Twinkle Toes Returns!
All hail the return of the Dazzler!
And the link to the Ashes? No, I'm not suggesting that we pick our Darren for the Ashes. However reckon it's worth recognising that poor Dazzler must be one of the unluckiest of the generation of English cricketers who never won or looked like winning an Ashes series.
As a huge Thorpey fan (no one kept the scoreboard gently ticking over like him nor did anyone ever look quite so sexy in a headband...) I felt desperately sorry for him last summer but couldn't help but think that if he had stayed quiet he would surely have been picked for Edgbaston. So, for me, Goughie stands out as a genuinely class English player who should have won an Ashes series but was never blessed with the team mates or the set-up that was needed.
So all hail his Ashes hatrick in Sydney in 1999 - the first by an Englishman since 1891-92.
All hail England's first and foremost exponent of reverse-swing - so crucial in last year's series.
All hail the bowler who led us to four series wins in a row in 2000-2001 - surely the basis on which we created last year's Ashes-winning side.
All hail the never-say-die spirit that Goughie embodied and which now (thank goodness) is an essential part of an England team. This is, after all, a 36 year old who has willed himself back into the England side and one of those cricketers who can just suddenly make things happen.
posted by Victoria Mills @ 1:47 pm
3 Comments:
Commeth the moment, cometh the Dazzler...
Third highest run scorer. Let's hope it can weave his magic with the ball.
Well rain's the winner but an economy rate of 7 an over says that he's not hitting the twinkle with his special ball is he Mills?
How blind can your Yorkshire love be?
Its all about the Ashes. Who cares about one day? who cares about this wanton series? Bring on Brisbane, 23 November.
...but agree with many of your points (particular the reverse swing point).
You are also very right about Edgbaston, too. Lords was miserable and if Thorpey (friend of Butcher - more to come) hadn't retired from Test cricket in a fit of pique he might well have made it to the tightest Test in history (not strictly true, but we did win by two runs and that's tight enough for me!).
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