Shades of Headingley

I've tried my best from here near Paris to follow the Ashes - catching a session or two on tv in an English pub and listening to TMS on internet radio. This morning, day 4, I did not miss a delivery on TMS. It was mesmerizing. What a day for both England and Australia.

Here's the scorecard: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/fds/hi/statistics/cricket/scorecards/2005/8/11829/html/scorecard.stm

The whole Australian summer cricket tour has been full of dramatic twists and turns, and that goes double for the second test at Edgbaston. This was a case of a team that had to win facing a team that refused to lose. And it was a bruiser, too. Man of the Match Flintoff batted and bowled with an injured left shoulder, and Brett Lee's defiant 43 not out was made even more dramatic by the damage an adrenaline-pumped Flintoff inflicted on his left hand. Not sure if a bone actually broke, but Lee got a taste of the bruising he's accustomed to dishing out.

I can't envision a more dramatic test match, and I'm sure this one will be remembered for a long time. Besides this dramatic day 4 finale, there was the McGrath injury and boundaries galore on day 1, Langer's innings on day 2, and day 3 included another Shane Warne ball-of-the-century candidate (when he took Strauss's off stump with a ball that pitched far on the leg side at a good length) and heroics with ball and bat by the injured Flintoff. For two decades England's hero of the Ashes was Ian Botham, for his performance at Headingley in 1981, but now a new chapter has been written.

Sometimes one might get the impression that people go to cricket matches in England just to drink beer, dress up in costumes, get a tan, etc. But I think the main reason is that people hope they might witness something like what the lucky spectators at Edgbaston witnessed this week.