The Ashes Series 2010/2011 Complete Collection 7DVD Box Set

Have split this to 2 stars for the highlights DVD and 4 star for the additional DVDs.

Highlights DVDs are literally that, I was hopeful it may have been like the excellent 2005 & 2009 Ashes DVDs with a build up to the tests and information of goings on between the matches (newspaper back pages etc.). They are just a collection of what is probably Channel Nines daily highlight summary pieced together.

The extras DVDs are a lot better than what I thought they would be, aside from the normal behind the scenes which are always interesting but nothing special there is a excellent documentary on the series with both captains involved in it. Always good with a bit of barmy army in it also

This is a slick well produced production giving us the highlights of a famous cricketing moment plus analysis and interviews, but as with the baseball DVD's why is it not possible to give us the complete match? There are many ex pats around the world who would really appreciate the whole experience.

It never ceases to amaze me how much some people love to complain. Never more evident than in some of the reviews of this marvellous celebration of an event English cricket devotees waited over 20 years for. Given that those years were spent predominantly enduring our commentators berating the varying skill-gaps between the sides, and lamenting the dire performances of a seemingly never-ending parade of English elevens, I for one gain immense satisfaction from the Australian commentary team on this collection. Hearing them go through the very same fade from hope to shock to dismay and finally to resigned disgust at their own team is good enough, but to hear the faint praise, moving through grudging admiration until finally reaching open envy when regarding the English players is far more rewarding than having 10 hours of exultant and one-eyed rapture from Geoff Boycott. We get to see the blatant hypocrisy of their slanging Ian Bell for not walking after a faint nick, when two matches earlier Michael Clarke hadn't done the decent thing after hitting it full in the face. And then there's Ian Healy's claim that Phil Hughes hadn't immediately claimed a "catch-that-never-was" even though he was two feet up in the air at the time offering to celebrate. The final high point for me is Shane Watson edging for the umpteenth time to slip in the 5th and last Test, accompanied by a loud "Oh no!", and it isn't immediately clear whether it was him or one of the commentators. If you wanted to be thrifty I suppose you could seek out the 5 disc highlights set and the 2 disc Inside Story separately, but what's the point, really, when you can buy this and savour it as one delicious whole? After all, it most likely won't happen again for another couple of generations, but even if it does, it won't be as sweet as this was.