Atherton's Ashes: How England Won the 2009 Ashes

by Mike Atherton

A compelling and insightful insider's perspective on the thrilling 2009 Ashes series from former England Captain and Times columnist, Michael Atherton.

Genres: Sports

245 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2009

Reviews

[Richard Olney · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Mr Atherton admits in the introduction this book is a collection of his writings for The Times newspaper with some extra joining bits that add to the story but didn't fit the newspaper's schedule. As such it's not a narrative history so much as a collection of pieces designed to be read on the bus, on the train, while waiting for the kettle to boil, whatever ways people consumed newspapers in 2009. In my opinion it's none the worse for that although the natural tendency to try to grab the newspaper reader by telling them what might happen in the day to come before reporting on what happened in the day being reported on did take a while to get used to. And get used to it i did.

The 2009 Ashes series, coming so soon after the 2005 series which so much to attract interest in the UK game of Cricket by the drama and excitement of the play (and England winning!) was almost certain to be a let down. With hindsight, that 2005 series may well have caused the newly people attracted to the game to expect Cricket to be like that all the time, if only it were! The 2009 series was much more how test cricket has always been, in general teams are well matched and it's the team who seize the opportunities, win the big moments if you like that usually win and that's what seems to have happened in 2009. At times Australia played much better than England, in other instances Australia were just as poor. In the big moments, unusually the two matches in London, England won the big moments.

Reading this book again, possibly over ten years since i first did, the text brought back strong memories and forgotten moments. Mike Atherton also writes well on Cricket, a game he has lived and worked in for perhaps his entire working life though as a writer he retains a detachment from it which i have always liked.

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book put together from Mike Atherton’s columns in the The Times, for whom he is Chief Cricket correspondent. An articulate and knowledgeable writer, this book brought back memories of an entrancing summer of cricket.

[Michael Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't read much on sport but was intrigued with the careful craft of former England skipper Mike Atherton's take on the 2009 Ashes series.

The book brings together his thoughts and observations on each of the five matches: the build up to each game, the balance of play and key moments. What is especially good is both teams were fairly equally balanced, so it came down to confidence and the ability to take the game away from the other team. Atherton showed how the series progressed - going back and forth - with no team dominant - until the final match at the Oval.

It was billed as Flintoff's Ashes, and he played a part - more as a talisman than a match-winner - for he was playing with an injury and could not give everything. Indeed, the tow top players in the England team - Peterson and Flintoff were both injured and many of the other players were off form or in active. The players that won the Ashes were the new boys such as Trott, Broad and Swann. Prior also performed well, and new captain Andrew Strauss was a man with growth stature who maintained his form with the bat.

This is book that I will look forward to re-reading.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This took me two days to polish off - the quickest read of 2012. It's a compilation of Mike Atherton's columns as the cricket writer for The Times. I read a few of them at the time, but I'm glad they have been put together in a collection as it really works. Athers writing here is less personal and feels more conscious of the lineage of cricket writers like Cardus, Martin-Jenkins and Gideon Haigh, but Atherton proves conclusively that he is fit to rank in that company. He's pretty fearless on various subjects, too: Freddie Flintoff and the new breed of money-orientated, agent-directed cricketers, and the failure of the ECB to prevent Flintoff and Pietersen from playing the IRB matches that jeopardised their Ashes participation. There are interesting aspects to his perspective - he often seems to prefer the Aussie way to that of his countrymen.

And he's candid on the common-sense stuff: Jonathan Trott's call-up is for him an indicator of the weakness of the English system. I don't remember anyone else at the time being forthcoming with this obvious point.

Most of all it's an excellent account of what was a strange Ashes series.