Closing the gap

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This summer brings the most eagerly anticipated cricket clash of them all - The Ashes. Considering the heavy defeats England have suffered in the past, it says a lot for the prestige of this contest that cricket fans throughout the world still see this series as the ultimate battle in the game today. This summer could be different though. Whisper it amongst your friends but England might be in with a chance.

It is fair to say that during the 90's English cricket reached rock bottom. Many feel the nadir was reached during the 1999 series against the Kiwis, but for me one moment will always stick out in my memory as an indication of how low we had sunk. During the 1994-5 tour to Australia, Graham Thorpe put down a chance at slip and proceeded to hammer the ball through the mid-off region with his foot, allowing the Aussies to take a single. Why are we so bad I used to think? Will we ever win the Ashes again before I go grey? Whilst the Aussies blossomed we wilted and it wasn't a pretty sight. Players came and went, coaches and selectors not far behind them. Then came our annus horribilis of 1999. Knocked out of the World Cup before the Barmy Army single had even been realised and beaten at home by a resurgent New

Zealand team. I had always found our slump puzzling - was this really the team that had beaten the South Africans a year before and at times competed against the Aussies away ? I knew we could do better and thankfully so did

Messrs Fletcher and Hussian have now led us to four series wins in a row and it seems hard to believe that England were so low in '99. The two wins on the subcontinent were an unbelievable achievement for a team playing in such alien conditions. Even the Aussies were struggling in a similar environment - taking a pasting in Headlingley '81 style. People began to sit up and take notice that this Ashes battle could be a lot closer than was originally perceived.

Have England got a chance then ? I reckon so but I might be thinking with my heart rather than my head. England need to be at the top of their game to compete and you get the feeling that Sir Dunc and Nass will ensure this happens. I feel the series could come down to how many runs we manage to make, as our seam attack is extremely useful to say the least. Let us hope that Athers can win his personal battle with McGrath. That would certainly give Glenn even more to moan about!!

My prediction : 2-1 to the Aussies unfortunately. That is said in the hope though that I will be proved completely wrong. I just have an inkling that this series might be one year too soon for England but then I thought we would lose heavily in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Let English fans pray that I am wrong again. Only time will tell.