Ashes Flashbacks #1: 1989
History is the present. That’s why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth. – E.L. Doctrove
England have suffered so many heavy defeats to Australia in the last 20 years that the weight of this history influences our view of the present. We almost expect to lose, feeling that the cycle cannot be broken. After 2005, we could have expected this to change, had not Australia’s revenge been so brutal and complete.
Therefore, I have decided to take a look back through my memories of recent history and identify the reasons why we should adopt a more positive view. Australia are not invincible. They do not have us beaten before the contest begins except in our minds and our memories. The aim of this series of Ashes Flashbacks is to add context to debunk the myth and build some positive reasons why the Ashes can be regained.
The History
England in 1989 were strong favourites to retain the Ashes at home. Australia had been uninspiring in the previous few years, and Allan Border was attempting to blend a new team together. With home advantage, it was expected to be England all the way.
Australia regained the Ashes with a 4-0 victory, one so complete that the Wisden report for the series states that
But for loss of playing time through rain and bad light there [6th Test @ The Oval], and in the Third Test at Edgbaston, Australia’s four-love winning margin might easily have been six-love; and with a single reservation, many of those who saw every Test would have considered they deserved it. It had been a long time since the development of a series – any series – had been so much at variance with general prediction
- Image via Wikipedia
My personal memories of the series are limited to images of Steve Waugh chewing gum, batting without a helmet and happily flaying bowlers who had no more idea of how to engineer the fall of his wicket than medical science has of curing the common cold.
Steve Waugh in 1989 was a cricketer of unfulfilled potential. In 26 test matches he had yet to make a century, and averaged a little over 30. By the end of that years Ashes series, he had improved his average to over 40, and had scored 506 runs in 8 innings with an average of 126.50. Yet, he was not even the player of the series for Australia – that award went to Terry Alderman, who took 41 wickets (England’s leading wicket taker was Neil Foster with 12). Both Dean Jones, with 566, and Mark Taylor, with an incredible 839, scored more runs than Waugh.
England’s wicket tally for each match was 10, 14, 12, 11, 6 and 14 respectively. Australia’s outscored England by 3,070 to 1,758 runs on 1st innings. Terry Alderman took 5 wickets on six occasions, whilst the best bowling for England in the entire series was Angus Fraser’s 4-63 in the 3rd Test.
Behind the history
England were ravaged by injuries and loss of confidence, and used twenty nine different players during the six match series. The loss of players to the rebel tour of South Africa also contributed to this.
1989 proved to be the hottest summer since 1976. This helped the Aussies feel at home, and made for conditions
which at times not only encouraged the illusion they were playing in Adelaide or Perth but also provided constant match-play (Wisden 1990)
A muddled selection policy was perhaps the biggest culprit. David Gower as captain was not chairman of selectors Ted Dexter’s first choice – controversies counted against Mike Gatting. Chris Broad, who had had the measure of the Australian bowlers in the previous series, was dropped after just two matches, and no bowler played in more than three matches in that series. This quote is taken from the Wisden report for the 6th Test:
Dexter himself amazed a defeat-saddened nation by insisting, during his post-match oratory, “I am not aware of any mistakes I’ve made”.
The poor English leadership could not have contrasted more highly with their Australian counterparts Allan Border and Bob Simpson.
As much as the Australians were better than expected, and England were unlucky, England played into their hands and were greatly responsible for their own demise. Of course, none of these facts are included in my own memories of the series.
Lessons Learned
- Select the right captain – David Gower had his successes as captain, but was not pro-active under pressure, allowing Australia to remain dominant. Andrew Strauss is still learning on the job, but with the right support will prove a good captain.
- Consistency of selection – 29 players in six tests almost guarantees failure, but this was not unusual at the time for England. With central contracts now in place, we do not need to resort to plucking untried players from the counties. Last summers selection of Darren Pattinson is further, recent proof of the disruptive nature of inconsistent selection.
- Injuries – In 1989, players were selected for their counties between test matches. Central contracts allow England to protect their players somewhat from injury.
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