Aussie press hail English win, but say they're still rubbish by Cricket Archive Staff Reporter

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Event:

Commonwealth Bank Series 2006/07

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DateLine: 4th February 2007

 

The Australian media on Saturday welcomed England's first cricketing victory over their hosts but still rated the hapless side as the worst to ever tour Down Under.

 

"At Last" said Sydney's Daily Telegraph following England's 92-run one-day victory over Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday night, adding "world's worst team beat the best". The Australian newspaper pointed out that it took the tourists 94 days to notch a win over Australia, declaring "England breaks out of coma". In that three months, England have slumped to the first 5-0 Ashes Test whitewash in 86 years and been humiliated by Australia three times in the one-day arena. "The accepted wisdom was that England had been so bad for so long that this physically and mentally deficient team would simply roll over, have no chance of playing in the finals and make a dash for the airport by the middle of next week," the Australian said. It said that before the match, many cricket fans disgruntled at the lack of competition had attempted to sell their tickets at a fraction of their face value and more than 5,000 failed to turn up to the sold out venue. But the Telegraph said the absent fans missed an England win that was nothing short of a miracle, noting the embattled side produced its second highest one-day total against Australia. "After a one-sided summer, the dramatic events at the SCG unfolded as if England and Australia had simply swapped shirts," it said. England even snatched a bonus point to keep alive its chances of securing a finals spot in the triangular series at the expense of New Zealand. However, the Sydney Morning Herald's Peter Fitzsimons said the win was too little too late after the huge expectations that preceded England's arrival to defend its stunning Ashes win of 2005. "Their sin is not merely losing, it is the way they have done it in such a wimpy way that you can barely credit this is much the same side that beat the Australians 18 months ago," he said. "Where is their grit, their fight, their "in-defeat-defiance", as ol' Winston so eloquently put it? Does anyone even remember an expression of anger out of them at the fact that they had only one win (against New Zealand) to show for 17 games before last night's SCG victory?" The Australian's Mike Coward offered a similar damning assessment of the touring England side. "It is passionless, utterly passionless," he said. "It has not only lost matches, it has lost respect. It is hard to think of any team in any sport that has failed quite as dismally as this and the long-term consequences may be very severe indeed."