British media hails England's 'Great Ashcape'

'The Sun' summed up the mood with its catchy headline "England's Great Ashcape" and hailed Paul Collingwood, James Anderson and Monty Panesar as the trio who masterminded England's spectacular escape from the jaws of an imminent defeat in Cardiff.
Anderson and Panesar showed incredible guts as the last-wicket duo saw off the final 40 minutes during a 69-ball stand that took England to safety after Collingwood's marathon half-century had revived the hopes for a draw.
Former England captain Mike Atherton paid a glowing tributes to the trio in 'The Times' and said, "English batsmanship -- classic nose-to-the-grindstone, down-in-the-trenches, over-my-dead-body English batsmanship -- finally showed its face on the fifth day in Cardiff."
In the same daily, Simon Barnes said only Test cricket could dish out such intense drama.
"England tasted one of those glorious dramatic draws yesterday that only Test cricket at the highest level of intensity can deliver," he said.

Not to be left behind, 'Daily Mail' compared the England escape with a World War II British army operation under Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
"This was English cricket's Operation Dynamo. It was a triumph for Andrew Strauss and his men, in the way the Dunkirk evacuation was a triumph for the British army in 1940," Martin Samuel wrote in the newspaper.
Former captain Nasser Hussain, writing in the same newspaper, singled out Collingwood for special praise.
"He (Collingwood) provided a real lesson in how to apply mentally in a high pressure situation. England will be pleased to have escaped with a draw, but if I was coach I would be holding Collingwood up as an example of how to bat in a Test match," he said.
Hussain's view was shared by Paul Newman in the same daily.
"What a fighter England have in Collingwood. There were, as there invariably are, murmurings that he was again under pressure going into this series and he certainly looked out of nick. But Collingwood always does, yet there is no better man for a crisis in this team," Newman wrote.
"No praise is high enough for the way Jimmy Anderson and, incredibly, Monty Panesar survived the last 11-and-a-half overs to give England an escape that they had no right to expect after being comprehensively outplayed for four-and-a-half days," he added.

Their unbridled praise notwithstanding, the local media did not approve of England's time-wasting tactics during final day's play.
"... out came the 12th man with the usual devices, a fresh pair of gloves and a drink. Time wasted. Ricky Ponting fumed...two overs later when not only did the 12th man reappear but so too did the physiotherapist. It did England no credit," Mike Selvey fumed in 'The Guardian'.
'Daily Mail' also criticised the hosts for their delaying tactics and said, "There was also one serious black mark for England when they sent substitute fielder Bilal Shafayat and stand-in physio Steve McCaig on to the field as the drama reached its climax to try to waste time as the seconds ticked away towards a draw.
"Even Anderson seemed a little embarrassed the second time they invaded the playing area and it is a pity cricket has no equivalent of stopping the clock to punish timewasting. We reluctantly accept gamesmanship as part of modern sport, but it is still unsavoury when so blatantly enacted," said.