Contingents of the Europa League Sevilla continued to weave their magic on Wednesday, defeating AS Roma 4-1 on penalties to win the title for a record-extending seventh time and give Roma manager Jose Mourinho his first loss in six European finals.
Former fast bowler of the England cricket team, Steve Harmison, has hinted that a few senior players in the team did not contribute to the team spirit in the late 90s and early 2000s, but all that changed during the Ashes series of the year 2005, which they won by 2-1. While responding to the former pacer of Australia Jason Gillespie’s assessment that he had noticed a big change in the England team during the 2005 Ashes, Harmison, who was part of the team at that time, i.e., in 2005, said that “the difference between that and 2003, 2001, 1999, 1997, was that in 2005 we were a team.”
Gillespie had suggested that he had never seen such camaraderie in the England team during previous series between the two teams, as he said, “I noticed a big difference in the England side in the ’05 Ashes… we’d never felt that as an Australian side before.”
He further added, “England would normally go out in dribs or drabs going onto the field… but this time it was really noticeable that as soon as the umpires walked out there, Captain of Team England Michael Vaughan was straight out there, everyone was straight out there, quick chat, and then they would literally run to their fielding positions, the bowler would run and hand his cap to the umpire, and before our batters were halfway onto the ground, the whole England team was set up ready to play, ready to rock.”
In response to this, Harmison said that “we’d grown up as a team, we played as a team, and we behaved off the field like a team in 2005. In 1997, 2001, and 2003/04, you had a lot of selfish characters playing for England.
He further added that, “Some great cricketers, don’t get me wrong… but when you look at — and I’ve got no problem saying this — the likes of Nasser, Athers, Thorpey, Corkey, Darren Gough, and Andy Caddock, there was a group of individuals playing all together as a team where you look at 2005, we were a team.”
