We are all aware of several cricketing rivalry over the years. Among all those the one which started more than hundred years back and still going strong with time is between Australia & England. This rivalry is an integral part of the cricketing history of both the giants. It's primarily a test series consisting of five test matches hosted alternatively by both the nations known as The Ashes Series. This is one of the most awaited series in the red ball format. High intensity cricket, unbelievable individual performances, extreme emotions come into play in this extremely competitive series played between two of the biggest cricketing nations.
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| The Ashes Urn |
Recently concluded one of its editions in Australia had no dearth of excitement. Though England will be extremely disappointed for their performance in the series, still it's a commendable effort by them to go for the away series and complete the same amidst severe concerns due to Covid 19 pandemic. As far as Australian team is concerned they must be feeling proud the way they delivered yet another dominating performance to a final scoreline of 4-0. Lot of positives for the Aussies including an outstanding beginning to captaincy career of Pat Cummins, form of comeback duo Travis Head & Usman Khawaja, strong performance by the bowling group, allround brilliance of Cameron Green to name a few. On the other hand their opponents had lot to ponder in terms of the overall performance and the way forward for their red ball outfit. England team definitely needs to press that reset button to get themselves prepared for their upcoming assignments in the red ball format. As far as leadership is concerned there have been quite a few instances where individual as well as team performances have raised the bar really high. Let us have a look on the same.
An Impressive Debutant
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| Pat Cummins during the Ashes series |
Pat Cummins couldn't have asked for a better captaincy debut than this. He had been tipped to take over the captaincy for quite some time now. He had to take the responsibility under not so favorable circumstances though after former captain Tim Paine's sudden resignation. His leadership abilities were never in doubt despite handful of experiences in captaining a side. He justified the faith kept on him in his debut series as captain. He brought a sense of calmness to the entire setup which reflected in their performance too. He ended up as the highest wicket taker in the series while leading the bowling attack along with Mitchell Starc. Key players have missed matches in the series due to injury or Covid infection including himself. But he along with his newly appointed deputy Steve Smith and the team management ensured that the performance doesn't get affected. Giving confidence to his players in crunch situations as well as leading from the front whenever required, captain Cummins gets full marks. Considering the near future assignments in sub continent are going to be a real challenge for his side, leader Cummins has to be in his absolute best to excel.
An Opportunity Worth Remembering
Life doesn't come up with many opportunities for any individual. In a competitive sport like cricket it is very important to grab every opportunity that comes up to any player. We saw not one or two but three such instances in the same series and that also from the same side. Three Australians Travis Head, Usman Khawaja and Scott Boland have shown the cricketing world how to grab opportunities in both the hands. Head & Khawaja have been the part of the national side in past, but for someone like Boland who got the chance to play in the absence of regular bowlers it was a dream debut in test cricket. His match winning performance in his debut test match is something he is going to cherish for long. As far as Khawaja is concerned it was a hard fought comeback after some good performances in the domestic circuit. He responded brilliantly by making twin hundreds in his comeback match. It couldn't have better than this, isn't it? Finally talking about Travis Head no words are sufficient. Someone who struggled to cement his place in the Aussie red ball setup in recent times, chose the biggest occasion to prove his mettle and that also in the best possible manner. His player of the series performance including couple of gritty centuries was one of the main reasons for the Aussie dominance despite not so great returns from the senior guys like Smith and Warner. An excellent example for any individual on how to patiently working on your skills and then grabbing the right opportunity once on offer.
On the other hand if we look at the England side there were some players who got their opportunities too, but none of them could prove to be a match winner for their side. That's probably one of the main reasons that England could not produce even a single match winning performance. It's all about how you seize those crucial moments and then capitalize on them, something the home team did brilliantly to emerge victorious.
Stay tuned for more in this space.
Image credit:
danielgreef/Dan, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
MrBlueSky747, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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