Michael Vaughan and the England management will undoubtedly have made meticulous plans ahead of this highly anticipated series with South Africa, and things could not have gone much better after the opening three days of the series.
A dangerous game we all play at some point is virtual history, that is what if? But the weight on England’s shoulders these last three years has been the monumental Ashes victory in 2005 and many have said that England have wished to replicate too much of the same thing since. The focus of the English on the Ashes above all else has been a constant criticism both at home and abroad and too many selections have said to have been based around the yearning for those magical days in the fantastic summer that was 2005. Is this fair? Have English selections been unduly influenced by a desire for what was? Was the Ashes victory of 05 detrimental to English cricket. What would have happened if the series had ended all square and the Aussies kept hold of the urn?