In football, England's years of hurt roll on towards 50 but, although the cricket team have yet to land the proper World Cup, they are still ranked number one in Tests, are the reigning T20 world champs and by inflicting a whitewash on Australia starting this week could yet supplant them at the top of the ODI table, too. Suddenly this unwanted Nat West series has become more meaningful. 5-0 looks rather fanciful, of course, especially after being demolished by India last summer and the Aussies the previous winter.
In 48 home ODIs against the old enemy, England have won 20, lost 25, with two ties and a no-result. In both Ashes winning years on home soil, Australia won series 2-1 (2005) and a crushing 6-1 (2009) but it was Strauss and co who triumphed 3-2 just two years ago, so not all the omens are bad. Winning the toss could be important; in two out of three games in which there has been a result between the two sides, the captain calling correctly has been victorious in the match, too, so maybe Alastair Cook needs to practise his telepathic skills as well as his batting against the away-swinger!
It's a while since England's biggest win batting first. It was in another Jubilee year, 1977, when they bowled Greg Chappell's team out for a piffling 70 (John Lever 4-29) to win by 101 runs. Headingley 2005 witnessed the greatest margin of victory when chasing. Trescothick's unbeaten 105 saw them home by nine wickets. Mind you, there have been three-figure defeats, too. Eleven years ago, McGrath, Warne and Gillespie ensured an emphatic 125-run thumping. It may have been on Duckworth-Lewis but being dismissed for 86 makes that no excuse! In 2009, an unfamiliar Aussie XI dealt England a 111-run blow. Not only was that the difference between the totals but also the innings made by opener Tim Paine.
It's interesting to see who have been the star players in English ODIs against the 'baggy greens'. The most runs for England? Andrew Strauss has collected more than 600 runs in 20 games but the man who loved playing Australia more than any other is Graham Gooch. Between 1979 and 1993, he accumulated four centuries and 866 runs, although many of those games were in the 55-over format. Eoin Morgan is already fourth on the list and is hungry for success after a flat year. Only four Aussies have scored more than 500 in ODIs in England. Michael Clarke has 567 but his predecessor as captain, Ricky Ponting stands proud at the top with 835.
With the ball, I'd have expected Glenn McGrath to lead the wicket-takers but, while conceding under four an over, it's the evergreen Brett Lee who's miles ahead of the rest with 29, and looking to add to that total this summer. For England, Ian Botham rules the roost with 35, although he did play more matches than anybody else (33). Darren Gough is second but a certain James Anderson has 29 Aussie ODI scalps so by the end of this series, either he or Lee could well be the greatest one-day wicket-taker in England-Australia history.
Of course, more important is the bragging rights. Michael Clarke's men had been steadily taking on that air of invincibility only to stumble recently, winning only two of the last five and losing to the West Indies twice. Their young bowling attack has loads of promise but injuries have prevented consistency and thus development of a potent force to worry any opposition. On the other hand, England's Test stars were far too good for the Windies a few weeks ago in both formats and still have the pace of Jade Dernbach up their sleeves. I reckon England will take the series and with it the massive confidence as they prepare to meet the South Africans.
