I don't normally read the Sports section of the
Grauniad, nor listen with more than 1/2 an ear to the sports news on radio. However, I have been aware in the past few years that England were rubbish at almost every sport in which they engaged, especially soccer. England crashed out of the World Cup of soccer this last summer, ignominiously. There was a lot of crying into beer. While the United Kingdom had done well in the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games in India weren't especially spectacular. There haven't been any world-class English teams since the Rugby World Cup in in 2003.
Now comes word that England has not only retained the Cricket Ashes cup, but
has won the series of matches in Australia 3-1 with one draw. Translation for non-UKers or those from non-cricketing countries. There is a long-standing series of cricket rivalries between Australia and England. This started in 1882 and continues down to the present day. The
Wikipedia article on the Ashes is quite comprehensive, although you won't learn much about
the rules of cricket there if you aren't already familiar with them.
What matters to me is that, finally, there is something international that England is good at. Most Brits are soccer-mad, but cricket can now lay claim to be the national sport at which we excel. Our team has set all sorts of records, including some from a youngish player named Alistair Cook, who was named the man of the match and series today.
Could this be the first step in regaining our sporting nerve?
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