By 2001, the Ashes had become a bit of an obsession. Winning the urn in 1985 was my beautiful introduction to Test match cricket and retaining the Ashes down under in 1986/87 was the stuff of dreams during a turbulent time for English cricket. But then came 1989.
A series that has entered the hall of shame for the England national team, anything that could go wrong that year did. The 4-0 reverse was shocking, as 29 players were shuffled around in the vague hope that England could compete with the resurgent tourists. To be honest, losing 4-0 flattered us.
From that point on I dreamed of winning back the urn at the start of every Ashes series. But time after time it soon became clear that my initial hopes were ill-founded. Losing became a habit against Australia, but still I hoped that the latest series would be the one. You do it to yourself, you do, and that's what really hurts.
