So, this isn’t a time to celebrate English cricket. A 5-0 whitewash to the Aussies, the last defeat inside three days, could hardly have been more comprehensive. Or more humiliating.
I stopped getting up in the night to check the score by the third test and lost much of my interest by the fourth. The fifth has almost passed me by, as it has “the cream” of England’s cricketers.
This series has brought back memories of another thumping defeat, albeit a more predictable one, at the hands of Australia. In 1974-75, England toured down under – as the MCC – and were soundly thrashed 4-1 in a six test series. Those were the days of eight ball overs and also, crucially, the days of Lillee and Thomson. England’s batsmen – often bloodied sometimes bowed – had no answer to the twin pace attack.
There was no live television coverage in those days, of course, but there was some ball-by-ball commentary on the radio. I say some, because I can’t recall whether we had a full overnight Test Match Special, or a post-tea version for the waking hours. Certainly, I tuned in on my pocket transistor radio – under my pillow naturally – at around 6am every morning. The voice of a former Australian captain Lindsay Hassett seemed to wake me every day through the crackles of medium wave and every day, the news seemed to be less than cheerful. I was intrigued by the eight ball overs and by the Australian custom of giving the score the wrong way round – one for 122 or in England’s case, more likely 8 for 122.
This was the series of Colin Cowdrey – recalled at the age of 41 as emergency cover for England’s staggering wounded – and also of 42 year old Fred Titmus who was surprisingly selected for the full tour. Australia boasted the Chappell brothers, Rod Marsh and Doug Walters, and with Lillee and Thomson running amok, the result wasn’t such a surprise.
Unlike this time around, England did end the series strongly, winning the sixth test in Melbourne when Thomson was missing with a shoulder injury and Lillee limped out early in England’s first innings.
England didn’t have long to wait for another crack at the Aussies and although they lost the 1975 series at home, it was a much closer affair and it did generate a new English hero. David Steele - grey-haired, bespectacled, unheralded – stood up to Lillee and Thomson and England restored some pride.
And pride is something English cricket badly needs a bit of now.
Duncan Jones
Twitter: @duncanjones64
Blog:http://shesstillmymum.wordpress.com/
Memory added on September 19, 2014
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