.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
1. That Missed Catch
It all went terribly wrong for Australia’s hard man Brad Haddin.
England were 3/43 on the first morning of the 1st Test at Cardiff.
Joe Root walked to the crease with his team exactly where we all expected them to be.
His second ball was nicked to Haddin who went at it with one hand. What should have been 4/43 is instead ends up being 4/196.
Root made 134.
.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
2. Stuart Broad’s 8/15
This one you could not have missed. Stuart Broad’s 57 balls of utter mayhem.
9.3 - 5 - 15 - 8
These are once in lifetime figures. They were made when Australia had to win the 4th Test. The match was over in the first over.
He may not get the plaudits of his prettier ball swinging mate James Anderson.
But Broad has over 300 Test wickets at a better average and strike rate than his opening bowling partner.
I’ll let you be seduced by the pretty blonde with the savvy walk. I’ll happily marry the girl next door thanks.
.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
3. The Current Captains
Coming into this series, it was Alastair Cook who was under the proverbial mountain of pressure.
Everything under the sun had gone wrong for him and his team during the past two years.
A 5-0 Ashes drubbing. Not being able to beat the West Indies or New Zealand. Losing at home to Sri Lanka. Kevin Pietersen. The loss of the ODI captaincy.
.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
Michael Clarke on the other hand had just won a World Cup and was presiding over an unbeatable team.
Fast forward to the end.
Clarke has retired after a miserable series with the bat and multiple run-ins with the selectors.
Cook hasn’t made a century for three Ashes series in a row, but no one cares.
He holds the little urn.
Cook may well step away from captaincy duties in the near term given the toll is has had. But he carries on a winner.
Clarke leaves with people whispering about his legacy behind his back.
4. The Future Captains
Steve Smith entered the Ashes series as the number 1 ranked Test batsman in the world. He was also next in line for the captaincy.
Joe Root entered the Ashes series as the number 3 ranked Test batsman in the world. He was also next in line for the captaincy.
During the series, both men did nothing to suggest that they wont carry their teams for the next decade.
One day Smith is number 1. The next day, it’s Joe. One day Steve gets his name on the Lord’s honour board with a double ton. A short time later, Root decides to also ton up.
Rejoice cricket fans.
We have entered the Smith / Root era and it promises to be simply marvellous.
.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
5. Selection Questions
“You put your Mitch Marsh in, you take your Shaun Marsh out, you put your Mitch Marsh back in and you shake Rod Marsh about. You do selection hokey pokey and you turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about.”
At least, I think that’s how the song goes? Apart from Warner and Smith, does anyone really know which batsmen belong in Australia’s best team?
Speaking of batsmen, how is it that Gary Ballance gets dropped but Adam Lyth didn’t?
How is it that Peter Siddle didn’t play until the final Test? Why did Rasheed never get a game?
Is Bell really a number 3? Why is Moeen Ali batting at 8?
Why select Shane Watson in the first Test but no more? He wasn’t that bad was he?
No one will ever know the answers to these questions that shouldn’t have existed in the first place.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)