England Cricket / Frank Gregan / 21 September 2009 /

Not even the ODI debacle can dampen the Ashes victory for Frank Gregan as he reflects on a glorious summer of cricket. After all, you're only as good as your last game...

The Australian cricket tour finally came to an end yesterday under the blue skies of England's very own Northern Territory.

It was some tour, it lasted forever. Minor criminals have been convicted, tried and served their jail terms since the Australians started their preparations on English soil at the back end of June. That may seem a weird time comparision but it has to be remembered that this site is read by our friends Down Under and it's nice to be able to be able to link to their history wherever possible!

Speaking of which - there were some crimes committed during the tour. We English do tend to be a bit parochial but we should spare a thought for Ricky Ponting and his men who were as magnanimous in defeat as they were unlucky. That is a trait that they have yet to pass on to their supporters. Claims of daylight robbery, smash and grab and ABH (Ashes Blinking Heisted!) are common accusations heard in the pubs around Earls Court at the moment!

Even the one day debacle cannot dampen the spirits of the English supporters. It was an absolute series mauling, a trouncing unlike any other. England stepped out into the milky sunshine of our most Northern bastion yesterday and into the 58 degree heat (fahrenheit of course) knowing that defeat would mean an unprecedented series defeat - seven zip.

There must be something in the air oop North. It wasn't long ago that the West Indians were seen crying on the boundaries and coming out to field wearing Parkas and fur boots at the Riverside but we expected the Aussies to be made of sterner stuff. They weren't as they creamed in, making a meagre 176 and England hobbled past that target losing six wickets for 54 runs with their patented middle order collapse.

England are probably guilty of the most serious crime this summer. Fraud and deception! The guys I watched the game with yesterday were delighted with the win. "You're only as good as your last game," "we can say that the last time we played Australia in a one dayer we beat them!" and "we won the Ashes when nobody gave us a chance, why can't we win the Champions Trophy?" were three of the more memorable quotes heard after the England team won and served up yet another portion of false hope and expectation.

It was however, a fantastic summer of cricket which was full of feats worthy of recognition. Biggest Twit(ter) of the series has to be Phillip Hughes who alerted England of Australia's team selection hours before the team sheets were exchanged. The 'Fosbury Award' for the biggest flop goes to Mitchell Johnson who came here being touted as the new Lillee. He looked more like Lilly Savage!

Most unsporting behaviour has to be awarded to the morons who booed Ricky Ponting. The Barmy Army came in for some criticism after the third test at Edgbaston because of the crowd's behaviour towards the Aussie skipper. To be fair to the BA, they give the England team tremendous support and if they were involved, it would, as ever in these cases, only be a small minority. It did seem to happen just about everywhere that Ponting went which goes to show how evenly distributed our Neanderthals are!

Such is the pace of international cricket we have barely been able to draw breath before having to ponder England's next challenge - the ICC Champions Trophy which gets underway tomorrow when surrogate hosts South Africa take on Sri Lanka.

It is hard to look beyond the home nation. The South Africa side looks tailor made for this competition and with four genuine all rounders they can bat longer than Geoffrey Boycott and Chris Tavare on a flat wicket! Much has been made of their 'chokers' tag but they are still worthy favourites.

South Africa at [3.65] and Australia at [ 4.6] produces coupled bet odds of [2.65] for a South African win and [3.6] for an Aussie win. That is a very, very tempting package but it is of course double liability if both fail. My recommendation is to wait and see how the early matches pan out before nailing the colours to the mast.

In the meantime, in an unusual fit of Land of Hope and Gloryitus, this week's recommendation is to look for a match in the region of [60.0] for Andrew Strauss to be the top batsman of the tournament. He is in great nick and if England have one of those rare tournaments during which they perform he will be right up front and leading by example.

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