Monday 20 July 2009

The hoodoo is laid to rest

Stephen Fry put it best, as he so often does - 'Joy. Bliss. Divinity. Excellence. Radiant effulgence. Rapture. Content. Yards and yards of fine, fresh, fragrant happiness. All is good.' (http://twitter.com/stephenfry)

The whole 'no win since 1934 thing' seems to have been repeated every few minutes since about January, but it is so extraordinary that it is worth repeating once more. Before this match, Australia had lost only one of their last 27 tests against England at Lord's, in 1934, and none of the last 18.

I would bet a large amount of money that this is a sequence unheard of in any other top-level sport. Why did it happen? I don't know. No-one knows. The most popular theory was that the unique atmosphere of Lord's did something to the Aussies, made them want to perform that little bit better.

However, most of the Australian side in this match were playing in their first Ashes series, and it didn't do much to help them. It doesn't matter now. The hoodoo has finally been laid to rest, and it feels bloody fantastic.

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