Australia in trouble heading into Ashes
Roar Guru By Jason Cave, 3 Aug 2010 The Crowd is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Ashes, Cricket, Mike Gatting, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Ricky Ponting
England’s demolition job of Pakistan in the first Test would’ve sent alarm bells ringing in the Australian team. This England side is possibly the most potent heading into an Ashes battle since the ‘Grand Slam’ tour under Mike Gatting in 1986-87.
And with James Anderson and Stuart Broad, they have finally found a pace attack that can give the Australians nightmares in Australia.
The decision by the England brains-trust to give the Englishmen practice sessions by using the Australian ball – the Kookaburra – is a step in the right direction.
Australia does have serious concerns heading into the Ashes series, especially the form of Mitchell Johnson, Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey. The England team under Andrew Strauss would’ve liked what they saw in the recent Pakistan-Australia Test series.
Then there’s the problem of scheduling.
While England will have three warm-up matches prior to the first Test in Brisbane, the Australian side will be involved in a full-scale tour of India.
By the time the Australians come back from the Indian tour, England would’ve got a fair idea abourt how to handle Australian pitches and the conditions, thanks to those three practice matches.
For Australia, it’s hardly the ideal preparation for an Ashes series, isn’t it? And the pitch conditions of a pitch in Mumbai and the one used in Brisbane for the first Test is vastly different.
The Urn could be in England’s keeping for far longer than we first thought.
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- Explore:
- Ashes, Cricket, Mike Gatting, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Ricky Ponting
August 5th 2010 @ 1:01pm
Jameswm said | August 5th 2010 @ 1:01pm | Report comment
RBH
England’s form in australia for the last 20 years has been so strong, how could anyone possibly doubt them?
August 5th 2010 @ 5:38pm
RBH said | August 5th 2010 @ 5:38pm | Report comment
Scott – Here is me praying for a nice overcast Australian summer, with low clouds (and a Dukes ball)….
James – You’re right, England have been rubbish in Aus over the last 20 years. However, that is irrelevant I’m afraid. you need to wake up and realise that your (and our) teams have changed. McGrath, Hayden, Gilchrist and warne are gone, and Ponting’s timing is going. We have our own issues – Cook and KP’s form and concerns over Jimmy A’s ability in unfriendly conditions for example, but if you are going to sit there and base your predictions on form for the last 20 years, you arent going to get very far.
Current form is the key. Not the form of teams 2, 5, 10, or 20 years ago. There will only be a few England players in the team who toured last time when we got nilled by your lot.
August 9th 2010 @ 8:09pm
Fisher Price said | August 9th 2010 @ 8:09pm | Report comment
More to the point, last time around was the first time playing Tests in Australia for the following six players:
Strauss, Cook, Bell, Pietersen, Collingwood and Anderson.
You’d think they’d be better for this experience heading into the 2010/2011 series, especially the batsmen.