The ashes …..The 5th ashes test start tomorrow Wednesday august 21 at the oval in london with England having already won the ashes already by winning the 4th test of the series at the durham icg last week on the 4th day going beyond retaining the ashes @ old Trafford to clinching the best of 5 series outright. The toss which could not have been more important was won by England who chose to bat which was a difficult but correct decision at the end of the day. That would be three to one in favour of England for the series so far which is a measure of luck being on england’s side as well. Nathan lyon the aussie off spinner had come to the party and answered questions about his ability to trouble the English batsmen. He not only took 4 top order wickects in the 1st innings with very economical bowling figures but also dismissed Kevin Peterson in both innings off the outside edge in the 1st and a leading edge trying to work the ball onside in the 2nd taken at short cover. Steve smith is obviously a very talented all rounder but australia are going to have to leave him out of the side going forward. His dropped catch at long on off swan’s cameo in the 2nd innings allowed england get a few extra runs to get to 330 to set Australia a significant target of 299 runs to win. That dropped catch made a big difference in d scheme of d match. his story echoes the story of the entire Australian middle order in these ashes series so far. Outside the 1st innings 180 runs by micheal Clarke @ old Trafford and 68 by shane Watson in very important partnership with chris rogers in the 1st innings @ durham there has been nothing from that middle order. I continue to wonder where the very experienced dependable & proven players like micheal and david hussey are. I can only suspect that australia’s selection is built solely around micheal clark whose leadership qualities are not anywhere comparable to the likes of the great aussie captains…. alan border, mark taylor or ricky pointing or even steve waugh for that matter who don’t feel threatened and whose egos don’t get in the way of them getting the best contribution from players in their side. It is no doubt that micheal is a world’s premier batsman and a very huge talent and australia’s anointed golden boy but that would not necessarily make for a great and successful captain. Alastair cook on the other hand comes a very simple fellow with no obvious ego or ‘need to be assertive’ issues. His players seem to like him and play for the team. Even Kevin pieterson’s big personality and ego is very well contained within the team’s goals which I think is very remarkable. Everybody accepts the fact that the 3-0 score line in the series does not depict the balance of the sides and the matches so far. Australia has not been able to win the most critical moments and press home the advantage for one reason or the other. They practically had the game in the bag at old Trafford & the rain did not allow them to take the remaining wickets which they most likely would have taken to win the match so it ended in a draw with England retaining the ashes which meant that England could not lose and Australia could not win the series from thereon. Also I felt that australia’s passing England’s 1st innings score of 238 @ durham for only the fall of 5 wickets they should have been able to press forward with a higher 1st inning score than d 270 they eventually posted to put pressure on England. We need to be reminded that chasing 299 runs Australia were 109 for 0. It took that delivery from tim bresnan whose 45 2nd innings runs were so critical to the England total to undo david warner who was on 71 and in very brilliant form. Stuart broad who had taken five wickets in the 1st innings came in to take 6 in the 2nd innings to practically win the match. Special mention has to be made of his spectacular delivery to uproot micheal clarke’s off stump comparable to jimmy anderson’s ball in the 1st test to remove micheal Clarke as well. So Australia went from 109 for none to 147 for 2 to 168 for 3 to 174 for 4 when micheal Clarke was undone by sturat broad to 179 for 6 to 181 for 7 with shane Watson dismissed on 2 and brad haddin on 4 to 199 for 8 to 211 for 9 and 224 all out. a story of a stoic collapse in just 69 overs. Remarkable features in the match were chris rogers 110 runs 1st innings score and critical partnership with shane Watson who was now coming in at no 6. But all in all regardless of stuart broad’s outstanding bowling figures especially in the 2nd innings this has been ian bell’s ashes all the way. He has always come in at very critical points when the top order had failed to fire and score runs to re-build innings after innings for England. His 2nd innings century and score of 113 was outstanding again. Jonny bairstow is such a talent and a fearless young lad and I am sure his selection will pay dividends for England in the long run if the selectors continue to have faith in him and he too is able & willing to work to correct some basic flaws in his batting. He seems to have a tendency to play across the line trying to work the ball to the on-side off straightish deliveries & playing off the front foot. joe root who is 22 as well but who is often reluctant to get on the front foot means that playing as an opener facing the new ball makes him susceptible and vulnerable. The 5th test starting tomorrow at the kennigton oval in south London tomorrow is not just a match in a dead rubber. Australia would be dying to get on the board with a win- any kind of win for that matter. The match would set the tone for the series coming up in the winter down under. England needs to tinker with the side especially with the bowling as tim bresnan is going to be out for some time for stress fracture. England probably need to find a proper opener & take joe root down the order where he can do more damage. England have never beaten Australia 4 nothing before in a series in England so there is abundant incentive for the English boys to distinguish themselves & go for glory. The Australian coach Darren lehman was heard issuing threats to his side that they should assume that they were playing for their places with the exception of micheal Clarke of course. they have given usman khawaja a proper contract now. Talk of sticks, carrot & general psychology but whether it would be enough remains to be seen very shortly. Regardless however od whatever transpires we can all be rest assured that an entertaining test match in on the billing again. ‘It is still the ashes … stupid!!!!’ I tell myself.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 17:54:18 +0000
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