I am mortified

[Matilda]

by the collapse of Australia in the Fifth Test (stop reading now if you
don't like cricket).

Australia has come from behind before, and I wouldn't say it's all over
yet, but from our position, it's not looking good.

But I have to pay tribute to Stuart Broad - what an amazing young man he
is. He's just a pup, really, but if he keeps going the way he's started,
he could turn out to be one of cricket's truly great players. It's
really exhilarating to watch him play, whether it's with the ball or the
bat, and I feel privileged to see him (even if Australia is on the
receiving end).

I wonder if he'd like to emigrate?

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. It was your turn to collapse

:D

It's been a good series - a lucky escape for England, a good win for England, a lucky escape for Australia, a good win for Australia, and a final test with everything to play for.

Yeah, a bad failure by Australia, and Broad really bowled well to make them suffer. Not that the English batsmen at the end of yesterday did any better, but the score on the first day may be enough to win it.

Broad looks like he can be called a genuine all-rounder, which England needs to be able to compete in Tests, really - and with Flintoff going, it's just in time.

[Matilda]

2. Dare I say it -

Flintoff's not in the same class as Broad. I will now wait for the
rocks to fly at me.

I've never quite understood England's fascination with Flintoff, except
as a personality. He had one good Test, in 2005, but since then has
been sporadic at best, and was a shit captain.

But Broad is a real cricketer, and definitely the man to watch.

[oldironside]

3. If you're old enough to remember Botham...

... you can understand why English cricket fans took Flintoff to their hearts. Flintoff has a touch of the Both about him. Maybe not in terms of talent or achievement, but, as you remarked, in his personality. A larger than life character who could lift the rest of the team by his sheer will, even if he could be extremely charmless in the process. As much a talisman as a player. As far as Botham was concerned his performance was less important than his presence in the years following 1981. And don't forget, Both was a shit captain too.

Assuming you're too young to remember 1981 first hand (I do - middle age has it's consolations) it's impossible to overstate the shock of the Australian team at their Headingley defeat (or to underestimate Botham's achievement), and the consequent psychological advantage any England team enjoyed when it had Botham in it. Naturally English fans will always be looking back - that's the way of sports fans. Would we like a new Botham? That would be nice. Would you fancy a new Bradman?

It never ceases to amaze me how superstitious sports fans can be. Normally rational people, some of them even university educated, will start to act like druids to try to appease the Gods of victory. Lucky shirts, lucky underwear, lucky coins, lucky cups, pre-match rituals, etc, etc. I well remember ceremonially burning a picture of Diego Maradona in a friend's garden before the 1990 World Cup. Given that, a love affair with Flintoff sounds quite logical. And I hope the story about him throwing eggs at David Blane as he was starving himself over the Thames is true.