invincibles that WI and Aus have played.

Pondering over the end of the australian era reminds me of the WI who after their era have been struggling ever since. Would Australian side fall to the same level as WI who after that famous 95' series against Aus have struggled to make any little difference in the test ranking table.

I guess now it is a very good chance for all the teams to prove their worth with demise of rulers. All the teams would fight hard to win against the English and the Australian teams to move ahead of the table and become the rulers. This would make the cricketing contest quite interesting and thus I think that atleast till 2007 world cup all the matches would be the ones to watch. But I regret why I am here in USA where I cannot watch even the matches of WI.