As England’s international summer begun on Thursday, it was the perfect opportunity to see how England’s batting line-up would cope against a strong New Zealand bowling line-up which included the likes of Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Matt Henry.
All I can say is that the Australian bowling attack will be licking their lips after what they saw on Thursday.
In the first few overs Tim Southee and Trent Boult were getting the ball to swing and do all sorts and it was apparent that the top order weren’t ready for such high quality bowling.
England slumped to 4-30 and the cries for Kevin Pietersen to return begun again.
As I was watching I could already envisage in my head Ryan Harris, Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson doing the exact same thing to this English top order come that first Test in July.
The top order for England are far too tentative and it proved against New Zealand on that opening morning.
Alastair Cook has not been the same player he was back in the 2010 Ashes series for a good time and I just can’t see how he will stand up against the best bowling attack in the world come July.
Adam Lyth has just come in and is looking to see if he can go on and become a top player for England. He certainly wouldn’t have experienced anything like the Australian bowling line-up for his county side, Yorkshire.
Gary Ballance is a very good player but is he a number three for this side and will he be able to cope against the new ball if one of the openers falls early come July?
The middle order certainly isn’t the issue for England. If this English side are to get anything from the upcoming Ashes series then it’ll be very much down to the middle order of Ian Bell, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali.
We saw the top order show no sign of taking the New Zealand bowling on and that simply allowed the New Zealand bowlers to just bowl at the English batsmen. When Root and Stokes came in, they took the game on and made the New Zealand bowlers think about what they were actually going to bowl.
They need to get that mentality into the top order batsmen. It is the only way to get anything out of the Australian bowling attack. If you sit back and let the Australian bowlers bowl at you then it’ll be over before you know it.
It’s very difficult to see this upcoming series being a contest. England simply can’t keep falling to scores such as 4-30 and expect the middle order to recover the game all the time.
England’s middle order will have days where it fails and crumbles and it’s more likely to happen against Australia who have the best bowling attack in the world.
Even if England’s top order go on and have a successful second innings against New Zealand, I simply can’t see it being successful for the long term.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
While a premature retirement isn’t the solution, he or England want, he may be forced into it if he can’t maintain a long run of matches.
England's chances of retaining the Twenty20 World Cup have been hit for six with the news Ben Stokes has opted out of selection for…
Bazball was developed as a strategy devised to use the resources efficiently rather than revolutionize the system.
England's tour of India has ended in abject fashion as the tourists were hammered by an innings and 64 runs inside three days, with…
India have bowled England out for a below-par 218 and cruised to 1-135 in reply to seize early control of the fifth and final…
India have accomplished a nervy run-chase to secure a five-wicket victory against England in the fourth cricket Test in Ranchi. Chasing a modest 192…
