The Edge (2019) - full transcript
Between 2009 and 2013, the England Test cricket team rose from the depths of the rankings to become the first and only English side to reach world number one (since ICC records began). The ...
HE PANTS
Forget what you think you know.
That this is just a game.
No. It's a due! between the mind and time.
Time for life to happen.
Yeah!
Time for cracks to widen.
It's brutal.
CROWD CHEERS
- TOBY JONES: Intense.
A judgement of your guts.
Exposing your demons.
It's about having all the time in the world
until the moment it matters.
Then you've got half a second.
Too late.
So what can I tell you?
CHILDREN CHEER
I wasn't out and I ain't going out!
Test cricket is a way of life in Australia...
CROWD CHEERS
A religion in Asia...
INDISTINCT CHATTER
It's in the soul of the Caribbean.
A new world record holder...
is Brian Charles Lara.
And centuries ago...
This game called cricket
deep in the hearts of those who love it.
...it was born in a field in England.
What is it about this unobtrusive game?
What is its magic...
that makes men sit and watch and dream
of wistful yearnings never quite fulfilled?
The game travelled through class...
across borders...
and left every former colony
wanting a huge piece
of the England team.
CROWD CHEERS
In 2009, that England team was in pieces.
Bottom of the world.
Coach sacked.
Captain sacked.
Kevin, can you just clarify?
Did you resign or were you sacked?
Have you got a message for your fans?
You gonna continue to play for England?
Do you regret what's happened, Kevin?
So began a sweat-fuelled...
tear-soaked. . .
When are we going home?
TOBY JONES
. . . life-changing climb...
CROWD CHEERS
...taking English cricket and its players
to a place they'd never been.
How much would you give to be the best?
And, oh, what a ripper!
It's a team game.
But out there...
you're on your own.
I remember the call.
The captain and the coach
had both been sacked
and English cricket was in the news
for the wrong reasons.
"Would you be interested
in doing it if we asked?"
That took me like two milliseconds
to consider it
and then realise...
this is a chance of a lifetime.
What's this for?
Our little tour video.
Tour video?
- Caribbean style.
Caribbean's not the worse place to go
if I'm honest, as a tourist.
How you getting on?
Peace.
We had a little bit more leeway as a side.
There was a lot more alcohol drunk
and a lot more good nights out.
CROWD CHEERS
"Smooth" by Santana:
# Give me a heart, make it real #
# Or else forget about it #
- Andrew Strauss!
- TRUMPET TOOTS
I've got these ideas in my head about
what the team needed to do to improve.
That all sounds great on paper
but then you get to the first test match
in Jamaica.
CROWD CHEERS
I sort of used
the analogy of when you're sick.
Things not right in your body...
and then you throw up.
That sorted that one out in a hurry.
What happened out there?
CRICKETERS CHEER
And we looked horrendous.
Fucks sake!
Bowled him.
The West Indies bowling attack
led by Jerome Taylor
smashed through the England line up.
Get in!
Just threw them out for 51.
Yes, 51!
Got him. Yes!
Ball back onto the stumps,
that's it, the West Indies have won.
It can't get any worse than that.
That test match was
our massive great pile of vomit.
We batted very, very poorly today
and, uh... we paid the price.
And the West Indies bowled brilliantly.
There is a lot of work still to be done.
I think it needs to be done in the head.
They're mentally weak
in these tough situations.
What I suggest to whoever
the England think-tank is at the moment
they tow it out the harbour here
and sink it in the deepest channel
because it's ridiculous,
absolutely ridiculous.
This was a watershed moment.
Right lads,
we're not all that good, actually.
So let's stop pretending we are.
Things needed to change.
We needed a plan.
MACHINE BEEP
- AUTOMATED VOICE: Eleven, two.
It's pretty ugly.
Alright, focus.
HE LAUGHS
He's the scariest bloke you've ever met.
He's just got this intensity about him.
As if he's looking into your soul.
Andy Flower was quite
intimidating as a bloke and as a coach.
You didn't wanna cross him,
you didn't wanna mess with him.
Andy Flower had been a world class player.
The best to ever emerge from Zimbabwe.
A fierce competitor...
and off the pitch, a principled rebel.
Flower used his position
to protest against Robert Mugabe
and the death of democracy in his country.
The stand threatened his career,
even his life.
But Flower did it anyway...
and ended up exiled to England.
You're gonna need these skills
that you're showing right here
to build innings in India.
But if you do this sort of stuff,
like you're doing it, you'll be fine.
You'll be absolutely fine...
and you use your brain.
Even now if I pick up my mobile
and his name comes up on there.
Oh, shit, what have I done now?
Hope you're not gonna need that in India.
My first impression of Andy...
loose cannon.
I didn't really know him
from a bar of soap, to be honest.
We were having this chat and he like,
he punched me.
Like straight there.
HE CHUCKLES
So I just went...
HE LAUGHS
Fuck off mate, why are you giving it?
He was just like, "ya, I like you, ya."
Anyone else thinking this is weird?
We got in a room with the whole squad.
It was quite a dangerous
sort of meeting to hold.
Thankfully it went well,
and when I say "well", it was...
distinctly uncomfortable.
"I've got a problem with
the way you practise.
The amount you're drinking.
Some of the shots you play under pressure."
Some people were squirming in their seats.
Some people were looking at me
as if they didn't like me very much.
For me, it was the moment Andy Flower
announced himself as England coach.
Do you just want to hang around
and be number seven in the world?
Or do you actually want
to do something about it
and set some pretty challenging goals?
We're gonna start again.
And we're gonna start again like this.
It's gonna take two years.
Six times round the world.
These are the matches we have to win.
The target...
to be first England team
to reach number one in the world.
I remember looking around the room
and everyone's sort of, "Is he for real?"
If you don't want to buy into this
if you don't want to give to the team
for this amount of time
then walk out the room now.
We could do something
that no one's done before.
We wanted to be the best England team ever.
I want you guys to move in this direction
and I want you to come with me.
You know what you've got to do.
England versus Australia. The Ashes.
What began in 1882 as a rebel howl
against colonial masters
became a raging fire...
poured into a three inch urn.
Its an opera.
CROWD AND CRICKETERS CHEER
Glory, anger, emotion and elation.
Think, "A Fistful of Dollars".
Think “Rumble in the Jungle“.
This will be a total annihilation.
CRICKETERS CHEER
- COMMENTATOR: Bowled him!
How about that?
Australia would storm the castle
England would roar back through the gate.
Long hair, long limbs and rock stars.
Then despite Ian Botham's miracles
of the '80's
and a Freddie Flintoff brief new dawn
of 2005...
This England team
now catapulted to pop group status.
...it had all been Australia.
Dominant.
Remorseless.
Not who you want to be playing
when you're feeling a bit fragile.
After '05 we got carried away.
There was no forward thinking.
It was all, let's all give ourselves a medal,
pat ourselves on the back
and happy days. And what have we done
since then? Nothing.
OK, talking about the 'O5 series
you just have to remind them
who's holding the urn at the moment
and then they, sort of...
they quieten up a little bit.
Australia were next.
They were number one in the world
and had Ponting as captain.
Brilliant cricketer.
Is 95 alright?
Just tough.
CROWD GASPS
Never say "die".
My first experience of Ponting,
just hit one into the ground.
The ball's bounced up and smacked him
right in the mouth.
I was like, oh, are you OK?
And he just spat this mouthful of blood out.
And just went, "Fuck off."
He just wanted to know I was in a battle.
A lot of us have learned
from our mistakes of 2005.
I can guarantee that they'll be facing
a stiffer opposition
than the West Indies when we arrive.
We knew we had to play exceptionally well.
And I think we also knew
we were vulnerable.
The Cardiff match was a massive test.
I'm known as a left arm spinner.
The first Sikh to represent England...
who loves the game,
plays with enthusiasm.
CRICKETERS CHEER
- COMMENTATOR: Knocked them over.
Not a great fielder...
Gets a short one.
Oh, it's put it down, has he Monty!
And batting probably goes
into that same category.
But that day...
I don't know what happened.
CLOCK TICKS
Time is a dimension of the physical universe.
Where events happen
in irreversible succession.
When pressure comes into play,
time gets distorted.
Outplayed in Cardiff,
England were walking on the wire.
Oh, he's got it!
Collingwood is the man who's gone.
- CROWD CHEERS
Last day, last hour...
last man...
Monty Panesar.
Just remember
when I got caught I thought, "Oh".
"We got no hope now.
We've got Monty coming out to bat."
Now if England wanted a hero...
who have they got striding in?
Monty Panesar, number 11.
What a monumental job he has to do
alongside James Anderson.
So, I knew how bad he was.
HE LAUGHS
Monty Panesar...
Monty Panesar.
- CROWD CHEERS
I've never seen wider eyes
on a human being before.
He had to bat for about 50 minutes.
He would have been desperate
not to let anyone down.
Jimmy just said, "We'll eventually get out."
CRICKETERS CHEER
- COMMENTATOR: Will he take that appeal? No.
Once you're getting closer...
the more PFGSSUFG COFHGS on.
CLOCK TICKS
England must survive until 6:40.
CRICKETER GASPS
- CROWD GROANS
And you're looking at
your watch, you're looking at the clock.
Anything could happen here.
Peter Siddle...
He was rapid.
I said, "Jimmy, I think he's gonna hit me
on the chest here."
And he goes, "I don't care if you get hit,
but just do not edge it."
PETER SADDLE SCREAMS
But the word "resilient"
is so important in this game...
Oh!
...because you get knocked down a lot
and you have to get up again...
and fight.
CRICKETER YELLS
- CROWD CHEERS
We're down to minutes.
The brain's just constantly ticking.
The pressure's growing.
We can't afford
to go behind in this series.
Monty Panesar
and Jimmy Anderson hung on at the end.
Just through bloody-mindedness.
And those are the little edges
that we were looking for.
CROWD CHEERS
- COMMENTATOR: The test match is drawn.
An unbelievable effort from England's
last wicket pair.
Got phone calls from America,
from Canada, from Australia, from India.
You know, Indian people,
Sikh people felt proud about this.
They'd been outplayed for four days
in this test match.
I'm not sure if they'll look at it like a win
because they won't, they're not 1-0 up.
Imagine your wicket is your bank account.
Some batsmen flaunt their wealth.
He's gone for the...
They're fast and loose.
They get the drinks in.
They put it all on red
and buy the whole casino a steak dinner.
Other batsmen hear "howzat"...
and think, "Shit, how am I gonna pay
my mortgage?"
They're the spendthrifts.
Boycott was 121, not out
after batting for 14 hours.
They study the market.
They prize their wicket above all else.
But they are also the foundation
of any great team.
And in 2009, England needed granite.
Well, I first came to the UK in '96
with the South African under 15 side.
I had a British passport from birth.
My dad was born in London.
We had a sport shop.
Instead of doing my science homework,
I used to sand cricket bats.
I always had this burning desire
to play for England.
I watched Trott in the nets.
I thought, "This guy looks as if he's got
the best technique in our batting unit
and he's not in the side".
Trotty used to measure his socks
when they came back from the wash,
to check they were exactly the same size
which I always found a bit strange.
Once he's got all his kit on
he'll get his plain shirt
and sort of clean his inside of his box.
He'd stare into it
as if he's reading his future.
I quite miss that, actually.
I will never forget being in the hotel room
the day before my first test match.
My folks were coming along
with the rest of my family.
I just remember looking and thinking,
I've never seen them so nervous in my life.
I thought, "What is... what,
what's happened?"
It made me realise just how calm I was
in a pressurised situation.
I knew I could go out there and deliver.
Six weeks since Monty's last stand
and the sides couldn't be separated.
The Ashes would be decided
in South London.
Don't blink first.
Well it's one of the most eagerly
anticipated cricket matches for years.
The demand for tickets is massive.
Single file, no laughing,
no joking, no smiling.
MAN LAUGHS
- This is not an enjoyable event.
I got there not knowing
if I was gonna play.
I thought I was the one
that was gonna miss out.
A decision from the captain
and coach that changed my life.
In big Ashes series when the pressure's on,
you need to stand up and deliver.
Strauss came up to me at lunch, and said
"Charge in...
and try and make something happen."
CRICKETERS SHOUT
- CROWD APPLAUDS
There's definitely a real
inner belief with him.
THEY CHEER
When he starts on that roll...
he thinks he can get absolutely
anyone on the planet out.
CROWD CHEERS
- COMMENTATOR: That's it!
Every time I jogged,
the whole crowd would just start bouncing.
Oh, that's close,
that's very close. In fact it's out.
Brilliant bowling by Stuart Broad.
- CROWD CHEERS
A bit of swing, and he's taken it, yes.
Caught! This is incredible!
We just felt like
the whole ground was with us.
There was nothing that could stop us
just blowing Australia away that afternoon.
That's out. Don't worry about that.
CROWD CHEERS
Broad's got five for England.
So the first job was done.
Now we needed our batsman
to really push that advantage home.
To be ruthless.
When you make your debut for England
you're going into unchartered territory.
You could walk out...
and be terrified
and just never want to be there again.
You could walk out and feel like it's...
it's where you were meant to be.
CROWD CHEERS
I'd never played in front of a full house.
I was playing the best cricket I ever had.
And if I wasn't ready now...
I'd never be ready.
That gave me the feeling of being at peace,
going out there and being able to play.
I created a quiet sanctuary.
Concentration...
is an absence of irrelevant thought.
If you picture yourself...
creating a hardened shield around yourself
then nothing can penetrate it.
And it gave me that slight sort of edge.
HE SHOUTS
Test cricket
is the ultimate form of the game.
It's played over a protracted period of time.
And in that time...
you or your team will reveal themselves.
With your parents...
you want them to be proud.
Batting in that first test match...
That was the most fun I'd ever had
on a cricket field.
One of the most
outstanding performances you'll ever see.
The man is here to stay.
It was that moment that I thought,
"We're doing this now".
And the rest of that day is one
of my favourite days of my life.
Get... yes!
Yes! The Ashes belong to England once more.
We'd won despite no one
really thinking we were gonna win this.
In recent times, Ashes victories
have been few and far between.
It makes moments like this all the sweeter.
We've got a long way to go as a side.
We're still number five in the world.
So we've got a long way to go
to where we want to be.
The one thing that I wanted to do
was get my hands on the actual urn.
But as he picked it up, sort of looked high
in reverence at this Ashes trophy
and it had a little sticker on the bottom.
It said, "Lords shop, £4.95".
HE LAUGHS
I was absolutely devastated.
Right, we need to talk about Kevin.
When South Africa came out of apartheid
they needed fairer representation
in their largely white sports teams.
In cricket, they introduced a quota system
denting the aspirations of Kevin Pietersen.
Aged just 20, he already knew his own mind.
Next stop, England.
People have been
telling me, I'm South African
that I'm not good enough in South Africa,
why did I come here?
I've had all of that now
and it's pretty boring.
He signed for Nott/nghamshire
and fell out with the captain.
But on the field...
VVQVV!
Oh,
what a corker that shot was.
It's baseball!
K.P. was the most talented cricketer
I ever played with or against.
PLAYERS GRUNT
Gone for it. Six!
Going all the way.
Kev had this ability
to completely dictate...
the terms of the game.
He brought the X factor to the team.
You've only got a handful of players
in the history of the game
who can do something like that.
PIETERSEN SHOUTS
- CROWD CHEERS
I am who I am
in terms of shooting from the hip.
I bat like that.
Oh, what is that?
This was a guy who'd had the top job
had done amazing things on a cricket field
and you've got to give him
a lot of credit for this, actually.
It was very hard for him to come back
after being sacked as captain.
The captaincy debacle
was six months of sheer pain.
Up till then everything I'd touched
had turned to gold.
I'd never had a bad series.
I never had bad form.
STUMPS CLATTER
- THEY CHEER
So I got a hundred or I got nought.
It just went, bat under,
take your pads off and watch.
It's actually something
that Flower spoke to me about once.
Yeah, he said, "Do you not care
about your wicket?"
I mean, what... what can you do
when you get out?
I'm not gonna go there and throw my bats
and carry on like a fricking fool.
I'm gonna go there, sit there,
take my pads off, and go...
"What did you do?"
Uh, was it a good ball?
Oh, OK, good ball. Right.
Next question.
Hang on. There's a concrete post there.
Do it in the middle of the wooden post.
You ready? Tell me when.
Born ready.
Oh no. No.
HE LAUGHS
Touring before you've got
kids is the best thing you'll ever do.
She gone!
You spend with time
with some of your best mates
five star hotels, playing cricket
for your country. It's amazing.
Our mentality was, let's go and embrace it.
Let's go and enjoy it.
Let's go and have the time of our lives.
Tactical game going on here.
We had a lot of very, very good players
all arriving at the same time.
THEY CHEER
All at pretty much the same experience...
Yeah!
...and the best
opening partnership that England's had.
Catch it!
It's alive!
SHE LAUGHS
It was a case of
if Cook missed out, Strauss didn't.
If those two missed out,
then Trotty definitely didn't.
And then I came in and slapped a few.
You got through the top four
and then you still had
three high quality batsmen to come.
They called it "the engine room".
The engine room took over.
And Bell finds the gap.
The bowlers were performing
at world class levels.
Jimmy, fucking grumpy...
but so passionate about playing for England.
Stuart Broad,
the good-looking lad, unbelievable competitor
the kind of guy that you want
in your dressing room.
Concentrate, do not smile, Broad.
Do not smile.
HE LAUGHS
Graeme Swann,
the best spinner England's ever had.
Brilliant teammate
but he was also a pain in the arse.
HE LAUGHS
A thousand!
I did over a thousand!
Swanny's a bit like a Mars bar...
HE MAKES QUACKING NOISES
...you don't want one every day.
You know, you want to pace yourself
a little bit with Swanny.
HE LAUGHS
Then there was unsung heroes, Bresnan
Monty Panesar and Steven Finn.
They were the guys that had come in
and made a difference.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
Mate, that's done me proper.
HE LAUGHS
That camaraderie
that you can build up
it's not that easy to come across
and I think that's what makes a special team.
We had a lot of fun times.
MAN YELLS
- THEY LAUGH
But on the field, we were
a structured winning machine.
A year after their implosion in the Caribbean
England won a trophy...
in the smash and grab of the world's 20-20.
A huge endorsement of the master plan
to get to number one in the test rankings.
Next mission: end a 24-year wait.
There's so few England teams
that have won down in Australia.
It's a hard environment out there.
Incredibly tough conditions.
People talk about
the holy grail in cricket...
for us, that is it.
What do we need,
to be able to win out there?
It got sold to us as a pre-Ashes camp.
Bring your passport to the airport,
that's all we knew.
HE LAUGHS
The problem with Andy as a coach...
he is the most impossible man
to speak to on the phone
cos there are these awkward silences,
as he's gathering his thoughts.
Right...
We're leaving Gatwick at 9am.
I honestly thought we were going
to the Munich beer festival.
TIM BRESNAN
I haven't a clue, still to this day
where the hell we were.
It was like we were being bagged
and tagged
and just dropped off in the wilderness.
They were pretty blatantly special forces.
No first names, you're Mr Swann,
you're Mr Anderson.
Any swearing will be punished.
I've certainly got a reputation of being...
uncompromising and a bit
of a hard taskmaster.
I don't think that was entirely true,
to be honest.
ALL MOAN
Just...
brutal.
- Two, three, four, five!
- Come on!
They just unleashed hell.
- Come on lads!
- Eight, 9,10,11,12,13.
Three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Down and hold.
GRUNTING AND GROANING
We will all stay like this,
Mr Finn, until you push up.
Go on, Mr Finn.
- Come on, you can do it.
- Off your knees...
and don't muck around with the bricks.
Yeah. I still have nightmares
about the bricks.
ALL SHOUT
People were in pieces.
I've not done anything that has been
as challenging physically and mentally.
MEN SHOUT
- MAN: Keep going, Mr Prior, keep going.
I remember thinking
"What a fucking joke this is.
This is supposed
to make you a better cricket team?"
One, two...
Forty-four, forty-five.
There was a stage when I thought,
"Fuck, I wish I hadn't organised this."
Three and a half minutes, gents,
to get up and get out of bed.
Follow me, single file.
Why are we doing this?
What relation does this have to cricket?
I could see genuine hate in his eyes
when he was sleep deprived,
absolutely exhausted
he had mud and shit everywhere
and he looked at me
as if he genuinely hated me.
It was actually quite funny.
At one point, he just threw his bricks down
and was just like, "We are not animals."
HE LAUGHS
Like... yeah, he's got a point.
INDISTINCT SHOUTING
- Three...
- Three.
- Four...
- Four..
I've said it before, but I'll say it again.
I didn't need to go to Germany
and do push-ups to bat well in Australia.
Shared hardship brings people together.
It allows people to respect the effort
that their team member had put in
right there next to them on their shoulder.
One, two, one, two...
Ten...
eleven...
And it gave everyone
an understanding of the hard work
that would go into winning
an Ashes test series.
Whoa!
INDISTINCT SHOUTING
Come on, Mr McGuire, come on!
One of the punches in the ribs really hurt
so I went to the doctor who was there
and he was like,
"Yeah, I think you broke a rib."
Revealed the short cutters.
Revealed character.
Keep going Mr Pietersen.
INDISTINCT SHOUTING
- Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Andy was coming from the perspective of
you know, you'll be best of mates
if you get through this
and it'll bring us closer together,
which it massively did.
Lean forward, Bres,
it's all good, buddy.
Oh! Top work, Bres.
L-lee, heel
- Tl-IEY LAUGH
BRESNAN SCREAMS
He fell like a fucking boulder.
HE LAUGHS
The one moment that made it
all worthwhile for me was
we were all sitting round
a campfire one night...
absolutely exhausted.
People were just talking
about their life experience.
Players were saying, "My biggest concern is,
I just don't think I'm good enough."
I play for my family.
I'm so worried about letting them down.
What you're effectively doing is,
baring your soul.
I'm willing to let you hear this...
because you are my teammates.
And I know you'll protect me
and look after me
and you're not gonna use this against me.
Australia.
A land of fast cricket pitches,
relentless sun
and players genetically engineered
from the threads of the baggy green.
What began as a month-long boat trip,
became a slug fest of combat.
Australia got better, they had "the Don".
COMMENTATOR".
Don Bradley, pride of Australia.
England got meaner.
They bowled body line,
to hit them... in the body.
This was like throwing bacon into a bear pit.
Australia found two grizzlies,
Lillee and Thompson.
I'm trying to scare him
trying to probably hurt him
more than anything else.
It's the outback and you're gonna get bit.
Sledgehammered five nil
on their last trip
England needed something extra.
Someone who knew the terrain.
An insider.
Australia's number one sport is cricket.
A first visit to Australia,
it's not pleasant.
You're gonna sit on a boundary line,
you're gonna get abused.
It's a pretty ruthless place to play sport.
David, is New Zealand
a better country than Australia?
For the record, finally?
- No, no way.
But he was right up there
with the best tacticians
that I've ever worked with.
It's all about working the opposition out
and that's what he was brilliant at.
Go on, Kev.
You just knew
when you walked into that dressing room
that this team meant business,
they trained well
they partied well ,
and there was a togetherness.
England have got one really good spinner
at the moment, really good.
Monty's going really well for us.
ALL LAUGH
The momentum
of an Ashes series away from home...
if you don't start well,
it feels completely impossible.
The only thing that matters is
how you do on the pitch
in those first two test matches.
If you lose those first two, you're gone.
I remember sitting in the viewing area
first over an Ashes series,
I've got to go and watch it.
I was so desperate to do well.
Anyone can sit in a meeting and go,
"We've got to be more aggressive"
or "We've got to be more courageous".
Well, let's see it.
Yes, Hilfenhaus to Strauss, here we go.
Out, third ball!
Straight to Hussey in the gully.
Just the start Australia wanted.
I remember thinking "Fuck that, I'm not
watching any more balls this innings."
There was almost
an audible groan from everyone.
"Oh, God, is this gonna be
another one of those Ashes series'?"
But it wasn't.
There it is, with the big boundary.
Well played, Alistair Cook.
Push, push, push. Trott gets there.
It's an amazing scoreboard.
A number of different stories
are told
through a series.
Stories of inspiration.
Can he hit him? He can.
And Jonathon Trott's done
the job for England.
Success.
CHEERING
HE LAUGHS
- JAMES ANDERSON: Nailed it!
Dominance.
And Pietersen raises them.
His second test double century.
We've got a tear away!
THEY GIGGLE
And, oh, what a ripper! What a ripper!
Good morning!
The rivalries...
CROWD CHEERS
The calmness under pressure.
Whoa!
Fight that.
CROWD CHEERS
TRAFFIC NOISE
Yeah, certainly, I think that I
got better as the game went on.
Uh... I had the confidence.
He is the most boring player
I've ever played with.
Steven, Graeme Swann, ECB
will you be getting your ridiculous haircut
trimmed at any stage during this series?
No, I'm gonna keep my hat on, Graeme.
Thank you very much.
I see myself as fortunate
to be in that team
because those guys were all
established international cricketers
and I was just making my way.
The worst haircut.
What you doing?
SWANN LAUGHS MANIACALLY
It used to be so gorgeous and now,
of all our bowlers, he's in the bottom three.
What are you walking me down for?
THEY LAUGH
I was the leading
wicket taker after the three tests.
CROWD CHEERS
On Christmas day, I found out
that I was dropped for the game the next day
which fucking hurt
and I didn't really know how to take that.
I just remember locking myself in the toilet
and thinking, "What the fuck's happened?"
It was ruthless in that sense, you know.
Very clear from Strauss and Flower
what they wanted...
from you in the team.
Your role couldn't have been clearer.
But if you didn't deliver it,
you weren't gonna play...
which is horribly unfair because...
any other team in the world, he'd have
probably been first name on the team sheet.
This is the Melbourne cricket club.
The oldest club in Victoria,
the greatest sporting arena in Australia
and a cricket stadium
without parallel in the world.
It's an unbelievably immense stadium.
This great kind of citadel.
The boxing day test match
at the MCG was my dream.
That was the test match
I always wanted to play in.
It is the pinnacle of Australian sports.
It's their Wimbledon final,
it's their FA cup final.
It's their, everything in one.
So here we go, we're going to the top floor
of the top stand at the MCG
to do the intro. Jesus Christ!
HE LAUGHS
I hope you don't get vertigo.
Oh, my God!
The proud owner of double M,
numbers 27 and 28
this is your view of the MCG on Boxing Day.
And to be fair,
it's not the worst view going.
I'm not out of breath.
Andy sat me down and said
"Mate, you're playing, MCG."
I was like, "Yeah, go on, like, Ashes debut."
Boxing day and 96,000 people turned up.
This is always the moment.
And it's porn bashing day.
You are a wanker!
You are a wanker!
Fuck your mum!
INDISTINCT SWEARING
You are a wanker! You are a wanker!
This was our time.
We'll never get a better chance
than this ever.
Now, let's go and win.
The changing rooms are,
like, down in a dungeon.
You have to walk about 50 metres
just to get onto the field.
It's as close to a colosseum
as you're gonna get.
If you imagine the film, Gladiator,
where they're sat waiting
and the dust is almost coming down
and you're just thinking, "Right,
we're going out into this cauldron of fire."
You feel the air conditioning disappearing
and you just feel the heat
just start hitting you.
But also the noise.
You walk out
and you know you're going into
one of the most intimidating atmospheres
in world cricket.
CROWD NOISE
What a morning for cricket.
Melbourne at its best.
England one win away
from retaining the Ashes.
Anderson at the G.
Edged... and has that carried?
People still come up to me
and say they were there for that day.
Go on, there's time.
There's the first wicket.
It was a group effort.
The work, the sacrifice.
CROWD CHEERS
- COMMENTATOR: And that's gone.
The days in Bavaria.
The challenges of each other, of yourself.
Beauty! Absolute beauty.
It all comes out in that moment.
Growing up as a kid,
all I wanted to do was...
play cricket for England.
A bit of a geek and a bit goofy.
An easy target for bullies.
Oh, there's another one!
Australia in disarray!
When you turn at the end of your mark
you can't hear the noise.
I've visualised the moment.
You almost hold your breath.
When you find the edge...
then you hear the noise.
Oh, that's fallen and it's beaten him.
There's an edge.
Just one of the greatest days
I've ever played in, really.
Yeah, that's gone.
Australia did not make the three figures.
Australia, bowled out for 98.
It was
the most incredible session and a half
of cricket I've ever played.
That's cut and cut nicely.
The Aussies were shot to bits.
England, unbelievably dominant.
My most vivid moment of my England career
looking at this incredible stadium...
and just seats emptying.
Massive queues for the exit.
The Australians had had enough.
We'd won the test match on day one.
Couldn't really lose.
People put in a lot of hard work...
and heartache...
to win stuff for England.
I've got the ball right here.
Sometimes I let the kids play with it.
TEAM CHEERS
- COMMENTATOR: Oh, well, that's it.
Yes, that's it!
Up goes the finger and England
have retained the Ashes.
It's been 24 long years.
To do it there...
was pretty special.
Some of these moments are
"pinch yourself" moments.
Winning in Australia...
that emotion...
that's when it starts to hit.
That victory was...
the pinnacle.
INDISTINCT CHATTER AND LAUGHTER
INDISTINCT SINGING
Whoa!
Time to push on.
Underpinned by coach Flowers'
laser eyed focus
and the method of captain Strauss,
England were imposing.
That's it!
Beauty from Jimmy Anderson!
Ruthless.
Chance and taken, Swann.
Brilliant.
Oh, what a shot.
India were thrashed.
BRESNAN SHOUTS
They're giving him, he's out!
Tendulkar is out!
On an August day at the Oval...
history was made.
- Yeah!
- Oh, that's out.
Well done, England.
Number one in the world.
That was an incredible moment.
HE LAUGHS
Love being number one.
We set ourselves a two year time frame
to get to number one in the world
and 18 months' later
we'd gone from number seven to number one.
Well, when we finally reached
the number one position
a goal that we'd been striving for,
everyone felt pride
and satisfaction and contentment.
This was not like 2005.
We had young guys
and there was a feeling there that
the nucleus of that team
could stay together
for another three or four years.
CROWD CHEERS
But then, holding that mace
to say we're number one in the world...
it was a bit of an anti climax.
Is this it?
It was like...
"Fuck, now what?"
TOBY JONES". Simple,
if you want more of the buzz and the rush
to redefine greatness
get back out there
and do it all again.
Only better.
When we got to the world number one...
we knew that we were playing
unbelievable cricket.
We were still riding the crest of a wave.
We certainly achieved a lot
in a short period of time.
But away from the game,
I was incredibly unhappy.
My big issues were my schedule.
I was tired, I was mentally fatigued,
I was physically fatigued.
I can't play at my peak and I can't keep on
playing every single game
when I've played every single form of cricket
when I have to
train every single every day
you fall out of love with it.
There was a stage I was just thinking,
"Oh, I wish I could just get an injury
so I can just get six months out."
That's not a cool place to be,
what do you do?
As soon as you take your whites off,
your value and your brand just...
HE WHISTLES
...falls off the face of a cliff.
I just had to chew it up,
suck it up and just go...
Where do you go from here?
Kevin hadn't been happy for a while.
He was feeling a bit marginalised
in the team.
Some of his good mates
had passed through the team.
He wasn't happy.
He wanted to show that.
And he did show that.
At Headingly they had a test match.
I can't believe that I batted
the way that I batted.
I just saw the ball so big.
Oh, look at that shot, wallop!
I wanted to always do well
against South Africa.
I had a lot of mates in that environment.
Oh, dear.
That nearly took Dale Steyn's head off.
I was able to just park all my emotion
and my frustration to one side.
Oh, what a dismissive shot that is.
I've had my battles, mentally.
I had the ability to switch off...
and switch on.
Oh, my goodness me.
It was a brilliant angry innings
from Pietersen.
CROWD CHEERS
It's one of the best test innings
you'll ever see.
CROWD CHEERS
You run out of superlatives,
when you watch this man bat.
I was just so far up and then...
HE SIGHS.
...everything just seemed to come
tumbling down.
My lowest moment was just
breaking down emotionally
in the dressing room at that test match.
You could get him now.
- One minute 20, yeah?
- Outstanding buddy.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
Just crying in the dressing room.
Yeah, that was...
that was horrendous.
Well, Kevin Peterson's with me now.
Kevin, what inspired you
to play that amazing innings?
Um...
I was completely gone.
I mean completely gone
and why they let me do the press
at the end of that test match,
I mean, that was just like...
throw him out there.
HE LAUGHS
The politics is what
I have to deal with personally
and...
it's...
it's... it's tough.
Being me and playing for England is tough.
You could see how unhappy I was.
Everybody could see it.
I was dumbfounded
that we found ourselves in this situation.
While, at the same time, I was heading
into my last ever test match.
There was definitely stuff bubbling beneath
the surface in the team.
That started spilling over onto the surface.
The England team have insisted
that their morale won't be affected
by the dropping of star batsman,
Kevin Pietersen.
Pietersen was left out after he failed
to reveal the contents
of text messages he's alleged to have sent
rival South African players.
Text messages,
pretty much against our captain Strauss.
That's not OK.
"I did send,
what you might call provocative texts
to my close friends
in the South Africa team."
It is something that I regret.
I got Andrew Strauss involved
in a situation he shouldn't have got into.
There was a clash.
If anyone is undermining England cricket
then that's my job as England captain
to stand up to that.
Sometimes you have flawed genius.
He's been badly managed.
It's just been a bridge too far
for this England management.
It just felt like someone
was continually punching me in the stomach.
You think one
of your teammates would rather be
in the other dressing room.
It's like...
someone who's cheated on their wife,
to be honest.
Like, you just look at them
a bit differently, I guess.
He's actually a very loyal person.
He'll never really attack anyone until
he's attacked first or feels threatened.
Stuart Broad has issued a statement stressing
he had no involvement in a parody Twitter
account in Kevin Pietersen's name.
I had the odd laugh
at it at the time which I regret.
I think deep down he knows
I never tweeted from that account
or had any influence on it.
There's a lot of things
you can do in a dressing room
to understand a player like that
and actually say "He is different".
I've had past captains say, you know,
Kevin was a dream to manage.
How can we come to this?
How has this happened?
Isn't there a danger it was just
an English sense of humour?
I wouldn't say it's a sense of humour
when you publicly humiliate
one of your teammates.
I... I don't think that there's anything
"sense of humour" about that, no.
When he first came into the England side,
he needed England.
As his career went on,
the less he needed England...
the harder he was to manage.
It was sad that Strauss's tenure as captain
ended in amongst all that controversy.
Pietersen being suspended over texts.
He'd been an outstanding captain.
Everyone was really annoyed
around the time they should be
so proud for him.
You could see the colour had gone
from his face.
He was devastated.
What people don't realise
is the toll it takes.
You go into it with your eyes open
that this is gonna be a 24-hours-a-day job
and that's exactly what it is.
CRICKETERS CHEER
- Yes!
- Come on!
By the end, you're not sleeping at night...
you're not playing well.
Your time has come.
CROWD CHEERS
- CRICKETER: Yeah!
It's so fragile.
The amount of time, effort, energy...
that goes into managing positive culture.
You've only got to take your eye
off the ball for a split second
and the first chip happens.
If you don't take care of that chip
suddenly you've got a crack.
It spreads...
and then it's too late.
One out. One in.
Alastair Cook, on his way to becoming
England's all time leading run scorer
was the natural choice.
CROWD CHEERS
Well, there's a fine stroke.
Cook reintegrated the rebel Pietersen
who stepped back onto the merry-go-round.
Victory for England
for the first time since 1984 in India.
Keep going, keep going.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
Most of the players
in the team were playing...
basically all year round.
It was nonstop.
Sometimes a change is a good as a rest...
PHONE CHIMES
- so, urn... please, come on. Mobiles, people!
Excuse me.
- MAN SHUSHES
INDISTINCT CHATTER
It's not healthy
when you're pushing yourself that hard
for that length of time.
The cricket existence certainly puts
a lot of strain on relationships.
At the height of our touring
I was away from home for 250 nights
a year
and perhaps didn't give my family...
not perhaps, most certainly, didn't give
my family the priority that I should have.
You could tell
it was getting to Andy big time.
He had problems with his relationship
he had problems with relationships
with some of the players.
It was horrible to watch.
No one managed the players.
It was just, you have to win.
All we care about is you winning
and if you don't win,
then we're not gonna be happy.
My past certainly influenced
that area of me as a coach.
Growing up in
an old colonial hierarchy system...
you do what you're told.
Uh... there's not much quarter given
and that's not necessarily
the healthiest way to operate.
If you're consumed by the game of cricket
all the time...
when you're away on a tour
of that length...
you'll drive yourself bonkers.
The game never changes...
cos the pitch doesn't change length
the ball doesn't change size.
It's all in your head.
There's another side
to good health, good mental health.
CROWD AND CRICKETERS CHEER
Test cricket's 90% mental, 10% technical.
Some people don't wanna show weakness.
People fight their own battles
behind closed doors sometimes.
If cricket didn't go right for me,
I would say in my room.
I did isolate myself.
I think part of me is a bit of like a...
a joker character.
But...
you want to be respected as a test cricketer
not just to be...
like a joke.
When I have my low moment
I think, "Oh I'm looking forward
to room service. Everything is there."
I would eat everything from it.
So I'll just stuff myself with all this sort
of unhealthy foods.
Crisps and the chocolate
and the fizzy drinks, and...
and just sit there and think, "Oh,
this feels great. Actually I'm alright now."
That starts to build up after a while.
That's an addiction.
He had the makings of a fine player
but he wasn't satisfied
with slow steady improvement.
Oh! He expected himself to be perfect,
right from the start.
I read what people were writing...
nasty things.
I just got in a really bad place.
I'd always been resistant really,
to sport psychologists
or people to talk to about that stuff
because I felt as though
I would learn more from dealing
with those problems by myself.
Nobody cared about Finn.
All they cared about was fricking...
go to the nets and hit that target.
We need you to hit that target.
The doctor would ask me
"How's the bowling going?"
I just burst into tears.
I was trying so hard to get it right
and trying not to let myself down, I suppose.
I had a three inch tear in my Achilles tendon
that no one knew about.
I played with that
for about five months, and...
a place I wouldn't want to go back...
is sat at Lord's in the dressing room
by myself in tears...
knowing that I was gonna
have to make a decision
to not play cricket for England.
It...
just was awful and lonely.
But the relentless one-percenters
that went into preparation
which, in turn, looks great on the outside
but unfortunately it bore the brunt of...
a complete emotional meltdown
in that environment.
Playing for England is the ultimate.
But while you're there...
it becomes a bit like a drug.
I remember thinking,
"There's something not quite right
I can't concentrate or...
I'm quite easily distracted and losing focus
on what I'm normally so good at...
I remember suddenly feel like
I'm just being attacked...
and it was really terrifying
and I didn't know what was going on.
I was my own worst enemy in that
I then saw this as a challenge.
You know, my mentality was
"OK, well, just work harder".
But the bowling machine that I'd done
for thousands of hours
seeing it now basically as an enemy.
I was watching this bloke who I'd seen
do the same thing over and over again
in his preparation.
Doing something
which I'd never seen before.
He was just getting bounced 95 miles an hour.
Machine balls are hard.
They're heavy and they're hard
and when they hit you, they hurt.
And he was just getting hit.
ALARM CLOCK BEEPS
I remember this digital clock
next to the bed.
I'd wake up at three
and still have a massive headache.
Um... and then you'd look at the clock
and it'd be three...
four...
five...
six...
until the time you had to put
your tracksuit back on
and head off to the grounds.
I'll never forget sitting in breakfast
you know, and just in tears basically,
trying to hide it from my team mates
having my cap over my eyes
eating my cornflakes.
I told the coaches, I told the management.
I realised how unhappy he was.
If you've got a guy that's crying...
HE SIGHS
...it just tells you everything
you need to know about that environment.
Whatever we did,
we were always looking to raise the bar
always looking to push.
Cos we were almost punching, punching,
punching, we never stopped, took a breath
and said, "Hold on a minute,
what is going on here?"
Nobody was missing the next assignment.
The history men
who'd conquered Australia three years earlier
returned to defend the Ashes.
What better way to recharge the spirit
to remind yourself why you play the game?
Remember, millions would
swap places with you.
This is England in Australia.
The perfect stage to pull your game together.
Still the chatter continues.
There's been plenty of it in this game.
It will be Mitchell Johnson to bowl.
I'm quite happy to...
Mitchell Johnson...
make no mistake, bowled quicker
and comfortably quicker
than anything else I'd ever faced
in my career that series.
Oh!
What a good delivery that is.
Oh!
The fear is not the fear of getting hit
The fear is fear of failure.
Jimmy and I were sat on the physio bed.
Trotty walked past us
just pouring with tears.
Jimmy and I looked at each other like...
"Have I... have I just, did I see
that right?"
You know, I don't know...
What's happened there?
Going out to bat...
I felt my movements were restricted.
I was very rigid.
I was tense.
It was really frightening.
CROWD CHEERS
Concentration...
is the absence of irrelevant thoughts.
When I was really struggling internally...
things started getting in.
I'd be just in tears on the field.
Pulls again. It's in there,
it's straight to him.
This'll be out. He's got him!
Dumb batting.
I almost think
I blacked out as I was walking off.
Just from the banging
that was going on in my head.
Obviously there's
a weakness there at the moment.
You know, the way that Trotty got out today
was pretty poor.
Pretty weak.
It does look like they've got scared eyes.
I can't keep playing
for England feeling like this.
Anxiety about playing...
swallowed him up, really.
It was a case of me
losing perspective
of what cricket was really about.
I pushed myself so hard.
Basically to breaking point.
It became very much
a life or death situation.
Playing in Australia...
everyone's just looking.
Where can we break this team apart?
Catch!
It's up in the air.
This will be it. Johnson will get it.
We lost five nil.
My lowest moment in an England shirt.
We've been totally outplayed.
It does feel
like the end of some type of era.
We were miles away from the side we were.
That was the end of it.
Test cricket is a battle between time
and the mind.
It's time for life to happen.
Time for cracks to widen.
The England and Wales
Cricket Board dumped Kevin Pietersen
because the national cricket team
put in such a pathetic performance
against the Australians this winter.
An examination of your brain.
The breaking of your bones.
Injuries ended my England career.
Graeme Swann confirmed
his retirement from international cricket.
A lump of bone just disintegrated.
I couldn't feel two of my fingers.
TOBY JONES". It's about having
all the time in the world
until the moment it matters.
Coach Andy Flower
the man who led England's disastrous
Australian Ashes tour, is standing down.
And then...
you're history.
I look back
at some of the decisions I made with regret.
If I had my time again, I'd definitely try
to work with a person
as much as I'd work with a player
and understand the place
that he was coming from.
Maybe we weren't aware enough of our mates.
The more positive thing and a healthier thing
would have been just get out of your room
just being aware of what, you know,
your teams and teammates are going through
cos on the outside it might look fine
but behind closed doors it's very different.
The psychological trauma...
is the toughest thing
about playing test cricket.
The only thing that should really matter is
how you feel, yourself.
It's getting better now
where people will talk about it more
and say, "Right, I'm struggling with this
I'm struggling with that."
But life as a professional sportsman
doesn't necessarily lend itself to you being
a good person
because it's about winning
and it's about getting the most
out of yourself
and the people around you.
HE CHEERS
And I'm not sure
you can be the best person you can be
when that's what's on the line.
Our team did rise
to the heights of the number one team
in the world
quicker than we thought we would.
And to reach certain heights,
it does take a lot of sacrifice.
Ten...
eleven...
twelve...
DEVICE BEEPS
But I don't think it has to be that way
the way that it ended, dropping very quickly.
Well done, Tom.
Was it worth it?
There was a lot of good
to come out at that time
but I'm very realistic about repercussions
good and bad, from those achievements.
Yeah, there's a bit of Bell
even in that shot. That's a bit Bell-y.
My own understanding of coaching
and mental health issues is better
and the wiser we are,
the more we understand this topic
the better off English cricket will be.
Meg, come here. Meg, come here.
It's an unbelievably challenging game.
You are tested in every single way.
HE LAUGHS
Hello you.
He loves it.
COW MOOS
I'm trying to think of something really...
Right the cows are now,
we didn't shut that...
Did we not shut that gate properly?
HE LAUGHS
That's not good.
Living on that edge all the time
you're gonna miss it, of course you are.
Ch-ch, go on.
Go on.
Ch-ch. Meg, get out.
I was ready to leave it behind.
Ch, go on.
For the rest of my life, I very much doubt
I'm gonna have those highs and lows.
And just knowing that...
there wasn't actually much more
to give is quite a satisfying thing.
CROWD APPLAUD
Alastair Cook has done it.
A century in his first ever test match
and not a century in his last.
No one's got
a divine right to play for England
or to have a fairy-tale ending.
I'm certainly proud of the way that
I conducted myself as an England player.
CROWD CHEERS
- INDISTINCT CHATTER
Ready for a family kiss?
- THEY KISS
I think I made everyone proud
and that's all I wanted to do, really.
What I'm gonna miss the most...
I don't know if I can say it.
No.
I think it's just the partnership
that you have with...
the other guys
'vs...
When you have a good partnership in the
middle, you seem invincible in a way.
I think you sort of, you share that...
all those hours of training.
Um... the thing, I'm...
I'm not gonna miss cricket I don't think.
You know, the playing,
the travelling, the practising
but what I'm gonna miss the most is...
batting with Straussy,
Cook, Pietersen and Bell.
That's basically it.
NO SOUND
Why does it matter at all?
In sport, there's
some incredible stories that evolve.
And those stories can be inspirational.
Whoa! Bloody hell, fellas!
I miss it massively.
I miss being at slip
watching Jimmy swing the ball.
I still get that time where I'm in a dream
that Nick comes
and you jump and you're like, "Oh".
It's just a dream.
I'm like, "Bugger!"
In some ways
the things you hated the most...
you miss the most...
the pressure...
the scrutiny...
that's what you miss
because it makes you feel alive.
Some of the greatest players
and greatest people you could
ever wish to meet
thrown into this room and told...
to go and be
the best team in the world.
Oh, my goodness me!
Unbelievable.
You know there's nothing that had happened...
- Baby, who are you talking to?
Oh, my goodness me.
There's hundreds of wickets I can't remember
but I remember throwing an Xbox controller
at Tim Bresnan in Australia.
- No!
- Boom!
THEY LAUGH
Bres, is it true you said
two minutes ago you needed a bigger screen?
THEY LAUGH
To have been a part of all that...
lucky bastard!
Seriously.
That's what sport is about.
You work so hard towards something
and then you achieve it...
and then you have to pass it on.
Hello.
Making a movie.
Even if I never play again
I still have the memories
of what I've done in an England shirt.
Well done boy, great series.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
If I could go back in time to one place
just for one more time...
it would be sat on the Sydney cricket ground
with that group of blokes
having just won the Ashes.
You know what
the greatest thing about sport is
is just what happened in the rows there.
That's what it's all about.
Your mates and having good times.
That at the end of the day
in there is why we do all the hard work.
And I fucking love that shit and you should
just keep loving it
cos that is what sport is all about
THEY CHEER
Forget what you think you know.
That this is just a game.
No. It's a due! between the mind and time.
Time for life to happen.
Yeah!
Time for cracks to widen.
It's brutal.
CROWD CHEERS
- TOBY JONES: Intense.
A judgement of your guts.
Exposing your demons.
It's about having all the time in the world
until the moment it matters.
Then you've got half a second.
Too late.
So what can I tell you?
CHILDREN CHEER
I wasn't out and I ain't going out!
Test cricket is a way of life in Australia...
CROWD CHEERS
A religion in Asia...
INDISTINCT CHATTER
It's in the soul of the Caribbean.
A new world record holder...
is Brian Charles Lara.
And centuries ago...
This game called cricket
deep in the hearts of those who love it.
...it was born in a field in England.
What is it about this unobtrusive game?
What is its magic...
that makes men sit and watch and dream
of wistful yearnings never quite fulfilled?
The game travelled through class...
across borders...
and left every former colony
wanting a huge piece
of the England team.
CROWD CHEERS
In 2009, that England team was in pieces.
Bottom of the world.
Coach sacked.
Captain sacked.
Kevin, can you just clarify?
Did you resign or were you sacked?
Have you got a message for your fans?
You gonna continue to play for England?
Do you regret what's happened, Kevin?
So began a sweat-fuelled...
tear-soaked. . .
When are we going home?
TOBY JONES
. . . life-changing climb...
CROWD CHEERS
...taking English cricket and its players
to a place they'd never been.
How much would you give to be the best?
And, oh, what a ripper!
It's a team game.
But out there...
you're on your own.
I remember the call.
The captain and the coach
had both been sacked
and English cricket was in the news
for the wrong reasons.
"Would you be interested
in doing it if we asked?"
That took me like two milliseconds
to consider it
and then realise...
this is a chance of a lifetime.
What's this for?
Our little tour video.
Tour video?
- Caribbean style.
Caribbean's not the worse place to go
if I'm honest, as a tourist.
How you getting on?
Peace.
We had a little bit more leeway as a side.
There was a lot more alcohol drunk
and a lot more good nights out.
CROWD CHEERS
"Smooth" by Santana:
# Give me a heart, make it real #
# Or else forget about it #
- Andrew Strauss!
- TRUMPET TOOTS
I've got these ideas in my head about
what the team needed to do to improve.
That all sounds great on paper
but then you get to the first test match
in Jamaica.
CROWD CHEERS
I sort of used
the analogy of when you're sick.
Things not right in your body...
and then you throw up.
That sorted that one out in a hurry.
What happened out there?
CRICKETERS CHEER
And we looked horrendous.
Fucks sake!
Bowled him.
The West Indies bowling attack
led by Jerome Taylor
smashed through the England line up.
Get in!
Just threw them out for 51.
Yes, 51!
Got him. Yes!
Ball back onto the stumps,
that's it, the West Indies have won.
It can't get any worse than that.
That test match was
our massive great pile of vomit.
We batted very, very poorly today
and, uh... we paid the price.
And the West Indies bowled brilliantly.
There is a lot of work still to be done.
I think it needs to be done in the head.
They're mentally weak
in these tough situations.
What I suggest to whoever
the England think-tank is at the moment
they tow it out the harbour here
and sink it in the deepest channel
because it's ridiculous,
absolutely ridiculous.
This was a watershed moment.
Right lads,
we're not all that good, actually.
So let's stop pretending we are.
Things needed to change.
We needed a plan.
MACHINE BEEP
- AUTOMATED VOICE: Eleven, two.
It's pretty ugly.
Alright, focus.
HE LAUGHS
He's the scariest bloke you've ever met.
He's just got this intensity about him.
As if he's looking into your soul.
Andy Flower was quite
intimidating as a bloke and as a coach.
You didn't wanna cross him,
you didn't wanna mess with him.
Andy Flower had been a world class player.
The best to ever emerge from Zimbabwe.
A fierce competitor...
and off the pitch, a principled rebel.
Flower used his position
to protest against Robert Mugabe
and the death of democracy in his country.
The stand threatened his career,
even his life.
But Flower did it anyway...
and ended up exiled to England.
You're gonna need these skills
that you're showing right here
to build innings in India.
But if you do this sort of stuff,
like you're doing it, you'll be fine.
You'll be absolutely fine...
and you use your brain.
Even now if I pick up my mobile
and his name comes up on there.
Oh, shit, what have I done now?
Hope you're not gonna need that in India.
My first impression of Andy...
loose cannon.
I didn't really know him
from a bar of soap, to be honest.
We were having this chat and he like,
he punched me.
Like straight there.
HE CHUCKLES
So I just went...
HE LAUGHS
Fuck off mate, why are you giving it?
He was just like, "ya, I like you, ya."
Anyone else thinking this is weird?
We got in a room with the whole squad.
It was quite a dangerous
sort of meeting to hold.
Thankfully it went well,
and when I say "well", it was...
distinctly uncomfortable.
"I've got a problem with
the way you practise.
The amount you're drinking.
Some of the shots you play under pressure."
Some people were squirming in their seats.
Some people were looking at me
as if they didn't like me very much.
For me, it was the moment Andy Flower
announced himself as England coach.
Do you just want to hang around
and be number seven in the world?
Or do you actually want
to do something about it
and set some pretty challenging goals?
We're gonna start again.
And we're gonna start again like this.
It's gonna take two years.
Six times round the world.
These are the matches we have to win.
The target...
to be first England team
to reach number one in the world.
I remember looking around the room
and everyone's sort of, "Is he for real?"
If you don't want to buy into this
if you don't want to give to the team
for this amount of time
then walk out the room now.
We could do something
that no one's done before.
We wanted to be the best England team ever.
I want you guys to move in this direction
and I want you to come with me.
You know what you've got to do.
England versus Australia. The Ashes.
What began in 1882 as a rebel howl
against colonial masters
became a raging fire...
poured into a three inch urn.
Its an opera.
CROWD AND CRICKETERS CHEER
Glory, anger, emotion and elation.
Think, "A Fistful of Dollars".
Think “Rumble in the Jungle“.
This will be a total annihilation.
CRICKETERS CHEER
- COMMENTATOR: Bowled him!
How about that?
Australia would storm the castle
England would roar back through the gate.
Long hair, long limbs and rock stars.
Then despite Ian Botham's miracles
of the '80's
and a Freddie Flintoff brief new dawn
of 2005...
This England team
now catapulted to pop group status.
...it had all been Australia.
Dominant.
Remorseless.
Not who you want to be playing
when you're feeling a bit fragile.
After '05 we got carried away.
There was no forward thinking.
It was all, let's all give ourselves a medal,
pat ourselves on the back
and happy days. And what have we done
since then? Nothing.
OK, talking about the 'O5 series
you just have to remind them
who's holding the urn at the moment
and then they, sort of...
they quieten up a little bit.
Australia were next.
They were number one in the world
and had Ponting as captain.
Brilliant cricketer.
Is 95 alright?
Just tough.
CROWD GASPS
Never say "die".
My first experience of Ponting,
just hit one into the ground.
The ball's bounced up and smacked him
right in the mouth.
I was like, oh, are you OK?
And he just spat this mouthful of blood out.
And just went, "Fuck off."
He just wanted to know I was in a battle.
A lot of us have learned
from our mistakes of 2005.
I can guarantee that they'll be facing
a stiffer opposition
than the West Indies when we arrive.
We knew we had to play exceptionally well.
And I think we also knew
we were vulnerable.
The Cardiff match was a massive test.
I'm known as a left arm spinner.
The first Sikh to represent England...
who loves the game,
plays with enthusiasm.
CRICKETERS CHEER
- COMMENTATOR: Knocked them over.
Not a great fielder...
Gets a short one.
Oh, it's put it down, has he Monty!
And batting probably goes
into that same category.
But that day...
I don't know what happened.
CLOCK TICKS
Time is a dimension of the physical universe.
Where events happen
in irreversible succession.
When pressure comes into play,
time gets distorted.
Outplayed in Cardiff,
England were walking on the wire.
Oh, he's got it!
Collingwood is the man who's gone.
- CROWD CHEERS
Last day, last hour...
last man...
Monty Panesar.
Just remember
when I got caught I thought, "Oh".
"We got no hope now.
We've got Monty coming out to bat."
Now if England wanted a hero...
who have they got striding in?
Monty Panesar, number 11.
What a monumental job he has to do
alongside James Anderson.
So, I knew how bad he was.
HE LAUGHS
Monty Panesar...
Monty Panesar.
- CROWD CHEERS
I've never seen wider eyes
on a human being before.
He had to bat for about 50 minutes.
He would have been desperate
not to let anyone down.
Jimmy just said, "We'll eventually get out."
CRICKETERS CHEER
- COMMENTATOR: Will he take that appeal? No.
Once you're getting closer...
the more PFGSSUFG COFHGS on.
CLOCK TICKS
England must survive until 6:40.
CRICKETER GASPS
- CROWD GROANS
And you're looking at
your watch, you're looking at the clock.
Anything could happen here.
Peter Siddle...
He was rapid.
I said, "Jimmy, I think he's gonna hit me
on the chest here."
And he goes, "I don't care if you get hit,
but just do not edge it."
PETER SADDLE SCREAMS
But the word "resilient"
is so important in this game...
Oh!
...because you get knocked down a lot
and you have to get up again...
and fight.
CRICKETER YELLS
- CROWD CHEERS
We're down to minutes.
The brain's just constantly ticking.
The pressure's growing.
We can't afford
to go behind in this series.
Monty Panesar
and Jimmy Anderson hung on at the end.
Just through bloody-mindedness.
And those are the little edges
that we were looking for.
CROWD CHEERS
- COMMENTATOR: The test match is drawn.
An unbelievable effort from England's
last wicket pair.
Got phone calls from America,
from Canada, from Australia, from India.
You know, Indian people,
Sikh people felt proud about this.
They'd been outplayed for four days
in this test match.
I'm not sure if they'll look at it like a win
because they won't, they're not 1-0 up.
Imagine your wicket is your bank account.
Some batsmen flaunt their wealth.
He's gone for the...
They're fast and loose.
They get the drinks in.
They put it all on red
and buy the whole casino a steak dinner.
Other batsmen hear "howzat"...
and think, "Shit, how am I gonna pay
my mortgage?"
They're the spendthrifts.
Boycott was 121, not out
after batting for 14 hours.
They study the market.
They prize their wicket above all else.
But they are also the foundation
of any great team.
And in 2009, England needed granite.
Well, I first came to the UK in '96
with the South African under 15 side.
I had a British passport from birth.
My dad was born in London.
We had a sport shop.
Instead of doing my science homework,
I used to sand cricket bats.
I always had this burning desire
to play for England.
I watched Trott in the nets.
I thought, "This guy looks as if he's got
the best technique in our batting unit
and he's not in the side".
Trotty used to measure his socks
when they came back from the wash,
to check they were exactly the same size
which I always found a bit strange.
Once he's got all his kit on
he'll get his plain shirt
and sort of clean his inside of his box.
He'd stare into it
as if he's reading his future.
I quite miss that, actually.
I will never forget being in the hotel room
the day before my first test match.
My folks were coming along
with the rest of my family.
I just remember looking and thinking,
I've never seen them so nervous in my life.
I thought, "What is... what,
what's happened?"
It made me realise just how calm I was
in a pressurised situation.
I knew I could go out there and deliver.
Six weeks since Monty's last stand
and the sides couldn't be separated.
The Ashes would be decided
in South London.
Don't blink first.
Well it's one of the most eagerly
anticipated cricket matches for years.
The demand for tickets is massive.
Single file, no laughing,
no joking, no smiling.
MAN LAUGHS
- This is not an enjoyable event.
I got there not knowing
if I was gonna play.
I thought I was the one
that was gonna miss out.
A decision from the captain
and coach that changed my life.
In big Ashes series when the pressure's on,
you need to stand up and deliver.
Strauss came up to me at lunch, and said
"Charge in...
and try and make something happen."
CRICKETERS SHOUT
- CROWD APPLAUDS
There's definitely a real
inner belief with him.
THEY CHEER
When he starts on that roll...
he thinks he can get absolutely
anyone on the planet out.
CROWD CHEERS
- COMMENTATOR: That's it!
Every time I jogged,
the whole crowd would just start bouncing.
Oh, that's close,
that's very close. In fact it's out.
Brilliant bowling by Stuart Broad.
- CROWD CHEERS
A bit of swing, and he's taken it, yes.
Caught! This is incredible!
We just felt like
the whole ground was with us.
There was nothing that could stop us
just blowing Australia away that afternoon.
That's out. Don't worry about that.
CROWD CHEERS
Broad's got five for England.
So the first job was done.
Now we needed our batsman
to really push that advantage home.
To be ruthless.
When you make your debut for England
you're going into unchartered territory.
You could walk out...
and be terrified
and just never want to be there again.
You could walk out and feel like it's...
it's where you were meant to be.
CROWD CHEERS
I'd never played in front of a full house.
I was playing the best cricket I ever had.
And if I wasn't ready now...
I'd never be ready.
That gave me the feeling of being at peace,
going out there and being able to play.
I created a quiet sanctuary.
Concentration...
is an absence of irrelevant thought.
If you picture yourself...
creating a hardened shield around yourself
then nothing can penetrate it.
And it gave me that slight sort of edge.
HE SHOUTS
Test cricket
is the ultimate form of the game.
It's played over a protracted period of time.
And in that time...
you or your team will reveal themselves.
With your parents...
you want them to be proud.
Batting in that first test match...
That was the most fun I'd ever had
on a cricket field.
One of the most
outstanding performances you'll ever see.
The man is here to stay.
It was that moment that I thought,
"We're doing this now".
And the rest of that day is one
of my favourite days of my life.
Get... yes!
Yes! The Ashes belong to England once more.
We'd won despite no one
really thinking we were gonna win this.
In recent times, Ashes victories
have been few and far between.
It makes moments like this all the sweeter.
We've got a long way to go as a side.
We're still number five in the world.
So we've got a long way to go
to where we want to be.
The one thing that I wanted to do
was get my hands on the actual urn.
But as he picked it up, sort of looked high
in reverence at this Ashes trophy
and it had a little sticker on the bottom.
It said, "Lords shop, £4.95".
HE LAUGHS
I was absolutely devastated.
Right, we need to talk about Kevin.
When South Africa came out of apartheid
they needed fairer representation
in their largely white sports teams.
In cricket, they introduced a quota system
denting the aspirations of Kevin Pietersen.
Aged just 20, he already knew his own mind.
Next stop, England.
People have been
telling me, I'm South African
that I'm not good enough in South Africa,
why did I come here?
I've had all of that now
and it's pretty boring.
He signed for Nott/nghamshire
and fell out with the captain.
But on the field...
VVQVV!
Oh,
what a corker that shot was.
It's baseball!
K.P. was the most talented cricketer
I ever played with or against.
PLAYERS GRUNT
Gone for it. Six!
Going all the way.
Kev had this ability
to completely dictate...
the terms of the game.
He brought the X factor to the team.
You've only got a handful of players
in the history of the game
who can do something like that.
PIETERSEN SHOUTS
- CROWD CHEERS
I am who I am
in terms of shooting from the hip.
I bat like that.
Oh, what is that?
This was a guy who'd had the top job
had done amazing things on a cricket field
and you've got to give him
a lot of credit for this, actually.
It was very hard for him to come back
after being sacked as captain.
The captaincy debacle
was six months of sheer pain.
Up till then everything I'd touched
had turned to gold.
I'd never had a bad series.
I never had bad form.
STUMPS CLATTER
- THEY CHEER
So I got a hundred or I got nought.
It just went, bat under,
take your pads off and watch.
It's actually something
that Flower spoke to me about once.
Yeah, he said, "Do you not care
about your wicket?"
I mean, what... what can you do
when you get out?
I'm not gonna go there and throw my bats
and carry on like a fricking fool.
I'm gonna go there, sit there,
take my pads off, and go...
"What did you do?"
Uh, was it a good ball?
Oh, OK, good ball. Right.
Next question.
Hang on. There's a concrete post there.
Do it in the middle of the wooden post.
You ready? Tell me when.
Born ready.
Oh no. No.
HE LAUGHS
Touring before you've got
kids is the best thing you'll ever do.
She gone!
You spend with time
with some of your best mates
five star hotels, playing cricket
for your country. It's amazing.
Our mentality was, let's go and embrace it.
Let's go and enjoy it.
Let's go and have the time of our lives.
Tactical game going on here.
We had a lot of very, very good players
all arriving at the same time.
THEY CHEER
All at pretty much the same experience...
Yeah!
...and the best
opening partnership that England's had.
Catch it!
It's alive!
SHE LAUGHS
It was a case of
if Cook missed out, Strauss didn't.
If those two missed out,
then Trotty definitely didn't.
And then I came in and slapped a few.
You got through the top four
and then you still had
three high quality batsmen to come.
They called it "the engine room".
The engine room took over.
And Bell finds the gap.
The bowlers were performing
at world class levels.
Jimmy, fucking grumpy...
but so passionate about playing for England.
Stuart Broad,
the good-looking lad, unbelievable competitor
the kind of guy that you want
in your dressing room.
Concentrate, do not smile, Broad.
Do not smile.
HE LAUGHS
Graeme Swann,
the best spinner England's ever had.
Brilliant teammate
but he was also a pain in the arse.
HE LAUGHS
A thousand!
I did over a thousand!
Swanny's a bit like a Mars bar...
HE MAKES QUACKING NOISES
...you don't want one every day.
You know, you want to pace yourself
a little bit with Swanny.
HE LAUGHS
Then there was unsung heroes, Bresnan
Monty Panesar and Steven Finn.
They were the guys that had come in
and made a difference.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
Mate, that's done me proper.
HE LAUGHS
That camaraderie
that you can build up
it's not that easy to come across
and I think that's what makes a special team.
We had a lot of fun times.
MAN YELLS
- THEY LAUGH
But on the field, we were
a structured winning machine.
A year after their implosion in the Caribbean
England won a trophy...
in the smash and grab of the world's 20-20.
A huge endorsement of the master plan
to get to number one in the test rankings.
Next mission: end a 24-year wait.
There's so few England teams
that have won down in Australia.
It's a hard environment out there.
Incredibly tough conditions.
People talk about
the holy grail in cricket...
for us, that is it.
What do we need,
to be able to win out there?
It got sold to us as a pre-Ashes camp.
Bring your passport to the airport,
that's all we knew.
HE LAUGHS
The problem with Andy as a coach...
he is the most impossible man
to speak to on the phone
cos there are these awkward silences,
as he's gathering his thoughts.
Right...
We're leaving Gatwick at 9am.
I honestly thought we were going
to the Munich beer festival.
TIM BRESNAN
I haven't a clue, still to this day
where the hell we were.
It was like we were being bagged
and tagged
and just dropped off in the wilderness.
They were pretty blatantly special forces.
No first names, you're Mr Swann,
you're Mr Anderson.
Any swearing will be punished.
I've certainly got a reputation of being...
uncompromising and a bit
of a hard taskmaster.
I don't think that was entirely true,
to be honest.
ALL MOAN
Just...
brutal.
- Two, three, four, five!
- Come on!
They just unleashed hell.
- Come on lads!
- Eight, 9,10,11,12,13.
Three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Down and hold.
GRUNTING AND GROANING
We will all stay like this,
Mr Finn, until you push up.
Go on, Mr Finn.
- Come on, you can do it.
- Off your knees...
and don't muck around with the bricks.
Yeah. I still have nightmares
about the bricks.
ALL SHOUT
People were in pieces.
I've not done anything that has been
as challenging physically and mentally.
MEN SHOUT
- MAN: Keep going, Mr Prior, keep going.
I remember thinking
"What a fucking joke this is.
This is supposed
to make you a better cricket team?"
One, two...
Forty-four, forty-five.
There was a stage when I thought,
"Fuck, I wish I hadn't organised this."
Three and a half minutes, gents,
to get up and get out of bed.
Follow me, single file.
Why are we doing this?
What relation does this have to cricket?
I could see genuine hate in his eyes
when he was sleep deprived,
absolutely exhausted
he had mud and shit everywhere
and he looked at me
as if he genuinely hated me.
It was actually quite funny.
At one point, he just threw his bricks down
and was just like, "We are not animals."
HE LAUGHS
Like... yeah, he's got a point.
INDISTINCT SHOUTING
- Three...
- Three.
- Four...
- Four..
I've said it before, but I'll say it again.
I didn't need to go to Germany
and do push-ups to bat well in Australia.
Shared hardship brings people together.
It allows people to respect the effort
that their team member had put in
right there next to them on their shoulder.
One, two, one, two...
Ten...
eleven...
And it gave everyone
an understanding of the hard work
that would go into winning
an Ashes test series.
Whoa!
INDISTINCT SHOUTING
Come on, Mr McGuire, come on!
One of the punches in the ribs really hurt
so I went to the doctor who was there
and he was like,
"Yeah, I think you broke a rib."
Revealed the short cutters.
Revealed character.
Keep going Mr Pietersen.
INDISTINCT SHOUTING
- Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Andy was coming from the perspective of
you know, you'll be best of mates
if you get through this
and it'll bring us closer together,
which it massively did.
Lean forward, Bres,
it's all good, buddy.
Oh! Top work, Bres.
L-lee, heel
- Tl-IEY LAUGH
BRESNAN SCREAMS
He fell like a fucking boulder.
HE LAUGHS
The one moment that made it
all worthwhile for me was
we were all sitting round
a campfire one night...
absolutely exhausted.
People were just talking
about their life experience.
Players were saying, "My biggest concern is,
I just don't think I'm good enough."
I play for my family.
I'm so worried about letting them down.
What you're effectively doing is,
baring your soul.
I'm willing to let you hear this...
because you are my teammates.
And I know you'll protect me
and look after me
and you're not gonna use this against me.
Australia.
A land of fast cricket pitches,
relentless sun
and players genetically engineered
from the threads of the baggy green.
What began as a month-long boat trip,
became a slug fest of combat.
Australia got better, they had "the Don".
COMMENTATOR".
Don Bradley, pride of Australia.
England got meaner.
They bowled body line,
to hit them... in the body.
This was like throwing bacon into a bear pit.
Australia found two grizzlies,
Lillee and Thompson.
I'm trying to scare him
trying to probably hurt him
more than anything else.
It's the outback and you're gonna get bit.
Sledgehammered five nil
on their last trip
England needed something extra.
Someone who knew the terrain.
An insider.
Australia's number one sport is cricket.
A first visit to Australia,
it's not pleasant.
You're gonna sit on a boundary line,
you're gonna get abused.
It's a pretty ruthless place to play sport.
David, is New Zealand
a better country than Australia?
For the record, finally?
- No, no way.
But he was right up there
with the best tacticians
that I've ever worked with.
It's all about working the opposition out
and that's what he was brilliant at.
Go on, Kev.
You just knew
when you walked into that dressing room
that this team meant business,
they trained well
they partied well ,
and there was a togetherness.
England have got one really good spinner
at the moment, really good.
Monty's going really well for us.
ALL LAUGH
The momentum
of an Ashes series away from home...
if you don't start well,
it feels completely impossible.
The only thing that matters is
how you do on the pitch
in those first two test matches.
If you lose those first two, you're gone.
I remember sitting in the viewing area
first over an Ashes series,
I've got to go and watch it.
I was so desperate to do well.
Anyone can sit in a meeting and go,
"We've got to be more aggressive"
or "We've got to be more courageous".
Well, let's see it.
Yes, Hilfenhaus to Strauss, here we go.
Out, third ball!
Straight to Hussey in the gully.
Just the start Australia wanted.
I remember thinking "Fuck that, I'm not
watching any more balls this innings."
There was almost
an audible groan from everyone.
"Oh, God, is this gonna be
another one of those Ashes series'?"
But it wasn't.
There it is, with the big boundary.
Well played, Alistair Cook.
Push, push, push. Trott gets there.
It's an amazing scoreboard.
A number of different stories
are told
through a series.
Stories of inspiration.
Can he hit him? He can.
And Jonathon Trott's done
the job for England.
Success.
CHEERING
HE LAUGHS
- JAMES ANDERSON: Nailed it!
Dominance.
And Pietersen raises them.
His second test double century.
We've got a tear away!
THEY GIGGLE
And, oh, what a ripper! What a ripper!
Good morning!
The rivalries...
CROWD CHEERS
The calmness under pressure.
Whoa!
Fight that.
CROWD CHEERS
TRAFFIC NOISE
Yeah, certainly, I think that I
got better as the game went on.
Uh... I had the confidence.
He is the most boring player
I've ever played with.
Steven, Graeme Swann, ECB
will you be getting your ridiculous haircut
trimmed at any stage during this series?
No, I'm gonna keep my hat on, Graeme.
Thank you very much.
I see myself as fortunate
to be in that team
because those guys were all
established international cricketers
and I was just making my way.
The worst haircut.
What you doing?
SWANN LAUGHS MANIACALLY
It used to be so gorgeous and now,
of all our bowlers, he's in the bottom three.
What are you walking me down for?
THEY LAUGH
I was the leading
wicket taker after the three tests.
CROWD CHEERS
On Christmas day, I found out
that I was dropped for the game the next day
which fucking hurt
and I didn't really know how to take that.
I just remember locking myself in the toilet
and thinking, "What the fuck's happened?"
It was ruthless in that sense, you know.
Very clear from Strauss and Flower
what they wanted...
from you in the team.
Your role couldn't have been clearer.
But if you didn't deliver it,
you weren't gonna play...
which is horribly unfair because...
any other team in the world, he'd have
probably been first name on the team sheet.
This is the Melbourne cricket club.
The oldest club in Victoria,
the greatest sporting arena in Australia
and a cricket stadium
without parallel in the world.
It's an unbelievably immense stadium.
This great kind of citadel.
The boxing day test match
at the MCG was my dream.
That was the test match
I always wanted to play in.
It is the pinnacle of Australian sports.
It's their Wimbledon final,
it's their FA cup final.
It's their, everything in one.
So here we go, we're going to the top floor
of the top stand at the MCG
to do the intro. Jesus Christ!
HE LAUGHS
I hope you don't get vertigo.
Oh, my God!
The proud owner of double M,
numbers 27 and 28
this is your view of the MCG on Boxing Day.
And to be fair,
it's not the worst view going.
I'm not out of breath.
Andy sat me down and said
"Mate, you're playing, MCG."
I was like, "Yeah, go on, like, Ashes debut."
Boxing day and 96,000 people turned up.
This is always the moment.
And it's porn bashing day.
You are a wanker!
You are a wanker!
Fuck your mum!
INDISTINCT SWEARING
You are a wanker! You are a wanker!
This was our time.
We'll never get a better chance
than this ever.
Now, let's go and win.
The changing rooms are,
like, down in a dungeon.
You have to walk about 50 metres
just to get onto the field.
It's as close to a colosseum
as you're gonna get.
If you imagine the film, Gladiator,
where they're sat waiting
and the dust is almost coming down
and you're just thinking, "Right,
we're going out into this cauldron of fire."
You feel the air conditioning disappearing
and you just feel the heat
just start hitting you.
But also the noise.
You walk out
and you know you're going into
one of the most intimidating atmospheres
in world cricket.
CROWD NOISE
What a morning for cricket.
Melbourne at its best.
England one win away
from retaining the Ashes.
Anderson at the G.
Edged... and has that carried?
People still come up to me
and say they were there for that day.
Go on, there's time.
There's the first wicket.
It was a group effort.
The work, the sacrifice.
CROWD CHEERS
- COMMENTATOR: And that's gone.
The days in Bavaria.
The challenges of each other, of yourself.
Beauty! Absolute beauty.
It all comes out in that moment.
Growing up as a kid,
all I wanted to do was...
play cricket for England.
A bit of a geek and a bit goofy.
An easy target for bullies.
Oh, there's another one!
Australia in disarray!
When you turn at the end of your mark
you can't hear the noise.
I've visualised the moment.
You almost hold your breath.
When you find the edge...
then you hear the noise.
Oh, that's fallen and it's beaten him.
There's an edge.
Just one of the greatest days
I've ever played in, really.
Yeah, that's gone.
Australia did not make the three figures.
Australia, bowled out for 98.
It was
the most incredible session and a half
of cricket I've ever played.
That's cut and cut nicely.
The Aussies were shot to bits.
England, unbelievably dominant.
My most vivid moment of my England career
looking at this incredible stadium...
and just seats emptying.
Massive queues for the exit.
The Australians had had enough.
We'd won the test match on day one.
Couldn't really lose.
People put in a lot of hard work...
and heartache...
to win stuff for England.
I've got the ball right here.
Sometimes I let the kids play with it.
TEAM CHEERS
- COMMENTATOR: Oh, well, that's it.
Yes, that's it!
Up goes the finger and England
have retained the Ashes.
It's been 24 long years.
To do it there...
was pretty special.
Some of these moments are
"pinch yourself" moments.
Winning in Australia...
that emotion...
that's when it starts to hit.
That victory was...
the pinnacle.
INDISTINCT CHATTER AND LAUGHTER
INDISTINCT SINGING
Whoa!
Time to push on.
Underpinned by coach Flowers'
laser eyed focus
and the method of captain Strauss,
England were imposing.
That's it!
Beauty from Jimmy Anderson!
Ruthless.
Chance and taken, Swann.
Brilliant.
Oh, what a shot.
India were thrashed.
BRESNAN SHOUTS
They're giving him, he's out!
Tendulkar is out!
On an August day at the Oval...
history was made.
- Yeah!
- Oh, that's out.
Well done, England.
Number one in the world.
That was an incredible moment.
HE LAUGHS
Love being number one.
We set ourselves a two year time frame
to get to number one in the world
and 18 months' later
we'd gone from number seven to number one.
Well, when we finally reached
the number one position
a goal that we'd been striving for,
everyone felt pride
and satisfaction and contentment.
This was not like 2005.
We had young guys
and there was a feeling there that
the nucleus of that team
could stay together
for another three or four years.
CROWD CHEERS
But then, holding that mace
to say we're number one in the world...
it was a bit of an anti climax.
Is this it?
It was like...
"Fuck, now what?"
TOBY JONES". Simple,
if you want more of the buzz and the rush
to redefine greatness
get back out there
and do it all again.
Only better.
When we got to the world number one...
we knew that we were playing
unbelievable cricket.
We were still riding the crest of a wave.
We certainly achieved a lot
in a short period of time.
But away from the game,
I was incredibly unhappy.
My big issues were my schedule.
I was tired, I was mentally fatigued,
I was physically fatigued.
I can't play at my peak and I can't keep on
playing every single game
when I've played every single form of cricket
when I have to
train every single every day
you fall out of love with it.
There was a stage I was just thinking,
"Oh, I wish I could just get an injury
so I can just get six months out."
That's not a cool place to be,
what do you do?
As soon as you take your whites off,
your value and your brand just...
HE WHISTLES
...falls off the face of a cliff.
I just had to chew it up,
suck it up and just go...
Where do you go from here?
Kevin hadn't been happy for a while.
He was feeling a bit marginalised
in the team.
Some of his good mates
had passed through the team.
He wasn't happy.
He wanted to show that.
And he did show that.
At Headingly they had a test match.
I can't believe that I batted
the way that I batted.
I just saw the ball so big.
Oh, look at that shot, wallop!
I wanted to always do well
against South Africa.
I had a lot of mates in that environment.
Oh, dear.
That nearly took Dale Steyn's head off.
I was able to just park all my emotion
and my frustration to one side.
Oh, what a dismissive shot that is.
I've had my battles, mentally.
I had the ability to switch off...
and switch on.
Oh, my goodness me.
It was a brilliant angry innings
from Pietersen.
CROWD CHEERS
It's one of the best test innings
you'll ever see.
CROWD CHEERS
You run out of superlatives,
when you watch this man bat.
I was just so far up and then...
HE SIGHS.
...everything just seemed to come
tumbling down.
My lowest moment was just
breaking down emotionally
in the dressing room at that test match.
You could get him now.
- One minute 20, yeah?
- Outstanding buddy.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
Just crying in the dressing room.
Yeah, that was...
that was horrendous.
Well, Kevin Peterson's with me now.
Kevin, what inspired you
to play that amazing innings?
Um...
I was completely gone.
I mean completely gone
and why they let me do the press
at the end of that test match,
I mean, that was just like...
throw him out there.
HE LAUGHS
The politics is what
I have to deal with personally
and...
it's...
it's... it's tough.
Being me and playing for England is tough.
You could see how unhappy I was.
Everybody could see it.
I was dumbfounded
that we found ourselves in this situation.
While, at the same time, I was heading
into my last ever test match.
There was definitely stuff bubbling beneath
the surface in the team.
That started spilling over onto the surface.
The England team have insisted
that their morale won't be affected
by the dropping of star batsman,
Kevin Pietersen.
Pietersen was left out after he failed
to reveal the contents
of text messages he's alleged to have sent
rival South African players.
Text messages,
pretty much against our captain Strauss.
That's not OK.
"I did send,
what you might call provocative texts
to my close friends
in the South Africa team."
It is something that I regret.
I got Andrew Strauss involved
in a situation he shouldn't have got into.
There was a clash.
If anyone is undermining England cricket
then that's my job as England captain
to stand up to that.
Sometimes you have flawed genius.
He's been badly managed.
It's just been a bridge too far
for this England management.
It just felt like someone
was continually punching me in the stomach.
You think one
of your teammates would rather be
in the other dressing room.
It's like...
someone who's cheated on their wife,
to be honest.
Like, you just look at them
a bit differently, I guess.
He's actually a very loyal person.
He'll never really attack anyone until
he's attacked first or feels threatened.
Stuart Broad has issued a statement stressing
he had no involvement in a parody Twitter
account in Kevin Pietersen's name.
I had the odd laugh
at it at the time which I regret.
I think deep down he knows
I never tweeted from that account
or had any influence on it.
There's a lot of things
you can do in a dressing room
to understand a player like that
and actually say "He is different".
I've had past captains say, you know,
Kevin was a dream to manage.
How can we come to this?
How has this happened?
Isn't there a danger it was just
an English sense of humour?
I wouldn't say it's a sense of humour
when you publicly humiliate
one of your teammates.
I... I don't think that there's anything
"sense of humour" about that, no.
When he first came into the England side,
he needed England.
As his career went on,
the less he needed England...
the harder he was to manage.
It was sad that Strauss's tenure as captain
ended in amongst all that controversy.
Pietersen being suspended over texts.
He'd been an outstanding captain.
Everyone was really annoyed
around the time they should be
so proud for him.
You could see the colour had gone
from his face.
He was devastated.
What people don't realise
is the toll it takes.
You go into it with your eyes open
that this is gonna be a 24-hours-a-day job
and that's exactly what it is.
CRICKETERS CHEER
- Yes!
- Come on!
By the end, you're not sleeping at night...
you're not playing well.
Your time has come.
CROWD CHEERS
- CRICKETER: Yeah!
It's so fragile.
The amount of time, effort, energy...
that goes into managing positive culture.
You've only got to take your eye
off the ball for a split second
and the first chip happens.
If you don't take care of that chip
suddenly you've got a crack.
It spreads...
and then it's too late.
One out. One in.
Alastair Cook, on his way to becoming
England's all time leading run scorer
was the natural choice.
CROWD CHEERS
Well, there's a fine stroke.
Cook reintegrated the rebel Pietersen
who stepped back onto the merry-go-round.
Victory for England
for the first time since 1984 in India.
Keep going, keep going.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
Most of the players
in the team were playing...
basically all year round.
It was nonstop.
Sometimes a change is a good as a rest...
PHONE CHIMES
- so, urn... please, come on. Mobiles, people!
Excuse me.
- MAN SHUSHES
INDISTINCT CHATTER
It's not healthy
when you're pushing yourself that hard
for that length of time.
The cricket existence certainly puts
a lot of strain on relationships.
At the height of our touring
I was away from home for 250 nights
a year
and perhaps didn't give my family...
not perhaps, most certainly, didn't give
my family the priority that I should have.
You could tell
it was getting to Andy big time.
He had problems with his relationship
he had problems with relationships
with some of the players.
It was horrible to watch.
No one managed the players.
It was just, you have to win.
All we care about is you winning
and if you don't win,
then we're not gonna be happy.
My past certainly influenced
that area of me as a coach.
Growing up in
an old colonial hierarchy system...
you do what you're told.
Uh... there's not much quarter given
and that's not necessarily
the healthiest way to operate.
If you're consumed by the game of cricket
all the time...
when you're away on a tour
of that length...
you'll drive yourself bonkers.
The game never changes...
cos the pitch doesn't change length
the ball doesn't change size.
It's all in your head.
There's another side
to good health, good mental health.
CROWD AND CRICKETERS CHEER
Test cricket's 90% mental, 10% technical.
Some people don't wanna show weakness.
People fight their own battles
behind closed doors sometimes.
If cricket didn't go right for me,
I would say in my room.
I did isolate myself.
I think part of me is a bit of like a...
a joker character.
But...
you want to be respected as a test cricketer
not just to be...
like a joke.
When I have my low moment
I think, "Oh I'm looking forward
to room service. Everything is there."
I would eat everything from it.
So I'll just stuff myself with all this sort
of unhealthy foods.
Crisps and the chocolate
and the fizzy drinks, and...
and just sit there and think, "Oh,
this feels great. Actually I'm alright now."
That starts to build up after a while.
That's an addiction.
He had the makings of a fine player
but he wasn't satisfied
with slow steady improvement.
Oh! He expected himself to be perfect,
right from the start.
I read what people were writing...
nasty things.
I just got in a really bad place.
I'd always been resistant really,
to sport psychologists
or people to talk to about that stuff
because I felt as though
I would learn more from dealing
with those problems by myself.
Nobody cared about Finn.
All they cared about was fricking...
go to the nets and hit that target.
We need you to hit that target.
The doctor would ask me
"How's the bowling going?"
I just burst into tears.
I was trying so hard to get it right
and trying not to let myself down, I suppose.
I had a three inch tear in my Achilles tendon
that no one knew about.
I played with that
for about five months, and...
a place I wouldn't want to go back...
is sat at Lord's in the dressing room
by myself in tears...
knowing that I was gonna
have to make a decision
to not play cricket for England.
It...
just was awful and lonely.
But the relentless one-percenters
that went into preparation
which, in turn, looks great on the outside
but unfortunately it bore the brunt of...
a complete emotional meltdown
in that environment.
Playing for England is the ultimate.
But while you're there...
it becomes a bit like a drug.
I remember thinking,
"There's something not quite right
I can't concentrate or...
I'm quite easily distracted and losing focus
on what I'm normally so good at...
I remember suddenly feel like
I'm just being attacked...
and it was really terrifying
and I didn't know what was going on.
I was my own worst enemy in that
I then saw this as a challenge.
You know, my mentality was
"OK, well, just work harder".
But the bowling machine that I'd done
for thousands of hours
seeing it now basically as an enemy.
I was watching this bloke who I'd seen
do the same thing over and over again
in his preparation.
Doing something
which I'd never seen before.
He was just getting bounced 95 miles an hour.
Machine balls are hard.
They're heavy and they're hard
and when they hit you, they hurt.
And he was just getting hit.
ALARM CLOCK BEEPS
I remember this digital clock
next to the bed.
I'd wake up at three
and still have a massive headache.
Um... and then you'd look at the clock
and it'd be three...
four...
five...
six...
until the time you had to put
your tracksuit back on
and head off to the grounds.
I'll never forget sitting in breakfast
you know, and just in tears basically,
trying to hide it from my team mates
having my cap over my eyes
eating my cornflakes.
I told the coaches, I told the management.
I realised how unhappy he was.
If you've got a guy that's crying...
HE SIGHS
...it just tells you everything
you need to know about that environment.
Whatever we did,
we were always looking to raise the bar
always looking to push.
Cos we were almost punching, punching,
punching, we never stopped, took a breath
and said, "Hold on a minute,
what is going on here?"
Nobody was missing the next assignment.
The history men
who'd conquered Australia three years earlier
returned to defend the Ashes.
What better way to recharge the spirit
to remind yourself why you play the game?
Remember, millions would
swap places with you.
This is England in Australia.
The perfect stage to pull your game together.
Still the chatter continues.
There's been plenty of it in this game.
It will be Mitchell Johnson to bowl.
I'm quite happy to...
Mitchell Johnson...
make no mistake, bowled quicker
and comfortably quicker
than anything else I'd ever faced
in my career that series.
Oh!
What a good delivery that is.
Oh!
The fear is not the fear of getting hit
The fear is fear of failure.
Jimmy and I were sat on the physio bed.
Trotty walked past us
just pouring with tears.
Jimmy and I looked at each other like...
"Have I... have I just, did I see
that right?"
You know, I don't know...
What's happened there?
Going out to bat...
I felt my movements were restricted.
I was very rigid.
I was tense.
It was really frightening.
CROWD CHEERS
Concentration...
is the absence of irrelevant thoughts.
When I was really struggling internally...
things started getting in.
I'd be just in tears on the field.
Pulls again. It's in there,
it's straight to him.
This'll be out. He's got him!
Dumb batting.
I almost think
I blacked out as I was walking off.
Just from the banging
that was going on in my head.
Obviously there's
a weakness there at the moment.
You know, the way that Trotty got out today
was pretty poor.
Pretty weak.
It does look like they've got scared eyes.
I can't keep playing
for England feeling like this.
Anxiety about playing...
swallowed him up, really.
It was a case of me
losing perspective
of what cricket was really about.
I pushed myself so hard.
Basically to breaking point.
It became very much
a life or death situation.
Playing in Australia...
everyone's just looking.
Where can we break this team apart?
Catch!
It's up in the air.
This will be it. Johnson will get it.
We lost five nil.
My lowest moment in an England shirt.
We've been totally outplayed.
It does feel
like the end of some type of era.
We were miles away from the side we were.
That was the end of it.
Test cricket is a battle between time
and the mind.
It's time for life to happen.
Time for cracks to widen.
The England and Wales
Cricket Board dumped Kevin Pietersen
because the national cricket team
put in such a pathetic performance
against the Australians this winter.
An examination of your brain.
The breaking of your bones.
Injuries ended my England career.
Graeme Swann confirmed
his retirement from international cricket.
A lump of bone just disintegrated.
I couldn't feel two of my fingers.
TOBY JONES". It's about having
all the time in the world
until the moment it matters.
Coach Andy Flower
the man who led England's disastrous
Australian Ashes tour, is standing down.
And then...
you're history.
I look back
at some of the decisions I made with regret.
If I had my time again, I'd definitely try
to work with a person
as much as I'd work with a player
and understand the place
that he was coming from.
Maybe we weren't aware enough of our mates.
The more positive thing and a healthier thing
would have been just get out of your room
just being aware of what, you know,
your teams and teammates are going through
cos on the outside it might look fine
but behind closed doors it's very different.
The psychological trauma...
is the toughest thing
about playing test cricket.
The only thing that should really matter is
how you feel, yourself.
It's getting better now
where people will talk about it more
and say, "Right, I'm struggling with this
I'm struggling with that."
But life as a professional sportsman
doesn't necessarily lend itself to you being
a good person
because it's about winning
and it's about getting the most
out of yourself
and the people around you.
HE CHEERS
And I'm not sure
you can be the best person you can be
when that's what's on the line.
Our team did rise
to the heights of the number one team
in the world
quicker than we thought we would.
And to reach certain heights,
it does take a lot of sacrifice.
Ten...
eleven...
twelve...
DEVICE BEEPS
But I don't think it has to be that way
the way that it ended, dropping very quickly.
Well done, Tom.
Was it worth it?
There was a lot of good
to come out at that time
but I'm very realistic about repercussions
good and bad, from those achievements.
Yeah, there's a bit of Bell
even in that shot. That's a bit Bell-y.
My own understanding of coaching
and mental health issues is better
and the wiser we are,
the more we understand this topic
the better off English cricket will be.
Meg, come here. Meg, come here.
It's an unbelievably challenging game.
You are tested in every single way.
HE LAUGHS
Hello you.
He loves it.
COW MOOS
I'm trying to think of something really...
Right the cows are now,
we didn't shut that...
Did we not shut that gate properly?
HE LAUGHS
That's not good.
Living on that edge all the time
you're gonna miss it, of course you are.
Ch-ch, go on.
Go on.
Ch-ch. Meg, get out.
I was ready to leave it behind.
Ch, go on.
For the rest of my life, I very much doubt
I'm gonna have those highs and lows.
And just knowing that...
there wasn't actually much more
to give is quite a satisfying thing.
CROWD APPLAUD
Alastair Cook has done it.
A century in his first ever test match
and not a century in his last.
No one's got
a divine right to play for England
or to have a fairy-tale ending.
I'm certainly proud of the way that
I conducted myself as an England player.
CROWD CHEERS
- INDISTINCT CHATTER
Ready for a family kiss?
- THEY KISS
I think I made everyone proud
and that's all I wanted to do, really.
What I'm gonna miss the most...
I don't know if I can say it.
No.
I think it's just the partnership
that you have with...
the other guys
'vs...
When you have a good partnership in the
middle, you seem invincible in a way.
I think you sort of, you share that...
all those hours of training.
Um... the thing, I'm...
I'm not gonna miss cricket I don't think.
You know, the playing,
the travelling, the practising
but what I'm gonna miss the most is...
batting with Straussy,
Cook, Pietersen and Bell.
That's basically it.
NO SOUND
Why does it matter at all?
In sport, there's
some incredible stories that evolve.
And those stories can be inspirational.
Whoa! Bloody hell, fellas!
I miss it massively.
I miss being at slip
watching Jimmy swing the ball.
I still get that time where I'm in a dream
that Nick comes
and you jump and you're like, "Oh".
It's just a dream.
I'm like, "Bugger!"
In some ways
the things you hated the most...
you miss the most...
the pressure...
the scrutiny...
that's what you miss
because it makes you feel alive.
Some of the greatest players
and greatest people you could
ever wish to meet
thrown into this room and told...
to go and be
the best team in the world.
Oh, my goodness me!
Unbelievable.
You know there's nothing that had happened...
- Baby, who are you talking to?
Oh, my goodness me.
There's hundreds of wickets I can't remember
but I remember throwing an Xbox controller
at Tim Bresnan in Australia.
- No!
- Boom!
THEY LAUGH
Bres, is it true you said
two minutes ago you needed a bigger screen?
THEY LAUGH
To have been a part of all that...
lucky bastard!
Seriously.
That's what sport is about.
You work so hard towards something
and then you achieve it...
and then you have to pass it on.
Hello.
Making a movie.
Even if I never play again
I still have the memories
of what I've done in an England shirt.
Well done boy, great series.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
If I could go back in time to one place
just for one more time...
it would be sat on the Sydney cricket ground
with that group of blokes
having just won the Ashes.
You know what
the greatest thing about sport is
is just what happened in the rows there.
That's what it's all about.
Your mates and having good times.
That at the end of the day
in there is why we do all the hard work.
And I fucking love that shit and you should
just keep loving it
cos that is what sport is all about
THEY CHEER