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The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1997 season to play a six-match Ashes Test series against England. Australia, under Mark Taylor, won the series 3-2 with strong batting performances from Matthew Elliott supporting the decisive bowling of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie. England had enjoyed good form leading up to the series, with a 3-0 One Day International victory, and success in New Zealand, however after winning convincingly in the first Test the host team struggled. Graham Thorpe and Nasser Hussain both managed to score over 400 runs for England, with Andrew Caddick the leading wicket-taker. ==Prelude== The previous series over the winter of 1994-95, hosted in Australia, saw the host nation win 3-1. Australia, however, entered the 1997 series with a number of injuries and poor form. Mark Taylor had also suffered what ''Wisden'' referred to as "personal purgatory", involving a pay dispute with the Australian Cricket Board.〔 *〕 His captaincy was itself in question until April 1997. Matthew Elliott's selection and the reshuffle of Michael Bevan's position in the batting order also attracted media speculation. England, in contrast, were enjoying strong form.〔 Alec Stewart had been named player of the year, and experienced Michael Atherton reselected as captain. In the media, the ''Daily Telegraph'' heralded a "new England". John Crawley's surprise selection for the ODI series was seen as a wise decision by Christopher Martin-Jenkins, while Australia lost warm-up practice at Durham due to rain. Australia were whitewashed during the ODI Texaco series. Australian cricketer Ian Chappell in particular voiced his concerns over Taylor's responsibility. England, on the other hand, gained a sense of optimism about the coming Test series. Qamar Ahmed, of the ''Daily Telegraph'', wrote that "I have rarely seen Australia bowl so badly and field so poorly. They were guilty of exactly that in the last three matches and their batting with their out-of-form captain Mark Taylor makes them even a lot fractious than they should be with the abundance of talent that they have on tour." Christopher Martin-Jenkins echoed such sentiments, stating that England's "hopes of winning the Ashes are growing." Atherton himself wrote in the media of his pride regarding "England's young lions" during the ODI series. Australia were not without their own confidence. Chappell highlighted the role of Shane Warne in the media, while England bowler Dean Headley was ruled out of the opening Test with an injury. Nick Knight and Phil Tufnell were both left out of the final eleven, and Dominic Cork also picked up an injury.〔 Nevertheless, Australia entered the first Test under pressure. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Australian cricket team in England in 1997」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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