Yeah, the Wimbledon's over. And as the Great Britain gears up to the big event to follow, the Ashes, it's time I got back to watching Cricket after what has been a good break! (Note: However great a Cricket fan I claim to be, it is to be noted that a meaningless tri-series in the Caribbean featuring India, Sri Lanka and West Indies isn't to be followed! :P)
Well, the Aussies have warmed up a bit. Played a couple of tour matches, looked clinical. But, whatever! You don't need to be a Richie Benaud to understand that this is the weakest Australian team to play the Ashes since a long long time. A lot has been happening in Australian Cricket recently... Darren Lehmann has come in as the coach replacing Mickey Arthur 3 weeks before the Ashes (which means no more homework, phew!); they have Cricketers drinking alcohol and misbehaving at 2:30 in the morning; and what not. Those being the off-field issues, I won't read too much into them.
The reason for why one would say that this is one of the weakest Australian teams ever is because of their unbalanced batting order. They have got 5 (that's right FIVE!) full fledged openers in their squad in Watson, Rogers, Hughes, Cowan and Warner! Matthew Wade can open too. That is just too many! And what's even more worrying is that each one of them has a potential chance to be a part of the final XI. With Michael Clarke set to bat at No.5 and probably Usman Khawaja at No.4, Australia is in a spot of bother of whom to play in the top 3. Darren Lehmann announced the other day that Watson and Rogers will open in the 1st test. Now we have Hughes, Cowan and Warner fighting for the crucial No.3 spot. To be frank, in the present situation I don't think anyone among the three is good enough to bat at that number. Hughes is susceptible to short pitched bowling and isn't a good player of spin by any stretch of imagination; Warner has had some issues off the field, is short on match practice and on current Test form, he doesn't deserve a place in the side; Cowan is inexperienced, is nowhere close to the typical aggressive Australian batsman and is struggling on current form too. It'll be really interesting to see how the Aussies solve this problem. Or maybe they can consider to bring Khawaja and Clarke up the order and then keep Hughes or Warner at No.5 or No.6 to attack just the second the new ball (if their bating lasts long enough to take one :P).
The other problem they'll face is whether to play Haddin or Smith or Faulkner lower in the order at No.6 or No.7. Considering how fragile the rest of the batting looks, I'd be tempted to play Haddin. But, Smith and Faulkner give that extra bowling option also, and a damn effective one. But, if I was the captain I would play Haddin, at least for the 1st test. The rest of the XI should be Wade, Starc, Pattinson, Siddle and Lyon. The fast bowling looks decent but spin bowling worries do continue for Australia. Nathan Lyon, of course is no Shane Warne, but is surely above average. If the fast bowlers do their job, I don't see a reason for Lyon not doing well.
England, on the other hand, look pretty much settled in all departments. They had one selection dilemma at the top of the order which was whether to play Nick Compton or Joe Root, but with Joe Root's timely return to top notch form I don't think the place is up for grabs anymore. I haven't really seen a lot of Joe Root but I heard Mark Nicholas saying in his conversation with Harsha Bhogle the other day, that Joe Root is, technically, probably the finest Cricketer to come from England which he has ever seen. Now, that's a huge statement from the great man. The rest of England's batting is pretty strong too. Alaistair Cook and Johnathan Trott have been in the form of their life. Kevin Pietersen, after returning from his injury, has had some good knocks in domestic Cricket. There isn't much of a problem as far as form is concerned with Jonny Bairstow and Ian Bell either. All in all, they make a good batting unit, particularly in their home conditions.
Their bowling has been well settled as well, for a long time now. We all know how lethal James Anderson can be. Broad can be more than effective. Swann is a damn good off spinner. I would prefer Finn ahead of Bresnan and Onions, as the third seamer. Particularly because, what he brings to the table is very different. He's tall and will be able to extract that awkward bounce on a Day 4-Day 5 surface.
It's no secret that England start as overwhelming favorites. But, you never know with an Australian side. If Watson gets a few at the top of the order and then the rest of the batting revolves around Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Matthew Wade; a score of around 450-500 will be pretty much gettable. Having said that, if they score anything less than 300 or so, I don't see Australia rising up from the Ashes.
Well, the Aussies have warmed up a bit. Played a couple of tour matches, looked clinical. But, whatever! You don't need to be a Richie Benaud to understand that this is the weakest Australian team to play the Ashes since a long long time. A lot has been happening in Australian Cricket recently... Darren Lehmann has come in as the coach replacing Mickey Arthur 3 weeks before the Ashes (which means no more homework, phew!); they have Cricketers drinking alcohol and misbehaving at 2:30 in the morning; and what not. Those being the off-field issues, I won't read too much into them.
The reason for why one would say that this is one of the weakest Australian teams ever is because of their unbalanced batting order. They have got 5 (that's right FIVE!) full fledged openers in their squad in Watson, Rogers, Hughes, Cowan and Warner! Matthew Wade can open too. That is just too many! And what's even more worrying is that each one of them has a potential chance to be a part of the final XI. With Michael Clarke set to bat at No.5 and probably Usman Khawaja at No.4, Australia is in a spot of bother of whom to play in the top 3. Darren Lehmann announced the other day that Watson and Rogers will open in the 1st test. Now we have Hughes, Cowan and Warner fighting for the crucial No.3 spot. To be frank, in the present situation I don't think anyone among the three is good enough to bat at that number. Hughes is susceptible to short pitched bowling and isn't a good player of spin by any stretch of imagination; Warner has had some issues off the field, is short on match practice and on current Test form, he doesn't deserve a place in the side; Cowan is inexperienced, is nowhere close to the typical aggressive Australian batsman and is struggling on current form too. It'll be really interesting to see how the Aussies solve this problem. Or maybe they can consider to bring Khawaja and Clarke up the order and then keep Hughes or Warner at No.5 or No.6 to attack just the second the new ball (if their bating lasts long enough to take one :P).
The other problem they'll face is whether to play Haddin or Smith or Faulkner lower in the order at No.6 or No.7. Considering how fragile the rest of the batting looks, I'd be tempted to play Haddin. But, Smith and Faulkner give that extra bowling option also, and a damn effective one. But, if I was the captain I would play Haddin, at least for the 1st test. The rest of the XI should be Wade, Starc, Pattinson, Siddle and Lyon. The fast bowling looks decent but spin bowling worries do continue for Australia. Nathan Lyon, of course is no Shane Warne, but is surely above average. If the fast bowlers do their job, I don't see a reason for Lyon not doing well.
England, on the other hand, look pretty much settled in all departments. They had one selection dilemma at the top of the order which was whether to play Nick Compton or Joe Root, but with Joe Root's timely return to top notch form I don't think the place is up for grabs anymore. I haven't really seen a lot of Joe Root but I heard Mark Nicholas saying in his conversation with Harsha Bhogle the other day, that Joe Root is, technically, probably the finest Cricketer to come from England which he has ever seen. Now, that's a huge statement from the great man. The rest of England's batting is pretty strong too. Alaistair Cook and Johnathan Trott have been in the form of their life. Kevin Pietersen, after returning from his injury, has had some good knocks in domestic Cricket. There isn't much of a problem as far as form is concerned with Jonny Bairstow and Ian Bell either. All in all, they make a good batting unit, particularly in their home conditions.
Their bowling has been well settled as well, for a long time now. We all know how lethal James Anderson can be. Broad can be more than effective. Swann is a damn good off spinner. I would prefer Finn ahead of Bresnan and Onions, as the third seamer. Particularly because, what he brings to the table is very different. He's tall and will be able to extract that awkward bounce on a Day 4-Day 5 surface.
It's no secret that England start as overwhelming favorites. But, you never know with an Australian side. If Watson gets a few at the top of the order and then the rest of the batting revolves around Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Matthew Wade; a score of around 450-500 will be pretty much gettable. Having said that, if they score anything less than 300 or so, I don't see Australia rising up from the Ashes.
