| Cricket has been the favourite summer sport | | | | were among those awarded honours by no less a |
| of the English for as long as many of us can | | | | figure than the Queen herself. |
| remember. There are now signs, however, that | | | | |
| this traditional game may be in trouble. | | | | Everything looked rosy in the English |
| | | | cricketing garden. |
| In 2005 England took on Australia in one of | | | | |
| sport's oldest and finest competitions - the | | | | Two years on, many are beginning to ask what |
| battle for the cricketing Ashes. Australia | | | | has subsequently gone wrong. A number of key |
| were the leading team in Test Match cricket | | | | figures from the Ashes success has been |
| and had been for more than a decade. England, | | | | struck by injuries, while the beginning of |
| by contrast, were only just in the process of | | | | 2007 saw the Australians win the return |
| bouncing back after years in the doldrums. | | | | series by a mammoth 5-0 margin. |
| | | | |
| Few expected what was about to happen next: | | | | As things went from bad to worse, the England |
| England competed against the Australians, | | | | team failed at the cricket World Cup and saw |
| producing one of the greatest Test series in | | | | their coach sacked. It's been noticeable that |
| living memory. By the end of the series, | | | | the glow that followed the successes of two |
| England had regained the Ashes. | | | | years ago has faded - kids aren't out on the |
| | | | parks playing cricket in the same numbers. |
| Suddenly many of the top England cricketers | | | | |
| were household names, known to even those | | | | English cricket stands at a crossroads. Many |
| with no interest in the game. Andrew | | | | are asking whether it will re-establish |
| Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen and Michael Vaughan | | | | itself, or simply fade from the limelight. |