The Phoenix and the Kookaburra..

What a winter it has been for the cricket fan. It is absolutely fantastic of course to see England triumphant and shamefully delightful to see the Aussie grovel. They are always so charmingly pompous and proud that knocking them down several pegs is far better than merely beating them.
See this England side play so well has been a joy and there should be nothing but praise for the way they have performed. But there is always a but.
This Aussie side is not the full swagbag. They are short of at least two class bats and three bowlers. You'd only pick Johnson, Clarke and Hussey with Ponting an outside choice if he gets his form back and Siddle a worthwhile gamble. But note that young Usman was really promising and he is the future. Give them two years and they will be back I betcha, as they will say.
So England are indeed very good now. To be able to lose Broad and still have good enough bowling to roll the Aussies over is terrific. We have seen some stunning performances from all our players, with Cook especially pleasing. I have always rated him top drawer. He has application, technique and the build to be very very good and he is now on his way. We need to expect him to have a bad patch sometime but be willing to stick with him. Openers of his class are rare - maybe only three or four in a century. Think back, I am about right.
Anderson always is best on hard pitches and he loves beating the Aussies. Broad was looking great when luck tripped him up. He will be back and I reckon he will be a true all-rounder one day soon. And we have some near ones now - which is why we are doing so well. Look back and you will see the best sides bat deep.
Bresnan is clever and keen. Tremlitt's height is a bonus and he shows skill. Swanny is a shoo-in. Ditto Prior now he also keeps wicket at top class; an all-rounder keeper has been a key to England in the past from Ames onwards. Bell, like Cool=k, picks himself when in form. But he looks a mood player and needs managing well. Peterson would pick himself and we have to agree but he needs to be persuaded to believe he is fallible not godlike! Strauss is a good bat and skipper with a couple of years in him yet. Colly has been an asset as a man as well as a cricketer so we need someone like him; the classic English bits and pieces cricketer.
The fielding has largely been brilliant with some of it incredible. In Aussie that matters a lot. Outfields are usual fast and they hit the ball very hard. Good fielding is worth a half century and three wickets every time.
I have one worry. It looks good to only bat seven times against the opposition's 10 but it means we still need to know how we bat are when really up against it. I seem to recall there was a match like that this tour and we lost it.
But what the heck right now - open the bottle and drink your dreams boys!