England's Ashes win gives Test Cricket a healthy future

England's 2-1 win over Australia in the 2009 Ashes was an achievment that not too many cricket observers would have predicted at the start of the summer.

England may have beaten the West Indies in May but the West Indies were a lack-lustre outfit led by Chris Gayle, a man who had openly said that he 'wouldn't be so sad if test cricket died out'.

Gayle is a huge fan of Twenty20 cricket and the riches and excitement that the game offers were brilliantly showcased this year in the IPL in South Africa. As a big-hitting batsman Gayle's game suits Twenty20 perfectly, so it is no surprise that he has taken to it.

In truth Gayle looked like someone who would rather have missed the plane than played a test series in England at the beginning of May.

To be fair to him, the weather was bad, the crowds were poor and for opponents of Test cricket's continuation, the series against the West Indies was the signal that the end was nigh for the five day format.

Test Cricket doomed?

Even Kevin Pietersen, the former England Captain appeared unsure that Test Cricket had a long term future. In an interview with The Times he said: "I’d be a fool to tell you now that Test cricket will be here in 10 years’ time because I don’t know now."

So a pretty bleak outlook then. Not so if we look at the evidence from this year's Ashes series. Tickets were in huge demand for each test, the series was extremely competitive and once again the series captivated the media and the nation.

Twenty20 is definitely an exciting sport to watch, but it just does not have the same twists and turns that Test Cricket provides. A five match series of five day games is really a different sport to Twenty20, and while One day cricket may well suffer a decline, the future of test cricket now looks healthy.

Competition is paramount

The Ashes became boring for many cricket fans over the years, quite simply because of Australia's dominance. Since 2005 we have seen England win back the urn for the first time in 18 years, only to then lose it again 5-0 in Australia, and then reclaim it again in 2009.

Competition is key to any sport's enduring popularity, and whether you are English (or Welsh for that matter) or Australian I am sure you would agree that the series' competitiveness is very important to its future.

The IPL has flooded the the world of Twenty20 with cash, and some players may well chose to end their test careers early to take advantage of these riches; but one only has to look at the reaction of the England team to see what winning the Ashes means to them.

Money is a fact of life in professional sport these days, but even in the over-spending, bloated world of Premiership football, I would guess that most of the players would trade a year's salary for back to back league titles.

New audience for cricket

One of the arguments against Test Cricket continuing is that spectators are more interested in the shorter form of the game, and Twenty20 has without doubt introduced cricket to people who had little interest in the sport before.

This is a good thing, but for fans of Test Cricket Twenty20 will never be able to equal the thrills, spills and tactics that a test match brings. In football terms, Twenty20 is a bit like a penalty shoot out compared to the World Cup tournament of Test Cricket.

For any English or Australian cricketer, winning the Ashes will be the pinnacle of their careers, and on the evidence of this series it looks like it will continue to be the case for many years to come.

As long as things stay this way the crowds will surely follow, and Test Cricket will continue to flourish as it always has. Long live Test Cricket!

Gordon Brown's position may soon become untenable

As more and more expenses claims continue to surface in the Daily Telegraph, British politics has never looked worse.

Many governments have been damaged by allegations of sleaze, John Major's for example in the 1990s, but today's scandal cuts deeper than rows over brown envelopes and affairs.

The problem for Gordon Brown right now, is that he has to be seen to be firmly in control of his party, but with each new allegation his influence seems to weaken.

Brown indecisive

Take the example of Hazel Blears, the MP for Salford. Brown called her actions "completely unacceptable" but then appeared to give her his full backing. Pardon the electorate for feeling confused over what he really thinks.

There are now rumours that Blears will be moved on in the next cabinet reshuffle, which would only make Brown's decision making process look even more confused. Many may well ask, if he can't control his own party, can he be expected to keep control of the country?

Of course one should add some balance here, this expenses scandal was not solely a result of Gordon Brown's mismanagement of the system, although one could argue that he (and others) only want to make changes now because the revelations have come out.

Parliament still in the dark ages

It is very easy to blame the Prime Minister for the problems, and ultimately in a self-regulating House of Commons, one could argue that the buck stops with him, but this is far too simplistic.

The fact is that much of what goes on in the Commons is well and truly past its sell-by date, and the expenses furore could just be the shot in the arm that politics in this country needs.

Sadly for Brown though, he has not really been able to seize the initiative, and instead the younger more articulate David Cameron looks to have come out on top. With an election only a year away (or sooner depending on who you talk to) the Labour party is in deep trouble.

Labour left dejected

It looks almost as if Labour have given up the ghost, resigned to their fate of being the opposition party after the next election; but does it really have to be this way? There could just be a twist in the tail.

The most popular theory doing the rounds at the moment is the idea of Alan Johnson the Health Secretary, putting himself forward to be leader. Johnson would be a popular choice, and he could just give Labour a much needed boost in the polls going into an election.

Significantly, Johnson put himself well and truly in the shop window this week, by talking up political reform and suggesting perhaps the use of Proportional Representation.

Johnson wrote in the Times "we need to overhaul the engine, not just clean the upholstery," but does he mean removing Gordon Brown as leader? He of course denies this but for many, a Johnson led Labour party would be a welcome relief from the burden of Gordon.

So now we can sit back and await the next round of expenses revelations. Only this morning there was the news that the Labour MP Frank Cook allegedly claimed for a £5 church donation, a kind gesture indeed, I am sure you will agree.

Brown's political raft may have been set adrift by Labour, and it looks like his party would rather puncture it than throw him a lifeline, but have they got the guts to do it? Only time will tell, but if the Prime Minister does sink, expect to see some political careers go down with him.

(photo courtesy of telegraph.co.uk)