Books - Strauss offers exclusive insight to Ashes in new Wisden (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Books - Strauss offers exclusive insight to Ashes in new Wisden

3:59pm Saturday 1st May 2010 in Cricket

GRACING the familiar yellow jacket and writing in his own words inside, Andrew Strauss embodies Wisden’s coverage of another Ashes classic.

Four years ago the greatest Test series of all (the 2005 Ashes) was staged, resulting in Wisden’s largest-ever sale.

Now, for the first time, the Almanack includes an analysis of an Ashes summer by the current – and triumphant – England captain.

In his dissection of a series “that defied logic”, Andrew Strauss (writing unghosted) reveals that the difference between the two sides was not “tactical acumen, superior planning, or inspired individual performances”. Instead, “The answer lies somewhere in what people like to call the unity, or spine, of the team.”

The view from the top Strauss looks back to the Mumbai terrorist attacks that disrupted England’s tour of India in 2008-09 and to the turmoil surrounding his ascent to the captaincy, and says that coping with these trials made his team a cohesive and resilient outfit: “I believe strongly that shared experiences, the type of which don’t happen every day, are actually what brings teams together… “We needed some stability, which Andy Flower and myself tried to bring in as quickly as possible. We needed some honesty about where we were as a side, and how hard we needed to work to go forward. Above all, though, we needed as a group to use our experiences to bring us closer together, and I am absolutely certain we did: that was the critical factor.”

Australian spin – or the lack of it Wisden also publishes the Ashes reflections of England coach Andy Flower, who reveals how much the previous home Ashes series meant to him: “In 2005, while still playing at Essex, I had been caught in the exhilaration expressed by a nation watching one of the greatest series of all time. I saw what it meant. I took note.”

Flower identifies two major reasons why he began the series in confident mood: “First was the make-up of the respective teams. We were likely to play five bowlers, Australia only four. I thought it would be interesting to see which theory would come out on top.

“And that led into a second reason – the absence of the great Shane Warne from the Australian line-up. I now felt the spinning option was an area we could exploit, and actually thought we might have played two spinners on more than the single occasion we did in Cardiff… the saving of that first Test in Wales was a key moment. A draw there was as good as a win.”

Wisden accuses the ECB of giving up In his third year as editor of the world’s most famous sports book, Scyld Berry slams the ECB for losing the desire to make England the best team in the world. The administrators, he argues, have adopted the philosophy of “If at first you don’t succeed, give up.”

All the current Test-playing nations have won either the World Cup or the Champions Trophy. All, that is, bar two: Bangladesh and England. So what is the ECB’s response? Cut the 50-over format (in which these tournaments and all ODIs are played) from the domestic programme altogether and replace it with a 40-over structure wholly absent from the international stage.

Cricketers will reach the England team never having played 50-over cricket, so how can they understand the rhythms and demands of the game?

Berry also has the counties, or at least the 13 that voted for the change of limited-overs format, in his sights. Every county relies on a £2m a year handout from the ECB – who in turn are heavily reliant on the England team for their revenue. Yet those 13 counties short-sightedly chose to handicap the national side.

Undermining the umpires Scyld Berry warns that an unintended but inevitable consequence of the Umpire Decision Review System is to subvert the authority of the umpires – at every level of the game.

Players shaping a “T” with their arms to request a review of an umpire’s decision is fast becoming a familiar sight on television, and will inexorably spread elsewhere. But, Berry cautions, “what may start as fun – a club bowler or fielder making the shape of a T when he disagrees with a decision – will become a whole process of insidious undermining.”

“It is also illogical that justice should be rationed: after two unsuccessful reviews, a team can suffer a gross miscarriage without any recourse.”

By far the best solution so far trialled is perhaps the only good thing to emerge from the Stanford Twenty20 for $20m tournament in 2008. There, the third official could intervene to avoid an umpiring howler, so keeping the decision-making process, and the authority, away from the players, who in any case are uncomfortable with the extra responsibility.

Justin Langer and Duncan Fletcher call for less cricket and greater intensity Part of last summer’s dramatic backdrop was the outspoken dossier compiled by Justin Langer for the Australian camp and leaked to the media. Its pinpointing of England’s failings sparked a furore. In Wisden, Langer sets the record straight, outlining what’s good – and what’s not – with the county game, and listing his agenda for change.

“Firstly, I would look at ways of cutting down the amount of cricket… One day, it is a first-class game, the next it is a 50-, 40- or 20-over game. I know old stagers will say the modern-day cricketer just needs to harden up and that it was even harder in their day, but common sense suggests that such abysmal preparation cannot be good for the standard of the game or its players.”

“Bonus points aren’t a great concept either. There are far too many draws… the emphasis often shifts from winning a game outright to securing enough bonus points to stave off relegation, or scrape over the line for promotion… There is greatness in boldness.”

“Even as a top-order batsman I am of the firm view that pitches must be equally weighted for both batsmen and bowlers. This certainly isn’t the case at most venues across the country.”

Focusing on the one-day game, Duncan Fletcher decries the loss of the 50-over format – “The ECB’s decision to scrap 50-over cricket for the 2010 domestic season is bizarre and short-sighted.”

The cricket year in all its eccentricity Wisden notes some of the less familiar moments from the cricketing year: How Warnie lost the pigeon race, Helicopter stopped play, Distilled essence of Lord's, The boy who took seven wickets in seven balls (but forgot to mention it), The Chinese April Fool joke that flummoxed Melbourne And the Under-11s team who had a total of 50 – but none of their batsmen scored a run. The 147th edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack retail prices of £45. The large format version (about twice the traditional size) is priced at £55.