Tony Becca
THIS SUMMER'S Ashes Series, the battle between England and Australia, opens at Lord's on Thursday and cricket fans, not only in Australia and England but also right around the world, are looking forward to a close and exciting contest between the two old enemies.
Winners of the past eight series since 1989, Australia, winners of 28 matches to England's seven during that time, the undisputed champions of the world and one of the greatest teams ever, are favourites to beat the "Poms" and to stretch their record Ashes victory streak to nine in a row.
According to some experts, however, that will not happen. According to them, England have been playing well in the past few years, they were brilliant in back to back series against the West Indies last year, and they are ready to tick off their first victory over the Aussies since their 2-1 triumph back in 1986-87.
What is more important than the opinion of those experts, however, is England's confidence - a confidence born, not only out of their recent performances but also out of the presence of some really good batsmen, some really good bowlers, and one outstanding all-rounder in their line-up.
At the top of the order are Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss, they will be followed by captain Michael Vaughan, Ian Bell, newcomer Kevin Pietersen, all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and wicketkeeper/batsmen Geraint Jones, and with pace bowlers Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones and Flintoff, plus left-arm spinner Ashley Giles. England really look good and could really be dangerous - especially so as they are playing at home on pitches and in conditions that will suit their pacers.
GOOD LINE-UP
As good as England look, however, Australia, with a batting line-up that includes Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer at the top, captain Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich, wicketkeeper/batsman Adam Gilchrist, pacers Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee, and legspinner Shane Warne, are as good if not better.
It should be a good series, and based on the results of the one-day series and the fact that they are playing at home, England are justified in believing they are good enough to win it.
One-day cricket is different from Test cricket, however, and on top of that, England should not forget that they were at home in 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2001 and that they lost 4-0, 4-1, 3-2 and 4-1.
With a little luck, England could pull it off. To do so, however, they will have to be at their best.
But for Giles, who should be easy pickings for Australia's batsmen, the England attack is good. Harmison, Hoggard, Jones and Flintoff could really make life difficult for Hayden, Langer, Ponting and company.
With left-hander Trescothick suspect to the ball leaving him, with Vaughan, at number three, failing to deliver for some time now, and as promising as they are, with two young players, the attractive Bell and the attacking Pietersen, who replaces the experienced and successful Graham Thorpe, the problem for England is that even though Gillespie looked a bit jaded and could lose his place to Michael Kasprowicz, against Australia's attack, against the accuracy and skill of McGrath, the pace of Lee, and the bamboozling, prodigious spin of Warne, life could be and should be even more difficult for England's batsmen.
England are good enough to have a chance to break the drought against Australia. The odds, however, must be in Australia's favour - not only because their batting and their bowling, plus their fielding, seem better than England's, but unlike England who are prone to sudden and dramatic collapses, also because they are tough, because they know how to win, and like the West Indies of the late 1970s, the 1980s and the early 1990s, because winning seems natural for them.
