The Australians celebrated Australia Day by moving 9 - 0 ahead of England in the Ashes, One Dayers and Twenty/20 games this winter. The Poms have not even managed a draw.
The posher papers in England have been providing huge amounts of column centimetres to analysing this pitiful performance. We would like to add a few of our own.
Firstly, after the Aussies had moved 8 - 0 ahead, there were positive statements in the press along the lines that "we only just lost this one". Such defeatist claptrap would never emanate from an Australian mouth. I was once informed that the first sport that youngsters take up compulsorily at the Australian Cricket Academy is boxing - can't imagine Bell or Giles or Panesar getting involved in that.
Secondly, the best young cricketers in, for example, Manchester are all from a South Asian background. The reluctance of the England selectors to pick Panesar is indicative of a racism that spreads right down to the grassroots of the game. Asian youngsters in Manchester are marginalised at local clubs even if they are able to sneak past the semi-masonic entrance requirements. Cricket is years behind football in taking advantage of the wonderful multiculturalism in England.
Thirdly, some England players from the recent past and the present are actively involved in the spread betting markets (I include three recent former captains in this group). There was considerable focus on Mohammad Azharradin and Salim Malik when their betting was exposed - the punishment for the England players was a job reporting for Sky Television.
Fourthly. it's a grudge thing. Britain is rightly despised for it's colonial past down under. Many Aussies trace their roots back to the prison ships landing at Botany Bay after their ancestors had been forcibly removed from their homes during the British occupation of Ireland. This has become a matter of inverted snobbery pride.
Fifthly, there is no strength in depth to English cricket - the best player is a South African, for instance. Today's victory by 9 wickets with more than half of the overs still remaining was accomplished without Warne, McGrath, Langer or Martyn all of whom would walk into the England team (even post-retirement).
There is little point dwelling on the death of English cricket as that happened many years ago - around the time of Basil D'Oliveira, I reckon.
