Barring a miracle of biblical proportions, England have surrendered the Ashes. It would be really difficult to remember a more pitiful effort and I'm afraid many of the senior players need to embark on a sustained period of soul searching. At the beginning of this series, I warned against the real possibility of them emulating the England side of 1958. That side boasted names whose reputations on paper were second to none. All thay had to do was turn up and the Ashes were theirs. Unfortunately, all they did do was to turn up and the Australians helped themselves to a 4-0 victory. Many would argue that the then England captain Peter May was never the same player again. He was widely believed to be the best England batsman since the war and had a galaxy of talent at his disposal on the pitch.
Surrendering the Ashes in so feeble a manner is one thing. Being let down by all of your senior players is another. You expect the odd one or two to have a below par series once in a while. Thus far, only Carberry has displayed any sort of consistency in the top order and he hasn't exactly sent the scorers scurrying for the record books. Cook, Bell and Peterson have been abject and some of their dismissals have been due to school boy shot selection. That is unacceptable and none of them should be feeling confident of their place in the test side. That is not a right - it is earned. You are only as good as your last match.
Going in to this series, Anderson was being hailed as the best strike bowler in the world. If he had stuck to his bowling he might be worthy of such an accolade. Instead, he has become sucked in to the trap of verbal exchanges at the wicket. I never saw Richard Hadlee do that because he didn't need to. When you're that good, you just need to let your bowling do the talking. For all his reputation as an opinionated Yorkshireman, his team mates will tell you that Fred Trueman just got on with his bowling. He knew how good he was and didn't need to threaten batsmen verbally. He certainly wouldn't have let himself get tonked for nigh on 6 runs per over on the third day of an Ashes test match.
I like Bresnan but he really shouldn't be playing. He was selected because none of the three reserve fast bowlers were up to the mark. That is not good enough. Bresnan will bowl his heart out for you but he won't bowl a team out at Test level. Before this match, I asserted that Swann had to be rested. Nothing has changed. They would have been better served by another seamer in Perth because that ground is only worth a leg spinner if you have one - and we don't.
The whole series has been a debacle and it would be wrong to blame it all on the withdrawal of Jonathan Trott. Geoff Boycott said that Peterson had bottled it when needed to get his down and graft. Boycott was right but then Peterson has been picked for too long for what he can do rather than what he does do. I belive the real bottler has been Bell. As the best batsman in the side, he should have stepped up the minute Trott left the tour and said, "I'll bat at three". Instead, we have seen Root put in a position wholly unsuited to his batting style. They would have been better served keeping Root at six to farm the middle order and bring in Gary Ballance at five. Ballance is a lovely batsman who has been in great form. Stokes has done alright but has only been selected due to the lack of faith in the front line bowlers. The injury to Broad has just been the icing on the cake. Unfortunately for England, they can't come home yet because they have to go through the ignominy of a 5-0 whitewash first. I can't see any other outcome.
Leaving cricket, I note that Liverpool have once more emerged as genuine title contenders having thrashed Tottenham away from home. Love him or hate him, Luis Suarez has been in scintillating form and the goals are flying in. While the money men at Manchester City remain favourites for the title, Liverpool are certainly sending out a strong message. Manchester United will just be grateful to reach the end of the season having finished in the top four. At present, even that looks somewhat optimistic. Their reliance on Ryan Giggs at the age of 40 largely sums up their predicament.
Meanwhile, the people of the Ukraine demonstrate en masse in an ideological fight between continued ties with Russia or moving more towards the EU. The toppling last week of a giant statue of Lenin was testament to the strength of their intentions. As the Ukraine seeks closer ties to the EU, the UK can't cut them quick enough. Where the Ukraine seeks to choose between one master and another, the UK seems hell bent on having no master. Rather like the truculent teenager intent on seeking greater independence away from the stifling involvement of their family, the UK is about to be introduced to the vagaries of the big, wide world. No man is an island.
The Russian revolution which for so long dominated Ukrainian life, was beautifully captured by the late David Lean in his iconic film Doctor Zhivago.
http://betweendenbighandkeele.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-legacy-of-pasternak.html
A few years earlier, he shot Lawrence of Arabia and cast Peter O'Toole in the title role. The death of O'Toole was a sad prelude to the festive season. Aside from his arresting good looks, he was a very fine actor who never quite achieved the recognition he really deserved. He was one of the last of that great generation which produced so many incredible films in the sixties. Money alone dictates that we will not see films of that scale again. So if you're at a loose end this Christmas and have the time, tune in to Doctor Zhivago or Lawrence of Arabia and watch them in their entirety. You may not want to watch a new film again though because you will not believe how good they are.
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