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public support
Public support for the Ashes
By Will last year, mid-May, 14 Comments »
One of the big differences between the 2005 Ashes and those before was the support of the public. Granted, this was helped by the Edgbaston win, but even before that, in the one-day series, there was a tangible sense that Britons had had enough of doffing their cap to the Australians.
You could see it with the guard of honour at each match, which got up the nose of Ponting when the kids were waving flags in their faces. The crowd at matches were baying for Australia’s blood. When Ponting was run out by Gary Pratt, prompting his red-mist at Duncan Fletcher as he made his way up the pavilion steps, the initial reaction was shock. But it quickly dissipated into derision. All these little things helped make 2005 the series to beat them all, but in particular they helped England win.
Someone on TV said the other day that for England to win this year’s contest, the public will have to be right behind them. I hope so, purely as I want an even and drama-filled series, but I just can’t see it happening now that cricket is no longer on terrestrial. The ECB made a killing out of Sky, but will it come back to haunt them if it hasn’t done so already?
Here’s an infantile clip which never ceases to make me chuckle.
14 Comments »