Australia get all the encouragement that they need

Ashes 2013

 

Australia get all the encouragement that they need

 

June 30^th

 

 

Here we go again! England contrive to make a second string Essex attack look lethal on a blameless pitch and the Australians must be licking their lips at what their own attack will do. The laughter of the Australian fans has been audible in the feedback on CricInfo’s pages.

England have finished the day 328-7 with a century stand and individual fifties for Swann and Bresnan to thank for a position far better than seemed likely at Tea, when major embarrassment looked likely. It looked like the performance of a side that was far too relaxed, too casual and not taking things as seriously as it might. Every one of the nine batsmen to have an innings so far has reached double figures. No less than seven of them have reached 20, which one might reasonably say is that point at which they are well in but, until Swann and Bresnan decided that it was time for someone to apply himself, no one had reached 50.

It would not particularly surprise me if Swann – no mean bat with four First Class centuries – or Bresnan – who has three – were to go on to make a century tomorrow, take England past 400 and set up what could easily be an innings victory. England have often shown this ability to look casual one day and then roar back and win, but a day like today certainly boosts the confidence of the opposition.

What have we learnt today? First and most important, it doesn’t matter who the opposition is, it has to be treated with respect and played on its merits. No match is won simply by turning up, especially not a Test match. If England have learnt a lesson in humility and in taking the opposition seriously, whoever they are, it will have been time well spent. Second, Joe Root had a chance to make a solid case to be England’s opener and, if he didn’t blow it, hardly made as convincing a case as he and the selectors would have hoped. Nick Compton, who has made plenty of runs for Somerset recently, is most definitely still in with a chance of resuming his, presumed aborted, career as a Test opener.

There are many who think that with Root doing so well at six for England it is playing with fire to move him in the order and bring in someone else, probably Jonny Bairstow, at six in a double change. People have, unfairly, used the word “panic” to describe this change, but it is an unusual change of policy by the England selectors who normally give a player longer to break a run of low scores. There is no doubt that Compton has not had an easy time in the last three Tests, but he had done the job asked of him in India and had back-to-back tons as other batsmen struggled in New Zealand.

Compton’s First Class scores since being told by Geoff Miller that he was not up to scratch have been 166, 18, 15, 56, 81 & 34: hardly an indication of calamitous form. Those last two scores were against an Australian side with a pretty useful attack. If he can get runs playing as a guest for Worcestershire against Australia this coming week it will be hard to ignore him. Not all fans are happy that Worcestershire have asked to give him this chance but, given the way that sides tend to use these games against tourists to “rest” senior players, it can hardly be on the grounds that their team is being weakened, or that Worcestershire’s own players are being denied a chance to play.

England need Swann and Bresnan to keep on batting sensibly tomorrow morning and for the bowling attack to treat Essex with respect and bowl at them as hard as if it were a Test match.