England Showed True Grit in a Series That Bodes Well for Future

Summary

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IF THIS topsy-turvy Ashes series was marginally less gripping than the one in 2005, it wasn't because it was played between two teams ranked by many as mediocre, rather because only the first Test at Cardiff provided a truly nail-biting finish. England's victories at Lord's and The Oval, Australia's at Headingley, were all by comfortable margins. In 2005 three of the Tests went to the wire, while England might still have lost the final drawn match at The Oval as late as the tea interval on the last day.

Then there were fewer indisputably great players involved, and even those with unquestionable claims to greatness, notably Ponting and Flintoff, were no longer quite what they had been. Both England and Australia are really forging new teams. This may make the return series in Australia next year one of higher quality.

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Extract

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England Showed True Grit in a Series That Bodes Well for Future

Much has been made of England's good fortune in winning the toss four out of five times. Actually they would have done better to lose it at Headingley. Australia would have batted first if Ponting had ...

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