Nothing extraordinary is accomplished without discipline. Discipline is focus, the exclusion of factors irrelated to a goal, the honing in on the factors needed to reach the goal in your sights, the dedication to the practices needed to near or reach the targeted goal or goals.
Discipline and audacity together have put the English team in a position where they can confront the world champions. Australians are not playing bad, instead the game of English team has been improved significantly. Before starting Ashes 2005 it was said, Australians will win the series by 3-1 as the performance of England seems to be good this time. This is the disciplined approach of English men, which broke all anticipations and made this serious a historical triumph for England. Australia, the same team, with same strength and same ability are striving this time. This shows the growing competition in international cricket. In typical sidhuism, “sher budha bhi ho jaye to sher, sher hi rahta hai”. No one can doubt the caliber of Australian team, but the battle is not easy this time. If you remember the 4th test, the English team had to make 30 runs and they had 6 wickets is hand, but still they were struggling for each run. This illustrates, why Australians are called champion.
Key Players
Andrew Flintoff: The so-called Ian Botham of current English team has the stamina to confront any challenge and he has shown his caliber in this Ashes. The all-round performance given by him has set a new standard for English team and it acts as the inspiration for other teammates to come forward and show their calibers as well. Nothing great is ever achieved without enthusiasm, and the kind of enthusiasm Flintoff has shown makes him a great authentic warrior.
Michel Vaughan : Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked, leadership is defined by results not attributes. The results of on-going Ashes state everything about the leadership quality of Vaughan. He leads by example; he encouraged his teammates for a sturdy clash and inspired them by his own performance. The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been and this task is well done by Michel Vaughan.
Ricky Ponting : Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself. Ricky Ponting does exactly that, he leads himself and proves the team that he is actual leader and his teammates should follow him. If you remember the 3rd match, he was the one who has saved the match for Australia. It was his outstanding inning, which could boost the last pair to survive till last.
Shane Warne: World Record holder bowler, who is most dangerous for English batting order, is a threat for every batsman in English team. He has ability to turn any match any time. He has magic to spin the ball on a plane surface as well. The last match could turn the destiny of Australia if he could manage to have fun with his magic.
It doesn’t matter, whatever the results would be, but the charm and the interest in cricket is surely up by this Ashes. If you want to see the performance of a player, playing under a huge pressure, a captain striving to maintain the dignity of his team, a team eager to challenge world champions, Ashes 2005 shows each of these circumstances. English team is playing to come out of their consecutive Ashes defeats and prove themselves, while Australians are struggling to maintain their status. This battle of stature makes this serious memorable and appealing.
The results are yet to come, last match is still left but the blaze is on. England could engrave some golden historical moments, while Australians could maintain their prestige by wining the last clash. I wish all the best to both teams and hope the last match would also present the same excitement.
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