Nicholas Craig column

Sep 16 2005 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal

What a series. The cricket has been sensational, the result fantastic, and the effects of England's success on young and old, business and media, surprising.

As a lifelong cricket fan, I agree with commentators that for sheer excitement, this Test series was the best of them all.

It had seven million of us on the edge of our seats during Pietersen's innings.

Over five days we all stayed with the twists and turns of the play and the weather.

Our pent-up passion was eventually let loose in a rousing version of Jerusalem sung by many thousands in a packed Trafalgar Square and millions more in our living rooms.

The sudden mass popularity of cricket has led to instant forecasts that it is the new football, which it is not.

It is, however, assuming the importance it had when I was younger, when winter meant rugby and football, and summer focused on cricket, with a burst of tennis.

Cricket has lost its central position in many schools and as a symbolically British pastime.

As a sport it parallels so much of what we value about being British.

The sportsmanship, patience, determination, antiquated oddness and respect for rules are, taken together, uniquely British.

It is heartening to see so many youngsters setting up makeshift stumps to emulate their heroes. Encouraging them helps to strengthen those traditions that are inseparable from cricket, and notably absent from other sports.

The sporting approach of both teams in the final is worthy of note. The Australians took defeat well, praising England, and the crowd cheered Shane Warne as best Australian player.

The media battle for terrestrial coverage of cricket is hotting up. The commercial potential of cricket has yet to be exploited fully, but you can be assured that will change.

When we won the Rugby World Cup two years ago, it brought strong support for local and national teams and brought new life to rugby in school. In the same way, the Ashes success is putting cricket back where it belongs, reclaiming it for future generations.