It was a blustery day. The crowd was coming in droves, and both England and Australia knew they needed to put on a good show. As always the BABC and the Oz Chamber were out in force.

Skipper for England, Stuart Read, was keen to get out there and flip the coin, knowing full well his strategy would be to put the Aussies into bat, thus keeping them away from the beer for the second session. Something that was worked against the English in years past.

He was successful, and immediately demanded they “put them on then”. Little did we know that skipper Paul Armbruster for the Aussies was comfortable in his skin…knowing he had a couple of rather tasty middle order batsmen waiting to wield the willow.

England set about and good bowling by Alex Cooper and Jamie O’Sullivan, and the rest of the staff kept the initial in check. But then John Leek and Andrew Sobol came together, and it was as if they had one mind – taking down the English bowlers.

At the end of their 40, Australia had amassed
252-7…with John Leek 106, Andrew Sobol 74.

England felt they had allowed 30 more runs than they should have, but with their eyes focused they set about what was a very achievable target. It would need sharp concentration, and as skipper Read saw 2 of his players immediately heading to the England tent for a Pimm’s cup or two he became worried (what can I say… I like them!).

England worked hard at the beginning, Matt Biant looking in solid form. Torbin Rankine joined him, but Matt was quickly dispatched in the teens. Torbin and skipper Read started to put a nice partnership together, but shortly after the break Torbin was a little late on one, and was caught. Another opportunity gone missing. Read continued his work, but he too was fallen at 46. From that point the run rate increased signficantlty, and soon it became a conclusion that England would come in second. Some stirring bowling by Jim”The professor” Pittmanand Andrew Sobol were the pick of the Aussie bowlers

209-9 at the end of 40.

Australia were victorious…and we are loaning them the ashes for a year!

By Nick Lynam

Clashes For The Ashes 2015 from 20/20 Productions Inc. on Vimeo.