Australia Wield the Axe

 

 

Ashes 2013

 

Seconds Out! Round 2!

 

July 18^th

 

[09:00 CEST] Yesterday, Alistair Cook said that he would not shirk from taking tough decisions. Everyone understood this as being a reference to the composition of the bowling attack and, specifically, Steve Finn. Some people have understood though that what he means is that he will make the huge call to keep Finn in the side, rather than drop him as (almost) everyone expected.

Early word is that Australia have reached for the axe without sentiment to the 1^st Test defeat and will make two major changes: Mitchell Starc and Ed Cowan will pay the price for the insipid batting and bowling displays of Australia in the 1^st Test and will be replaced with Ryan Harris and Usman Khawaja. It would be a swift and summary response. Cowans’s 3, 46, 58, 34, 0 & 14 on tour has not been a disaster, but neither has it been royal progress. Starc’s recent form has not been poor, but he is perceived to have faded in the second innings at Trent Bridge as England put the match beyond Australia.

It could be that there are two changes to the sides when they take the field later this morning but, rather than one change each, both are from Australia, while England put out the same XI as eight days ago.

Once again the bookmakers make England strong favourites to win the Test. England are 6-5 on, Australia 3-1, with the draw second favourite, but at odds not much shorter than an Australian win.

[12:30 CEST] Good news for Steve Finn and for England. The chop administered, with Tim Bresnan, taking his place, he is straight off to Hove to play for Middlesex where he is guaranteed a long bowl, which is what he needs to get back on song. He will benefit, Middlesex will benefit, England will benefit.

England have won the toss, bat and have started confidently. 18-0 after 4 overs, with a lot of the Australian bowling very wild. And, as I write, Clarke brings on Shane Watson early and Cook falls to his first ball.

Not so good for David Warner in South Africa: out for 6 as Australia make somewhat heavy weather of the Zimbabwe Select XI’s bowling.

18-0 after 4 overs becomes 28-3 after 6. Mayhem again. And Harris has two wickets on his recall.

[23:15 CEST] What to make of another odd day? England started appallingly badly, recovered well and, an hour before the Close, it seemed that England were heading to a position of complete dominance and a huge total. The factor that changed everything was the entry into the attack of Steve Smith – not exactly the greatest of England’s worries before the series started. Interestingly Smith got Bell with a ball that turned sharply and that was on the first afternoon.

It was striking that Smith was giving the ball a huge rip. While Agar was only obtaining around 1500-1600 revolutions per minute on the ball and, at Trent Bridge, Graeme Swann was obtaining 2200-2300, Smith was regularly going over 2500.

After the remarkable events of the 1^st Test, Agar had a much quieter day. A return of 0-44 from 13 overs was generous because he had little threat and sent down at least one, score poor ball per over. In truth, much of the Australian bowling was insipid. James Pattinson came with a big reputation as a fiery fast bowler but, after starting in the high 80s he slowed progressively and was bowling in the low to mid-80s most of the day, the sort of pace that had Tim Bresnan dismissed as a trundler in India. To be honest, he never really looked like seriously inconveniencing the batsman and was rather expensive, not being especially quick and often being a little wild. Poor Peter Siddle bowled just one no ball all day and it had to be the delivery that bowled Jonny Bairstow neck and crop. Strangely, the fasted ball of the day was attributed, on the speed gun, to Shane Watson, which does rather make one doubt its reliability, although Watson, brought on in only the fifth over of the day to try to slow England’s rapid start, immediately dismissed Cook and looked far more threatening than Pattinson. Ryan Harris was always menacing: fortunately for England, he is unlikely to be risked in consecutive Tests because he is so prone to breakdown.

I have seen estimates that England’s total is around 200 short. I just wonder. At Trent Bridge we thought that England’s total was well short of par, yet Australia then collapsed to 117-9. Already today the pitch was turning and had some pace and carry. Twice in the day, one wicket became three very quickly. The pitch also dried out rapidly in the afternoon heat and could start to break up. My suspicion is that 350 – if England can get them – might look like a pretty good total by tomorrow evening. To get 350 though, someone else will need to make a score; a 30 from Bresnan, Broad or Swann would be greatly appreciated.

One thing that is becoming increasingly evident is that the Joe Root experiment is not proving to be a success. He has scored 30, 5 and 6 so far in this series. He was asked to move up to stop Australia getting momentum with early wickets, but the opening partnerships so far have been 27, 11 and 18: not exactly what England had hoped for. Varun Chopra and Nick Compton will be watching developments with interest. It will be one more Test before the cries for Root to return to #6 become deafening unless he makes a score, but there is already some disquiet that his regal progress in the middle order has been halted, hopefully just temporarily. One is tempted to ask: would England have done better with Compton opening and Root at #6?