The beginning of the end

Hurray millions of cricket fans around the world and billions from India are celebrating Australia's back to back losses against a rejuvenated England squad followed by another morale shattering loss to a not so great Somerset county side in today's game. While most experts would be quick to dismiss these as off days for the lean mean Aussie machine and not read too much into it, I think it is an indicator of what we can expect from the coming Ashes series. The Aussies have been a dominant force in the game of cricket be it the test arena or the one dayers for a long time now. I think they had started working on the Test cricket asect as far back as 1995 when they had a sole aim of being the first team to beat the West Indies in a test series since late 1970's finally fulfilling their dream in a home series chalking up a 3-2 victory. After their world cup loss at the hands of a relative newcomer like Sri lanka I think they did take take a long hard look at the shorter version of the game too. I think they were stung by the loss and knowing the Aussie spirit took it as a personal affront. I think they have been striving to improve in all possible department s of the game since then constantly chalking out new strategies injecting new blood in the team at the cost of experienced campaigners like Mark Taylor, mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Michael Bevan, Darenn Lehmann, Michael Slater, Andrew Bichel etc who can make it to any other international squad any day. Their team has been very competitive with players like Macgill, Brett Lee, Symonds fighting for a place in the Test squad while Langer in spite of all his attacking instincts just cant seems to make a dent in the one day squad.
I can go on with this eulogical quip on the Aussies but I thought they actually reached a level where they started to get too good for the game. They began to make most cricketing contests boring and one sided. Therefore though i admire the Aussies for the way they play the game I have been praying for someone to rival and question their dominance. And seeing the England team over the past 2 years I believe they might just have the goods to do just that. I think the Aussies have had a wonderful run but as they say 'All good things must come to an End' so hopefully the end of the Ashes will signal the beginning of the end just as the Aussies had put and end to the Windies dominance of the sport and sending them into a loooong downward spiral.
For all those who might be interested in catching highlights of the 20-20 match b/w Aussies and England I have a lil surprise courtesy Sky Sports. Enjoy.