Australia Ring The Changes... Again. Durham Work Their Magic... Again!

 

 

Ashes 2013

 

Australia Ring the Changes… again, while Durham work their magic

 

September 19^th

 

 

[14:00 CEST] While England enjoys a soggy climax to the season, with the County Championship likely to be decided today – Durham need only to dodge the rain for an hour or so to seal the title with a game to spare – Australia are already preparing for their next international commitment and, in doing so, threaten to hand the initiative neatly back to England.

Durham’s title will be well deserved. It has also come as quite a shock to the system of many pundits who tipped Durham for relegation. The reasons for expecting them to struggle were sound enough: the side had a difficult season last year and only survived relegation after a late run of form; it is going through a deep re-generation – players such as Plunkett and Harmison have gone, the captaincy has passed from hand to hand like a dodgy grenade, the batting has been fragile and the bowling uncertain. What those pundits failed to take into account was the sudden injection of confidence that the appointment of Paul Collingwood has given. England place and T20 captaincy long gone, Collingwood took over the reins for the end of the 2012 season with the side looking certain to go down into Division 2, marking the end of a golden era for Durham. Durham managed an astonishing late run of results and were undoubtedly the form side at the end of the 2012 season. It should not have been a great surprise to anyone that they carried that form through to the 2013 season.

However, a third of the way through the season Durham were only third. On May 18^th, with five games completed, Middlesex had managed a tubocharged start and were sitting proud on top of the Championship, with three wins, ahead of Yorkshire, with Durham 9.5 points back. Middlesex faded away and, in their next ten games, won just two and suffered four defeats. Yorkshire were seen off in a critical match in August and, suddenly, Durham were sitting proud on the top of the Championship.

The seminal moment for Durham’s campaign was the remarkable game against Nottinghamshire early in the season. Durham had started with a win and then heavy defeats against Warwickshire and Yorkshire. Their season was stalling almost before it had started. Starting the last day, a win seemed the most likely thing, but Nottinghamshire hung on and hung on and when Graeme Swann and Ajmal Shazad added 75 for the last wicket it seemed to have condemned the match to a draw. Durham were left 183 to win in 23 overs. Block out a couple of overs and shake on a draw? Durham came blasting out of the blocks and won with almost three overs to spare. Suddenly their season had changed direction. Paul Collingwood showed that he was willing to attack in any situation and the wins flowed and, with them, the confidence.

Probably only dyed in the wool fans can name the majority of the Durham team. There are not too many household names, nor major stars, but the club has kept a tight, local identity and has remained part of the community, producing endless local talent. They have done a fabulous job to turn things round and win again. They have a beautiful ground in a lovely part of the country and are well-supported. A lot of cricket fans around the country will be delighted with their success and with the renaissance of Yorkshire who, despite heavy Test calls, have given Durham a real run for their money.

England will announce their Ashes squad on Monday 23^rd. Probably thirteen names pick themselves, while the other three will cause endless debate. Australia though move straight on to their next international commitment.

The last two Ashes series have been preceded by a short Australian tour of India. On both occasions the tour has been a disaster and Australia have been significantly softened-up for England. Once again, Australia are heading to India so that many of the Ashes squad will miss the early Sheffield Shield games. While England are preparing in Australia, Australia will be grinding around India, playing a T20 and seven ODIs: the ECB may be tempted to send a polite thank you to Mumbai if Australia have another difficult series and head to the Ashes with their momentum stalled again and their preparations somewhat de-railed. Back in April, the unanimous opinion was that Australia’s 4-0 defeat in India would have no bearing on the Ashes. Of course, people said that. And of course it was pure fantasy. No opponent can resist enjoying the sort of chaos in the opposition camp that a series whitewash produces and no side recovers from such a whitewash quickly, whatever fine words they say about it.

Australia seem determined not to learn from past mistakes. Of course, were they to go to India and to win and win in style, it would be a huge boost, but India is India and sides do not win there easily.

The Australian touring party only contains a handful of likely names for the 1^st Test. Watson, Clarke and Haddin are sure to be in the squad. Phil Hughes may well be. Mitch Johnson and James Faulkner certainly will hope to be. What is interesting is to see the changes. David Warner has been dropped. He will be expected to make runs in the Sheffield Shield, in his place is Aaron Finch, who has also replaced him as the batting sensation. Xavier Doherty has replaced Fawad Ahmed, who had replaced him for the ODIs in England. After the matches in South Africa, the tour management gave Fawad Ahmed a glowing report, saying that he had bowled far better than his figures suggested. This has happened again. He received some heavy punishment from England and, in his three official ODIs, has gone at better than a run a ball, taking just three wickets at almost 50 each but, again, is reported to have bowled better than his figures suggest. He is also being asked to play in the Sheffield Shield and make his case for the Ashes, although it looks as if he will have to be extremely convincing to replace Nathan Lyon.

For Matt Wade, things are less certain. Only a few months ago he was being hailed by Australian fans as the best wicket-keeper batsman in the world. His tour of England has been a disaster: limited opportunities and, when they came, few runs, a lot of dropped catches and missed chances and, now, after ten Tests and forty ODIs, he has lost his place to a man ten years older who has decided that he wants to continue playing until the 2015 World Cup. Whether or not there is a way back for him is uncertain.

Of course, Michael Clarke may not even be fit to make the trip. His back is giving more cause for concern. Plan B in this case is George Bailey and not Shane Watson.

Australia’s selectors are conforming to recent tradition, embarking on a tough tour as Ashes preparation and the revolving door selection policy, if moderated, is still present. It may be third time lucky for Australia. There again, it may not be.