England media seems to be obsessed with Ashes. There does not seem to be any other series or events in cricket that they can think or write about. It is good to be prepared for an important series but England should not forget that there is a test series against WI and a small matter of a cricket world cup (T20) in England itself before they pad up against the Aussies in July. I see more articles in English media about Ashes than the current cricket series in WI. Is this the reason behind poor performance of English team in WI? They are thinking too much into future and not concentrating on present.
One could have understood the anticipation if there had been any expectation of competitive cricket between the two teams. But looking at current form, it looks to be one sided contest with Aussies once again favourites to stream roll the Englishmen.
In 2005, we had a good series not because it was Ashes but because it was a contest between top two teams in the world. Now it is looking like an uneven contest.On one side, we have world’s top ranked team who have just vanquished the #2 team and also on a upswing after the low point last year and on the other side, we have #6 ranked team which has just lost to #7 ranked team and the rankings can even get swapped if WI does better than expected in return series scheduled to be held in April-May in England. The England team’s current goal should be to play good cricket in that series and try to salvage some pride before talking themselves up about Ashes. On current form, they have no chance against Aussies hell bent upon proving that they are back as THE top side.
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