Twenty-five days hence, one of the oldest rivalries in sport resumes at Nottingham. Since 1882, the Ashes has continued to captivate successive generations with its twists and turns which see the famed urn alternating between English and Australian hands.
With England currently in the ascendency, I seek to revisit the series from 75 years ago, 50 years ago and 25 years ago to illustrate that domination changes with the years.
Of all the Ashes series, the 1938 competition was arguably one of the finest. It also began in Nottingham and witnessed the first of the 17 centuries of Dennis Charles Scott Compton. At just 20 years of age, he remains England's youngest century maker. By coincidence, his grandson Nick is in the frame to open the batting in Nottingham this year. Nottingham has always been regarded as a batting wicket and that match in 1938 did much to potentiate this view. For England, Hutton (100), Barnett (126) and Paynter (216 not out) contributed to a mammoth total of 658 for 8 declared. Despite what is generally considered to be one of the finest innings' ever played by Stan Macabe (232), Australia were invited to follow on and did so comfortably thanks to 133 by Bill Brown and, inevitably, 144 not out from Don Bradman. My late Godfather saw this match and the one at Headingley. He maintains that Bradman was a class apart from the rest and his ultimate batting average of 99.94 would appear to bear this out. The Lords test saw another draw this time centred around contributions from the two captains. For England, Hammond crucified the Aussies with 240 and along with an unbeaten 206 by Bill Brown, Bradman added another unbeaten 102 to his already burgeoning reputation. Not for the first time, the Old Trafford test fell victim to the rain but this time without a ball being bowled. Leeds hosted the fourth test and the Australians seized the initiative with a paltry 103 from Bradman (his previous scores there were 304 and 334!). Bill "Tiger" O'Reilly then took five wickets in each innings to put the Aussies one up with one to play. On to the Oval. England batted first and eventually declared on the unfeasible 903 for 7. Hutton wrote himself in to cricket folk-lore with 364 and was ably supported by fellow Yorkshireman Maurice Leyland with 187 and Joe Hardstaff with an unbeaten 169. As far as anecdotes go, my favourite concerns the Yorkshire wicketkeeper Arthur Wood. Coming out to bat at 770 for 6 he quipped to crowd "I'm just the man for a crisis!". With Bradman injured the Australians were bowled out twice to give England victory by the surely never to be equalled margin of an innings and 579 runs!
Forty-nine years ago began one of the least interesting Ashes series of modern times. That said, a young Yorkshire batsman was called up to open the innings for the first time. Geoffrey Boycott has scarcely been out of the news since. All five matches were drawn to enable Australia to retain the urn they had won in 1961.
Twenty-four years ago saw Australia come to England to win back the urn they had last won fourteen years previously in 1975. Captained by the gritty Alan Border, they fielded a good blend of seasoned professionals with some very promising younger players. In particular, a young leg spinner called Shane Warne caught everyone's attention with the maturity of his bowling. The twin batsmen Steve and Mark Waugh gave a nod to the future and it would be 2005 before England would get their hands on the urn again.
There used to be a saying that when Yorkshire are strong, England are strong. This bodes well for a successful English campaign. With Joe Root, Johnny Bairstow and Tim Bresnan all likely to play significant roles, I can confidently predict an England win. Judging by the disunity within the Australian ranks thus far, it shouldn't be too difficult and a 3-0 victory would be about right.
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