The long and the short of it

The Ashes whitewash was duly completed with little resistance from England. That was the long and short of it. Eighty-five years after Warwick Armstrong led Australia to a comprehensive five-nil victory, Ricky Ponting achieved the same feat.

The long and the short, the "Big Ship" and the "Little Battler", Armstrong and Ponting, are as different as Australia and England in character but they share the distinction of being the only captains to complete a whitewash in an Ashes series. Armstrong was a huge man who battled the administrators with as much determination as his opponents, while Ponting is a diminutive cricketer with the arms of a blacksmith, who reserves his energy solely for making runs and dissecting opposing teams.

When Armstrong demolished England in 1920-21 they had an excuse; they were recovering from a devastating war. In 2006-07 England only have themselves to blame for the poor preparation and ludicrous selections but they were also overwhelmed by an extremely talented and focused side. By Sydney the difference between the two teams was so great it made you wonder how Australia ever conspired to lose in 2005.

England's Ashes plans were all based on the 2005 success while Australia had addressed their shortcomings in that series and moved on to bigger and better things. Therein lies England's major problem. They arrived in Brisbane with a complicated set of plans but despite things changing dramatically on the field their strategies were set in concrete and never altered.

This failing can only result from a captain who is relying too heavily on the coach's input and consequently doesn't react to the moods of game. Every time in the series when the match was in the balance [and that occurred in all Tests except Brisbane], Australia surged forward while England slipped back. Whereas in 2005 Flintoff the player was able to inspire his team to greater heights at the critical moments, Flintoff the captain was unable to lift his comrades when it mattered.

By the last Test England's mental state was in tatters and even the ultra-aggressive Kevin Pietersen, who played a sluggish innings full of mistimed and misplaced shots, had been brought to heel.

Australia achieved dominance with the simple plan of stifling the opposition by continuously bowling a good line and length. No colour-coded and complicated plans, just plain old-fashioned hard work combined with a bit of cricketing commonsense.

The sad part about this one-sided series is England are not without talent. With the proper preparation and a lot less complication of a simple game this could have been quite a competitive series. In the end though, despite all the hype and build up, the series would have finished as flat as an English beer if it hadn't been for the multiple Australian retirements and the emotion this brought to the MCG and SCG.

There is no doubt Australia will be a diminished side without Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath; 1001 Test wickets between them in the matches they played together is testament to their contribution to the team's incredible success rate. However, there is no resemblance between Australia's current situation and the one they faced when Dennis Lillee, Greg Chappell and Rod Marsh retired together.

Australia are better placed to fill the large gaps than they were back in 1983-84. Also, there is no dominant side around now but there was back then, with the West Indies reign continuing on until 1995-96. Australia will find it tougher to win now without Warne and McGrath but I don't see any team poised to take over the mantle of number one. Even worse, I don't see a side with the potential to wrest the crown from Australia in the near future.

Back in 1921 Armstrong's triumphant side went on to complete three more consecutive victories over England before their winning sequence ended at eight on the trot. Ponting's team is currently up to 12 successive victories with the record of 16 now within striking distance. This will be a difficult record to attain without Warne and McGrath but the most likely end to Ponting's winning sequence is the draw, the same as brought Armstrong's to an end - and that is the long and the short of it.