WE did, of course, win the Ashes in 1953 and 1954/55 (Hutton) and we slaughtered them in 1956, Laker's year. In my opinion the strongest England team of my lifetime, with almost two complete attacks of world class to call upon.
I remember the party that set sail in 1958/59 being described as the strongest ever to go to Australia - and we got hammered! There were circumstances. England under May were very defensive minded, and Wardle's invitation to tour was withdrawn after he had been sacked by Yorkshire.
The surprise, though, was Australia. This was the year of the fast chucker. Never mind Murali, these guys were blatantly throwing them down at 90+ and hitting people. They also had Alan Davidson, one of the great all-rounders now in his prime, as well as Benaud and a guy we'd never heard of, Norman O'Neill.
To a degree we were cheated out of the 58/59 Ashes, and the team went on to beat a very strong W Indies, away, the following winter. Trueman's finest series, probably.
This year, who knows? Come January we may be hailing James Vince as the best player in the world. I bet we're not, though. Australia have no Davidson, though; that is for sure. Mitchell Starc would be the nearest.
Incidentally, Tests in Australia were then of six 5-hour days. It was thought too hot to play for six hours, though I'm sure they bowled more balls in a day than we do, even so. Pre-war Tests in Oz had been 'played to a finish', however long it took; no draws, surely the purest form of cricket, but it led to some monumental slow scoring as the likes of Hammond ground out double centuries without taking the slightest risk.
