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The 'Official' 2006 Ashes Thread...


MichaelGray
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10 reasons why we caved in

1. CAPTAINCY. Andrew Flintoff was overburdened by the job and the responsibility inhibited the natural exuberance of his game. His wickets dried up, his batting suffered and his leadership was not very inspired.

2. SQUAD SELECTION. England chose four bowlers ? Ashley Giles, Jimmy Anderson, Steve Harmison and Flintoff ? who were recovering from injury. This despite promising never to do so again after a similar disaster four years ago.

3. SELECTION ON TOUR. England gaffed badly by omitting Monty Panesar in Brisbane and Adelaide on the spurious notion that he can?t bat. Picking Anderson for the Second Test was also a mistake.

4. MARCUS TRESCOTHICK. Duncan Fletcher was persuaded to pick England?s destructive opener even though he was mentally unfit for the Champions Trophy just weeks earlier. Tresco?s depression returned. He left the tour within a fortnight.

5. TROY COOLEY. The guru of reverse swing was a key component of England?s success in 2005 and losing him because of a contract wrangle earlier this year was unforgivable. Worse still, he was in the Aussies? camp this time.

6. GERAINT JONES. The Kent wicketkeeper was on England?s management committee which advises on selection ? so no surprise he regained his place from Chris Read. But endured a miserable series culminating with a pair in the Third Test.

7. STEVE HARMISON. Was dropped during the Champions Trophy and arrived in Australia under-cooked. Then he missed the final warm-up game with a side niggle. Lost form and confidence and his body language was confused.

8. MICHAEL VAUGHAN. The calm but tough leadership of the man who is still official England captain was obviously missed. But his presence around the team and his claims that he could play in the series threatened to undermine Flintoff.

9. THE WAGS. Many of the wives and girlfriends arrived before the First Test and will remain here for the whole series. Families on tour inevitably bring distractions and can dissipate team spirit. They should not have come until the Third Test.

10. THE AUSSIES. Ricky Ponting?s team, stung by their Ashes defeat in 2005, have been tough, businesslike and ruthless. By contrast, there is a feeling that England?s players milked their triumph last year a bit too enthusiastically.

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