Those of us who came of age during the 1990s – a time when Blur, Oasis, Harry Enfield and Chris Evans were bigger than Merv Hughes’ moustache – will remember pre-2005 Ashes series as a sequence of traumatic events. It was only fairly recently that we actually got to experience what victory felt like. Before that, success against the Aussies was something you could only watch on grainy 1980s VHS tapes; the images seemed to reveal that England were captained by a fat bloke and a geezer with no neck opened the bowling.
How times have changed. England have won three of the last four Ashes and only Bill Lawry on acid would back the Aussies to win in 2013 – judging by their performances thus far against the Windies that is. The cricketing order has therefore been turned upside down since 2005.
However, other than the results, there’s another reason why England have swapped places with Australia: the baggy greens are now picking up the injuries that used to scupper England’s chances.
Do you remember the days when all our decent players got injured? Alec Stewart used to snap the bones in his fingers so regularly one suspected they were made of twiglets. Then there was Atherton’s chronic back condition, Thorpe’s depression, and Chris Lewis’s entire body.
The really galling injuries happened to our bowlers. Every time we unearthed a player with world class potential, they picked up a serious injury and lost two yards of pace. The result? They became about as effective as Mark Ealham in the subcontinent.
It all started with Super Gus Razor (ahem) I mean Fraser. Most people remember him as a bit of a carthorse, but in his younger days – before a serious hip injury – he wasn’t only accurate, he was also got a fair amount of nip off the pitch. He was like a young Glenn McGrath but without the ‘my Mum cuts my hair’ look.
Then there was Darren Gough. Fortunately, Goughie ended up having a good career in the end, but England were still robbed of his services far too often – usually immediately before, or actually during, an Ashes series.
The other great example is Dominic Cork. When he made his debut, Cork ran through the West Indies batting line-up like a hot knife through butter. He was also pretty sharp. But because he was English, it wasn’t long before the injury curse struck again. Ever wondered why Cork was so fiery? It’s because he was a fast bowler stuck inside a medium pacer’s body.
And finally, of course, there was Freddy. We only got to see Flintoff at his best in 2005 (and possibly the twelve months beforehand). In his youth he was too fat to bowl rapidly. After 2005 he was too bloody injured. Why did we expect anything else?!
Fortunately, however, it’s the Aussie bowlers who are suffering the most through injury these days. England meanwhile have a list of healthy quicks that’s longer than Joel Garner’s arms and legs.
There are two young bowlers in particular who have had their early careers seriously curtailed by injury. The first is James Pattinson. After missing the series against India, Pattinson returned to the fold in this week’s second test against the Windies. He didn’t last more than one innings. On the fifth day he was flying home with a back injury. Peter Siddle joined him on the same flight – much to the West Indian batsmen’s disappointment.
The other young Aussie bowler who looks like a genuine world class talent in the making is Pat Cummins. Despite making his debut as a teenager, Cummins was the fastest bowler on display on the Canary Yellow’s tour of South Africa last year. He was regularly hitting speeds in excess of 150 kph and troubled Jacques Kallis more than basic spelling and counting to ten troubles the average Aussie lager lout. He looked like a real prospect.
So what has happened to Cummins since that tour? You guessed it. He’s been out for several months with a serious heel complaint. And one suspects that as soon as recovers he’ll play a couple of games and get injured again.
If the Aussies want a realistic chance of beating England in 2013 they’ll need their two young tyros fit and firing. Let’s face it, if they field an attack of Hilfenhaus, Siddle and Bollinger again then Alastair Cook might break Sachin Tendulkar’s record aggregate of test runs before the series is out.
But will it actually happen? Fortunately one suspects not. Recent Ashes history suggests that injuries to fast bowlers are like dropped catches on a cold day. They’re contagious. Once one young fast bowler gets injured they’re all likely to drop like flies. Just ask Gus, Dazzler, Corkie and Freddy.
James Morgan
