And.......England have won the Ashes - A Review

Cricketers take to the field, and rest of the crowd who have worked hard and seamlessly becomes irrelevant and so it should be. If the viewers on the stadium, television and members of the press talk about these 'men in action', consider it a good job done! That's what the we toast, celebrate and talk about at the end of each day of the match. At conclusion, when the stadium is empty, we de-brief and talk about things that worked and not worked. Each day, each match and each city provides a different set of challenges.

TWO IS A TEAM AND TWO IS A COMPANY

Two is a team and it worked beautifully in handling the pressures of ever-demanding environment of Delhi. The challenges are multi-folded and when 'two' is also a company, it helps a great deal. Last year, I was given the task to work under David Clarke to prepare Delhi for the IPL. I previously had heard about him but never knew him on personal terms. To me, it was a crucial aspect - I believe 'the efficiency' of the duo is at its optimum best if we could talk and converse besides work related stuff. And in David, I found a great mentor. He loved to share his stories and was ears to hear my experiences. He asked me how I viewed situations and then added his bit if he felt it would be a value addition. This new team had just found a perfect start - and it was in the foundation.

A GREAT STORY-TELLER

Since childhood, anything that was narrated to me stayed on my mind longer and continues to. I enjoyed this aspect of knowing facts or perspectives. David's out-going personality meant, I was privileged to hear firsthand about his life, his love for basketball, his love for dogs, his family whom he loves a lot, his bike, his work with England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and coming to the business end, his expertise, prior experience and about English cricket.

I call myself as one of the sports geeks and each tale he shared with me was amazing. One such happened to be about the Ashes 2005.  I was rooting for the underdogs 'England' as it was time the Ashes shifted hands.

He didn't tell me what happened with cricket and how a particular player played, instead I was privy to details what went on off the field, the ego-clashes, the politics, the challenges to pull off a victory campaign.

While players had their own set of challenges, David (who was working with ECB at that time) and his team provided a great back-end support. It cannot be measured or quantified as to how big a role it played to help England win back the Ashes. As an audience, I saw the action unfold, read the editorials and match reports - but this a refreshing take on what went when everyone was busy watching cricket.

THESE STORIES ARE PART OF A BOOK

His book 'and....England have won the Ashes' doesn't capture the emotions on-field. There were better writers who penned those moments. Any event has its challenges and David touches upon what he and his team went through to pull off a spectacle - events with MCC regarding the use of the original urn for presentation, the aftermath of London bombing, motivational hymn 'Jerusalem' which irked a couple of Aussie cricketers and it culminated with the open bus parade at the Trafalgar Square.

I wouldn't reveal further - and I would end it by saying, if you want to know what are the challenges that are involved in hosting a big series across different cities, this book definitely is worth reading to know 'what happened' behind the scenes and how it all came together in a fairy tale manner when England won the Ashes after sixteen years.

Enjoy reading..... 

A NEW HOPE OR A REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE - THE KP STORY

On 21st of July 2005, England had a Test debutant in the name of Kevin Pietersen. He came into the team at the expense of Graham Thorpe and by the end of the Test match and the series, Thorpe was long forgotten by the English fans and the media. A new hope was born!

I was in my third year of Engineering at that time and used to run back home in a frenzied manner - to watch the telecast each day of the Test. After supporting Australian cricket for long in the 1990's, they became unmanageable and started winning just too much for my liking. It was the 3-0 win against the Indians in 1999 - a result which made to discontinue supporting Australia; instead root for the opponents they played against.

In the previous Ashes tour, Michael Vaughan emerged as a star for England with his three hundreds at Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney - a treat to watch. No matter how heavily he accumulated the runs, something was missing. It was no fault of his, it was what I was looking for in English batsmen. Then came the 'maverick', a freak with a blonde streak, reminding me of how James Dean might have been if he played cricket in the modern era with a cricket bat carrying off that 'funky' hairstyle.

Kevin Pietersen had that X-factor.

In the past thirty years, England as a nation consistently produced effective cricketers - most of them appearing too boorish when it came to stroke play. There was a difference to KP's persona - which boils down to the fact that he was not raised in England? While Pietersen needed someplace where he could play cricket day in and day out, England desperately needed this X-man to resurrect themselves and challenge to reach the top. Yes, he was that great; media propelled his reputation a notch further and made sure he be selected for the Test playing XI. What a arena it was to make one's test debut - in one of the oldest international competitions known to the sporting world.

    

My mind goes back to the year 2005 and to the first Test at Lord's. Australian team were dismissed in under 45 overs on the first morning of the series. England then lost wickets in a manner - when even the 'women in labour' would show some composure. Top order dismantled! and stumps uprooted once too many in quick successions. By the end of day one, England were seven wickets down with the debutant Pietersen unbeaten on 27.

Next morning's highlight - he comes down the track and hits the ball over long-off for a six, that too off McGrath. Phew! and this was no slog; the bowler in question was not a club cricketer. And then, a moment of joy for all the English spectators when he cover drove Glen McGrath to reach his maiden half-century. Folks from all the sections with hands in unison, clapping their new hero.

KP immediately then demonstrates his power - a wonderful execution of slog sweep over mid-wicket off Shane Warne. Audacious!. He tried one too many and he repeated the same stroke the next delivery and this time he was caught between deep mid wicket and long on - caught within metres from the boundary courtesy of a full stretched dive from Damien Martyn. That magnificent catch had done for Kevin Pietersen.

Chasing 420 runs in the final innings, England got off to a good start and not long after that there was a repeat of first innings - the manner in which they lost wickets quickly and cheaply. Wickets fell in a heap and partnerships were just not there.

It was the debutant  KP - once again to show some form of resistance in the form of attack. He showcased just about everything.  Cut through the point, stroking it through the covers, heaves to the leg side, sweeping square of the wicket, driving it straight and the pull! Brett Lee, world's fastest bowler of that time banged in short and KP was quick, daring and pulled it majestically. The ball went sailing beyond the boundary ropes into stands, many rows back. KP belongs to the big stage!

He went on score another half-century and slog swept Warne, yet again and this time the bat made a clean contact with the ball and six!. It was a pity he did not have steady partners at the other end and at the close of the innings he remained unbeaten on 64. He top scored in both the innings on his Test debut. A remarkable feat against the number one side in the world.

The defining moment of the Ashes came on the last day of the fifth Test at the Oval. Against all odds, England were leading and Australia had to win the test to square the series and thereby retain the Ashes. He was dropped twice and had few close calls - well that's all part of this wonderful game. We all need luck in life and it was riding high on Pietersen for England's sake.

Apart from few tentative moments; bulk of his time he spent at the crease - 285 minutes to be precise, Australia had no chance of retaining the Ashes. His breathtaking knock of 158 came in 187 deliveries packed with fifteen boundaries and seven of the cleanest strikes over the rope. He hooked, pulled, drove, cut, flicked, guided to all parts of the ground. Australians were clueless towards the end and when he got out he got a standing ovation - something until then I had never seen happening to English cricket in the Ashes. Pure magic! and victory to England at the Ashes.

I have the DVD of the Ashes victory of 2005 and I might have played innumerable times during the past few years. KP went on to score 22 hundreds more and some of it were equally awesome; bludgeoning the attack, the best of the bowlers, humiliating the greatest of bowlers of his era - be it wily spinners or tearaway fast bowlers. Apart from his weakness to 'pie chuckers', he performed exceedingly around the globe. His tally of 23 Test hundreds is above all the English all-time test cricketers except for Alastair Cook (25).

KP is a once in a life time cricketer - a rare breed, something to do with him not being English by birth. He is not your typical Gentleman but by no means he is a criminal. He was the new hope like how 'Luke Skywalker was to the Jedi's' and instead he was branded as a 'Rebel without a Cause'.

He idiosyncrasies were quite different from majority of his teammates - a sense of individualism. I don't have to remind you again, a national cricket team is composed of individuals not clones. Cricket is still competed by humans and not robots. In spite of all the management support staff, it is ridiculous to blame a single person for off-field antics - something which has not been disclosed.

    

KP, now branded by the English cricketing authorities as a bad boy would have probably better off if the management spent some quality time thinking  as to - What made Kevin Pietersen tick.... like a bomb? from time to time.