Daily Cricket News

England's revival a boost for world cricket

England's comprehensive victory over Australia in the Adelaide Test defines a much larger picture than just another Ashes victory in cricket's most historic rivalry.

A career best 227 by Kevin Pietersen and Graeme Swann's five-wicket haul in the second Ashes Test just sums up the giant strides taken by the Poms in the last year-and-a-half starting from the Ashes summer of 2009 on English soil.

The resurgence of the England team comes at a time when world cricket has been turned on its head by the spot-fixing allegations involving Pakistani cricketers and the crass commercialisation of the sport by the Indian Premier League.

The class and confidence level of the side was most visible during the ICC World T20 Championship in the Caribbean earlier this year when Paul Collingwood led a vibrant and dynamic bunch of players to England's first major limited overs triumph.

Unlike the yesteryears, the beauty about the current English side is that their versatility and their ability to adapt in all three formats of the game which has been reflected by their incredible success rate.

After regaining the Ashes in 2009 at home, the Poms went on to reach the semi finals of the Champions Trophy the same year beating more fancied opponents like Sri Lanka and hosts South Africa on the way.

They followed that up by an impressive tour of South Africa where they won the ODI series and ended up on even terms in the Test matches and the T20 internationals.

It would probably be fair to say that England have truly come of age in 2010, when they have been invincible at times especially at home.

They toppled the Aussies and then went on to outplay Pakistan even though the entire series was played under a 'fixing' cloud.

The most noteworthy revelation about this English side is their blooding of cricketers who know no fear and refuse to be intimidated by their opposite numbers.

They are an incredibly well balanced unit with Alastair Cook and skipper Andrew Strauss solid as a rock at the top of the order. Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan boast of a middle order which is second to none and the pace attack consisting of Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Steven Finn complement each other quite magnificently.

The list of course would not be complete without the mention of offie Graeme Swann who is the world's premier spinner at the moment.

They may well go on to win the 2010-11 Ashes series, and if not the favourite, England will definitely be one of the dark horses to go all the way in the 2011 ICC World Cup, but more importantly it's a team which has earned respect and won hearts by playing an attractive and clean brand of cricket.