Ashes are a comming
Taken from The Spin (24 October 2006) after Australia's defeat of England in the Champions Trophy at the weekend.
FIRST BLOOD AUSTRALIA Yes, yes, we are all aware that the Champions Trophy is not theAshes and all that, but only the most obtuse kind of ale-quaffing,pie-eating, Union Jack-waving John Bull-alike would argue that Australia's victory over England on Saturday was irrelevant to thedirection of the psychological pendulum before November 23.
Here,then, are the plus points each side can take from Jaipur to Brisbane:
Australia
1) Suddenly they have an attack. The Spin isn't talking about ShaneWarne, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee, who are all certs for Brisbane.No, by far the best thing to come out of Jaipur was Mitchell Johnson,the 24-year-old left-arm fast bowler who made Kevin Pietersen look anovice with the two-card trick of bouncer and full-length tempter.Australia's most glaring weakness ahead of the Ashes had appeared tobe the lack of pace back-up, but Johnson - who counts Dennis Lillee among his most drooling fans - could be the solution.
2) The three wickets taken by Shane Watson was enough to persuade this Englishman that Australia will even go into Brisbane with a balancedfive-man bowling unit. Yes, one of his wickets was a leg-sidestrangle, but the Aussies now have a mini-Flintoff who is growing instature, even if his bowling at Test level still needs work. And withMcGrath short of match fitness, five bowlers is precisely what Australia might need.
3) With the exception of Damien Martyn's sun-bedazzled aberration atmid-off, Australia's fielding was ominously smooth. Countless divesin the infield saved them at least 30 runs and provided the perfectretort to the Dad's Army jibes that are sure to come their way thiswinter.
4) Speaking of Martyn, if there was one Australian who needed runs toexorcise the memories of 2005, it was he. Martyn was never exactlyout of form last summer - he just kept getting good balls and baddecisions - and it was an uncharacteristically knee-jerk decision byAustralia's selectors to drop him. But his 78 ("death by silk", as Rob Smyth called it on the OBO) was beautiful catharsis. Never mind that Harmison bowled rubbish at him: this was elegant revenge.
5) Ricky Ponting's captaincy last summer was feeble, and it remains apotential target for England. But on Saturday everything clicked. Six of his 12 bowling changes resulted in a first-over wicket, and there were touches of flair in the field too. The Spin still fancies Ponting to lose his cool if the heat is turned up this winter, but -in the field at least - this was a cucumber-like start.
6) Mike Hussey. He could be the difference.
England
1) Andrew Strauss's decision to charge McGrath's first ball revealedan aggressive blueprint for the winter: hit the old codger off hislength. His figures (9-1-36-2) were reasonable in the end, but thatwas mainly because England were 126 for 5 when he came on for hissecond spell. His first was far more revealing: 4-0-27-0 and almostas many headshakes as runs. England need to take risks to retain theAshes. Getting stuck into the 36-year-old McGrath might turn out tobe the least of them.
2) This was a huge match for Ian Bell. His previous memory of playingAustralia was a pair at The Oval, since when he has averaged 51 in 10Tests and 45 in 17 ODIs. But he needed a score to prove to himselfthat he can take on the Aussies - and to prove to them too. A crisp43, full of strokes he would not even have considered last summer, will do very nicely.
3) Adam Gilchrist might have fancied his chances against an attack missing Andrew Flintoff, but instead he was undone by another giant Lancastrian bowling round the wicket. Yes, the timing suited England- it was the first ball after a concentration-threatening floodlight failure - but his dismissal was so reminiscent of last summer thatDuncan Fletcher cannot quite have believed what he was seeing.
4) The bowling of James Anderson was a very welcome bonus, but of more significance were the two wickets in seven balls from Sajid Mahmood,not least because one of them was Ponting. He bowled drivel eitherside, as he tends to in one-day cricket, but his brief internationalcareer is studded with match-turning mini-spells. Two of those infive Tests this winter should keep England in the hunt.
5) There is no No5.
FIRST BLOOD AUSTRALIA Yes, yes, we are all aware that the Champions Trophy is not theAshes and all that, but only the most obtuse kind of ale-quaffing,pie-eating, Union Jack-waving John Bull-alike would argue that Australia's victory over England on Saturday was irrelevant to thedirection of the psychological pendulum before November 23.
Here,then, are the plus points each side can take from Jaipur to Brisbane:
Australia
1) Suddenly they have an attack. The Spin isn't talking about ShaneWarne, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee, who are all certs for Brisbane.No, by far the best thing to come out of Jaipur was Mitchell Johnson,the 24-year-old left-arm fast bowler who made Kevin Pietersen look anovice with the two-card trick of bouncer and full-length tempter.Australia's most glaring weakness ahead of the Ashes had appeared tobe the lack of pace back-up, but Johnson - who counts Dennis Lillee among his most drooling fans - could be the solution.
2) The three wickets taken by Shane Watson was enough to persuade this Englishman that Australia will even go into Brisbane with a balancedfive-man bowling unit. Yes, one of his wickets was a leg-sidestrangle, but the Aussies now have a mini-Flintoff who is growing instature, even if his bowling at Test level still needs work. And withMcGrath short of match fitness, five bowlers is precisely what Australia might need.
3) With the exception of Damien Martyn's sun-bedazzled aberration atmid-off, Australia's fielding was ominously smooth. Countless divesin the infield saved them at least 30 runs and provided the perfectretort to the Dad's Army jibes that are sure to come their way thiswinter.
4) Speaking of Martyn, if there was one Australian who needed runs toexorcise the memories of 2005, it was he. Martyn was never exactlyout of form last summer - he just kept getting good balls and baddecisions - and it was an uncharacteristically knee-jerk decision byAustralia's selectors to drop him. But his 78 ("death by silk", as Rob Smyth called it on the OBO) was beautiful catharsis. Never mind that Harmison bowled rubbish at him: this was elegant revenge.
5) Ricky Ponting's captaincy last summer was feeble, and it remains apotential target for England. But on Saturday everything clicked. Six of his 12 bowling changes resulted in a first-over wicket, and there were touches of flair in the field too. The Spin still fancies Ponting to lose his cool if the heat is turned up this winter, but -in the field at least - this was a cucumber-like start.
6) Mike Hussey. He could be the difference.
England
1) Andrew Strauss's decision to charge McGrath's first ball revealedan aggressive blueprint for the winter: hit the old codger off hislength. His figures (9-1-36-2) were reasonable in the end, but thatwas mainly because England were 126 for 5 when he came on for hissecond spell. His first was far more revealing: 4-0-27-0 and almostas many headshakes as runs. England need to take risks to retain theAshes. Getting stuck into the 36-year-old McGrath might turn out tobe the least of them.
2) This was a huge match for Ian Bell. His previous memory of playingAustralia was a pair at The Oval, since when he has averaged 51 in 10Tests and 45 in 17 ODIs. But he needed a score to prove to himselfthat he can take on the Aussies - and to prove to them too. A crisp43, full of strokes he would not even have considered last summer, will do very nicely.
3) Adam Gilchrist might have fancied his chances against an attack missing Andrew Flintoff, but instead he was undone by another giant Lancastrian bowling round the wicket. Yes, the timing suited England- it was the first ball after a concentration-threatening floodlight failure - but his dismissal was so reminiscent of last summer thatDuncan Fletcher cannot quite have believed what he was seeing.
4) The bowling of James Anderson was a very welcome bonus, but of more significance were the two wickets in seven balls from Sajid Mahmood,not least because one of them was Ponting. He bowled drivel eitherside, as he tends to in one-day cricket, but his brief internationalcareer is studded with match-turning mini-spells. Two of those infive Tests this winter should keep England in the hunt.
5) There is no No5.
posted by Dom at 11:36 AM
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