The Ashes --The English go one up in the Ashes and that is so exciting ..

All Cricket fans will be excited by what England has done … The Ashes series is not overyet but the English have created the buzz and in line with my earlier blog on what I thought about series. It is very exciting when what you anticipate happens and so ……I am excited !!

England did a neat job. It was clear that from the drawn result of the first test , the Aussie defeat was coming for sure very quickly.

England bounced back with a strong batting display in the second innings of the first test to frustrate the Aussies and earn a creditable draw. Aussies in their prime would have overrun them after taking a sizable lead . But not to be.. With Alastair Cook in great form ( close to 450 runs in just three innings so far ) and with Trott becoming the Rahul Dravid "Wall" equivalent for England , Strauss getting a hundred , England set themselves well to draw the first test.

Some thoughts on Cook - I wonder what Strauss, the England captain must be thinking of what he said on Cook in the previous home series. Strauss said he had hopeless confidence on his batting partner Cook and had no trust on Cook's batting skills. Cook has delivered in style so far. Strauss must be eating his own words !! Also , you should know that Cook has a record for himself. At age of 26 , he has notched up 15 centuries which is matched only by the legendary Sir Don Bradman and our own Sachin. How man would place Cook in that class of Bradman and Sachin-- He has the figures to challenge them !!

The Aussies were average in all parts of the game in the second test. They were out bowled on the first day on a pitch that held no frills . Ponting failed in both innings ,the batting was brittle and England , I thought smelt victory on day one itself.

With strong batting display , added by Pietersen's return to form with a double century , England had time and runs on the board to finish the Aussies off to take the lead. The Aussie body language was poor on the field ( you have not seen this for a long time ), no strategy for any of the English batsmen ( this was a Aussie strength - they had a plan for every batsmen ) and at the Adelaide Oval , runs come in fast even though you do not notice it . Aussies for sure did not notice England piling up the runs .England piled it on , declared at the right time and turned in easy winners on day five with all of their bowlers smiling for the wickets they took .

Aussie problems are compounded . They have no bench strength . They have to turn this around and I think it will be a miracle if they do it . Ricky Ponting -- What has he to offer ? At this point to me "nothing"- Its time to sign of Ricky . Simon Katich is injured and out of the series and Australia's potential replacement is Phil Hughes .. England already have a plan for him !! Is'nt that wonderful ?

England are on top and rightfully so , all the Englishmen are buoyant , revived and the Barmy Army is getting its due reward for its patient support of the English team--

Well Done England

Australia needs to rebuild and it is going to take time and to me the Ashes belongs to England .