Black_Warrior
Cricketer Of The Year
As England mark their 1000th Test match, we know all that matters is the Ashes.
So what was in your view the greater Ashes achievement of this decade?
2005 Ashes win - after losing 8 Ashes series on the trot (home and away), this was an incredible win against the Invincible Australian side.
The quality of cricket itself was of the highest quality and is remembered most fondly by England fans. A lot of matches would be considered classics in the nail biting tradition.
For the first time, a side other than Pakistan relied so heavily on reverse swing and did it so successfully. Flintoff and Jones emerged and skilled bowlers with the old ball. Harmison drew first blood with his fiery spell in the 1st Test. Pietersen took on Australian bowlers in a way few English batsmen dared to in the last 20 years.
or
2010 Ashes win - The only away win for England since 1990. Yes the Australian team might not be the Invincible side but here are a few points that make this so special
1) Australia were still an extremely strong side, ranked among the top 3 sides in the world and had lost only 1 home series since 1986.
2) This series is sandwiched between two utterly humiliating 5-0 whitewashes of 2006 and 2013. What's absolutely incredible about this win is an important point demonstrated in every other Ashes series in Australia - while both teams struggle to win their away Ashes series and suffer humiliating defeats, Australia still manage to win a Test or 2 in England (2005, 2009, 2015). When England go to Australia, they don't even come close to winning a Test match, forget about a series.
So a 3-1 series win in Australia, which basically paved the way for England's greatest Test side to emerge. Anderson gained respect as a swing bowler outside of England, Trott and Cook established themselves as two of England's finest batsmen, Strauss will go down as one of England's greatest captaincy mainly because of this series, not to mention contributions of KP, Prior, Bell, Tremlett, Bresnan, Swann. Every English cricketer made a meaningful contribution and that's why England went on to become number 1 Test side in 2011-12.
Which series is the bigger win considering all these factors?
So what was in your view the greater Ashes achievement of this decade?
2005 Ashes win - after losing 8 Ashes series on the trot (home and away), this was an incredible win against the Invincible Australian side.
The quality of cricket itself was of the highest quality and is remembered most fondly by England fans. A lot of matches would be considered classics in the nail biting tradition.
For the first time, a side other than Pakistan relied so heavily on reverse swing and did it so successfully. Flintoff and Jones emerged and skilled bowlers with the old ball. Harmison drew first blood with his fiery spell in the 1st Test. Pietersen took on Australian bowlers in a way few English batsmen dared to in the last 20 years.
or
2010 Ashes win - The only away win for England since 1990. Yes the Australian team might not be the Invincible side but here are a few points that make this so special
1) Australia were still an extremely strong side, ranked among the top 3 sides in the world and had lost only 1 home series since 1986.
2) This series is sandwiched between two utterly humiliating 5-0 whitewashes of 2006 and 2013. What's absolutely incredible about this win is an important point demonstrated in every other Ashes series in Australia - while both teams struggle to win their away Ashes series and suffer humiliating defeats, Australia still manage to win a Test or 2 in England (2005, 2009, 2015). When England go to Australia, they don't even come close to winning a Test match, forget about a series.
So a 3-1 series win in Australia, which basically paved the way for England's greatest Test side to emerge. Anderson gained respect as a swing bowler outside of England, Trott and Cook established themselves as two of England's finest batsmen, Strauss will go down as one of England's greatest captaincy mainly because of this series, not to mention contributions of KP, Prior, Bell, Tremlett, Bresnan, Swann. Every English cricketer made a meaningful contribution and that's why England went on to become number 1 Test side in 2011-12.
Which series is the bigger win considering all these factors?
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