Of Aussie dreams realized and Brit nightmares

The Australians never had it so good. And the Englishmen never had it so bad. Never in the near past. To be thrashed in every Test match from the first in Brisbane to the last in Sydney, was only what dreams are made of for the Australians; and nightmares for the Brits!

When the England cricketing cargo landed safely in Perth, and later began the back to back Ashes series that was being played for the first time, no England supporter in his wildest dreams would have imagined the final whitewash the team received.

Only a few months back the Australians lost the Ashes series in England 3-0. The England team arrived, exuding confidence of winning again and setting a record of four wins in a row.

With the England team riding a crest of a wave of success, that they lost the series five-nil must be galling to them. It also left critics questioning the captaincy of Alastair Cook and coach former Zimbabwean Captain Andy Flower.

ECB won't push panic button

But it is not likely that the England Cricket Board will push the panic button just now. Flower will coach until England cricket blooms again and he will have Cook with him to cook a better squad for the future.

The Aussies were down and out when they returned from England. Their confidence, their morale was all shattered. What finally fired them up and pumped them up was Broad's refusal to walk when he tickled a ball off wicket-keeper Brad Haddins pads to Michael Clarke in the slips.

Coach former Australian batsman Darren Lehmann who took over from Mickey Arthur was a very angry man over the Broad incident. He was convinced that had Broad played the gentleman and walked, his side could have won back the Ashes.

Lehmann promised to get the Aussie spectators to mark Broad when he plays and that is how the Aussie supporters stayed to the end. Not only did they go for Broad, but they went broadly, excuse the pun, for all England players.

Jonathan Trott first casualty

The first casualty was Jonathon Trot followed by Graeme Swann. Trott complained of depression and Swann could not take the hammer that he was getting from the critics and cowardly ditched the team after the third Test and Ashes were lost.

The England Test and County Cricket Board would have been hitching to take some action on Broad's attitude in ditching the team. But Swann has quit from all forms of the game and escaped fines and sanctions.

While England are licking their wounds, promising to rebuild and come back hard and with a vengeance, Australia are basking in their success and celebrating their victory against their traditional foes England.

The man who made the difference and swung the series Australia's way was undoubtedly Mitchell Johnson. His awesome left arm pace had the England batsmen running as he unleashed short pitched life threatening deliveries aimed at the ribs and heads.

Johnson grabs opportunity

In the absence of James Pattinson, Jackson Bird, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, Johnson grabbed the opportunity with both hands, to not only cement his place in the Australian team in the future, but also stuff the British Lions.

His dream series saw him bag a record 37 wickets in the five match series at 13.97 which was truly amazing. It must be recalled that he is a find of the great Dennis Lillee who along with Jeff Thomson tormented and tortured all opposition in the 1970s.

Others who played stellar rolls in Aussies success were medium pace bowler Ryan Harris and wicket keeper batsman Brad Haddin. Harris was always a trier. He used the new ball to good effect always making the batmen play, which is the job of every new ball bowler. Harris is not one who will look for pace, but relies a lot on movement.

Haddin was a revelation. In and out of the team, he finally came good not only with his gloves, but more importantly with the bat. He contributed in every Test and gave strength to the middle order.

Wonderful all round performance

All in all, it was a wonderful all round performance brought about by great captaincy from Michael Clarke, who proved the better thinking and attacking captain than England's Alastair Cook. At the conclusion of the Test an elated Clarke praised the bowling efforts of his spearhead Mitchell Johnson and said that the 32-year old left arm bowler's aggressive and sustained bowling throughout the series was an amazing achievement.

Clarke further added -'man of the series, who would have thought. Except me and Mitch. He's been an amazing bowler for a long time. I think the way he'd come back into this team...he's bowled with great aggression. Johnson has 241 Test wickets and is hungry for more.

Whatmore looking to end on winning note

Former Sri Lanka World Cup winning coach Dav Whatmore who will be quitting his two-year contract with Pakistan after the series against Sri Lanka is hungry to end in a blaze of glory and on a winning note.

Pakistan has not won a series since Whatmore took over two years ago and he told agencies here that his wish is to win the series against Sri Lanka a team he coached 18 years ago to win the World Cup.

'I am keen on doing well against them. Some of them are very good friends but when I enter the field we are enemies, so I am keen to finish the stint with a win. Whatmore coached Sri Lanka twice.

During Sri Lanka born Whatmore's tenure with Pakistan, the team drew a Test series against South Africa and Zimbabwe n 2013, and lost a Test series in Sri Lanka in 2012 before the South Africans whitewashed Pakistan 3-0 at home last year. Whatmore did not have an easy ride in Pakistan. Every time his team lost the cry by former Pakistan greats was to remove him and also captain Misbah ul Haq. Unable to cushion the criticism, Whatmore did not look for an extension, but said he wants to go.

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