The Ashes Cricket Series 2006 - 2007

...........................................Glenn McGrath and his wife Jane

Jane has had two battles with breast cancer, and is once again
in remission, they have set up a breast cancer fund which, due at
least in part to Glenn's popularity as a sporting icon here in
Australia, is very successful.



Justin Langer will play on as captain of the West Australian side
for the time being.

It seems almost impossible to believe we will not see the Warne
magic with the cricket ball any more, Warnie has always been the
typical Aussie larakin who has had more run ins with the press
than any other Australian sportsman that I can think of

This is the victorious Australian side that has just thrashed the Poms.

The three players featured below are the retirees, we will miss seeing
them in action in the future, Good Luck to them all.

Justin Langer has been one of our most successful opening
batsmen of all time along with his batting partner Matthew
Hayden, they have set Australia off to a good start in almost
100 matches now.

Glenn McGrath is the number 3 bowler in the world with 561 Test
wickets, Glen is a fast bowler, average speed 145 kph.

This is Shane Warne, the leg spin bowler who has taken 704 Test
wickets, a world record that won't be easily broken.

It seems that most readers think it’s OK for me to Whoop Up our very good Sporting Teams and individuals, and to generally praise Australia as the greatest place in the world (which it undoubtedly is).

So with a 5 games to nil whitewash of the England side in the just completed series please let me tell you how great this side is.

Test Cricket is played over 5 days unless there is a victor before then, in over 125 years there has only been one other instance of a 5 – 0 series, admittedly cricket is a game that is not played in the rain and drawn games because of rain have had an influence, but the fact remains, twice only in 125 years.

The terminology of cricket could easily lead one to believe it to be a game for perverted minds, for example; a ball could be edged to a fielder in slips, another could get a leg glance, or be hit straight to fine leg, if the batsmen were unable to score from any of these shots the bowler has bowled a maiden over and so it goes.

The victory in this series, and in fact over a period of 10 to 15 years has been in no small part because of three players who have all announced their retirement from the test arena effective today.

While this will leave a huge hole in the Australian side, (there are eleven players per team) there is a veritable sea of talent just waiting to step up to the top level of cricket, so we confidently expect to remain at the top of world cricket.

For those of you who know little or nothing about cricket I have included the rules and some pictures with descriptive captions, there will be a written test in the next post so I can only advise that you study these closely.

The rules of Cricket

1. There are two teams. One out, one in.
2. The team that’s out try to get the player that’s in, out.
3. When they do get him out, he goes in.
4. Then the next player goes out. As long as he’s out, he’s in.
5. The object is then for the team that’s out to get the second player out. When they get him out, he goes in.
6. This process is repeated for each innings until the team that’s out gets the team that’s in all out.
7. When the whole team is out, the team that was in goes out, and the team that was out goes in.
8. Then they play a second innings until they’re all out. Except one player. He remains not out.

Now nobody should have any trouble understanding this great game we love so much.

These are the recognized field placings, naturally with only eleven to a
side the captain and the bowler have to decide where best to place
the available fieldsmen, (there is always a bowler and a wicket keeper, leaving nine) the strategy the bowler intends to usedecides where they are placed.

This ilustrates a fairly aggressive field setting with four slips fielders
waiting for a catch from the edge of the bat.

The Ashes is a Test cricket series, played between England and Australia - it is international cricket's oldest and most celebrated rivalry dating back to 1882. It is currently played nominally biennially, alternately in England and Australia. However since cricket is a summer game, the venues being in opposite hemispheres means the break between series is alternately 18 months and 30 months. If a series is drawn then the country holding the Ashes retains them.

The series is named after a satirical obituary published in The Sporting Times in 1882 after the match at The Oval, in which Australia beat England in England for the first time. The obituary stated that English cricket had died, and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. The English media dubbed the next English tour, to Australia (1882-83) as the quest to regain The Ashes.

A small terracotta urn was presented to the England captain Ivo Bligh by a group of Melbourne women at some point during the 1882-83 tour of Australia. The contents of the urn are reputed to be the ashes of an item of cricket equipment, possibly a bail, ball or stump. The urn is widely considered to be the trophy for the Ashes series. However, Ivo Bligh always considered it to be a personal gift. Whichever side holds the Ashes, the urn normally remains in the Marylebone Cricket Club Museum at Lord's since being bequeathed to the MCC by Ivo Bligh's widow upon his death. Since the 1998-99 Ashes series, a Waterford crystal representation of the urn has been presented to the winners as the official trophy of the series.

A five-Test Ashes series has just been played in Australia. Australia won the series 5-0, and have thus regained the Ashes. The next series will be held in England in 2009.