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The Ashes: Series swings violently again as Aussies collapse

Poor selections and captaincy cost Australia at the World T20. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Expert
30th July, 2015
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4766 Reads

Adam Voges Test career looks over while Michael Clarke’s continued to slide as Australia again collapsed in the third Ashes Test overnight.

Entering this series in England, Voges shaped as the man who could add some stability to an Australian middle order that had become a significant weakness.

The 35-year-old batsman was fresh from an extraordinary Sheffield Shield season and on Test debut looked like a man who had been donning the baggy green for eons.

Since that composed 130no against the West Indies in his first Test, Voges hasn’t passed 50 in six innings, making 110 runs at an average of 18.

Last night, he left the door wide open for his State teammate and batting rival Shaun Marsh as he registered his second failure of the Edgbaston Test.

Hanging his bat outside off stump, Voges edged the first ball he faced to Ian Bell in the slips and placed Steve Finn on a hat trick.

Ordinarily, a new batsman in Voges’ situation may be offered an extra Test, or two, before the selectors make a call.

However, there are three factors working against the Sandgroper. Firstly, having been granted an opportunity in Test cricket at such an advanced age, Voges was never likely to get much leeway for mistakes.

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Secondly, Marsh is not only in sparkling form but also has long appeared to be a favourite of the selectors. Perhaps the most pressing reason is that Australia look set to enter the fourth Test 2-1 down in the series.

If that comes to pass then the selectors surely will want to try something to see if they can improve the middle order.

Voges and Clarke were supposed to be the old heads whose patient approaches would complement the more attacking styles of those around them in the order.

Instead, England’s attack have rolled through both of them with ease. Clarke’s form over the past 18 months has been ordinary. So ordinary that were he not captain he may not still be in the Test XI.

Since making 148 against England in Adelaide in last 2013, Clarke has made 687 runs at 30. From 28 innings during that time, only twice has he passed fifty and 11 times he has registered single-figure scores.

Of course, in this period he has also stroked two rousing centuries – a series-defining 161no while injured against South Africa in Cape Town, and a hyper-emotional 128 against India at Adelaide in his first knock after the death of Phil Hughes.

The low scores continue to pile up for Clarke though. Beyond the raw numbers, he just doesn’t look physically capable of playing close to the standard he set for himself.

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His degenerative back condition is taking a severe toll. Without freedom of movement, he has become vulnerable to short pitched bowling and, as a side effect, is getting stuck on the crease more to full deliveries.

Most strikingly, he is no longer a dominant player of spin. Clarke’s assured and nimble footwork was evident from his Test debut when he gracefully mauled Indian spin legend Anil Kumble.

Late last year, as his team were floundering on parched surfaces in the UAE, Clarke was almost as flummoxed by Pakistan’s inexperienced spinners as any of his colleagues.

Playing from the crease, he looked uncomfortable. On the occasions when he did advance to the tweakers, something he did monotonously in his pomp, he looked restricted and uncertain.

Clarke is fortunate that there are no young batsmen demanding selection or his Test career would be hanging by a thread.

As it is, he will survive for a while longer yet due to his effectiveness as a tactician, together with the fact that Australia have just lost a wealth of experience in Brad Haddin and Ryan Harris, and are set to farewell veteran Chris Rogers at the end of this series.

Voges and Clarke were not alone though in faltering in this Test. Aside from Chris Rogers in the first dig and David Warner last night, there was no fight shown by the Australians.

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This pitch may have offered the English quicks more assistance than the featherbed at Lord’s but nothing out of the ordinary. To subside in such a meek manner was embarrassing.

Granted, England’s quicks exploited the conditions masterfully. But they weren’t unplayable and neither was the pitch.

Australia’s capitulation handed back to England all the momentum they had earned with their monumental hiding of the home side at Lord’s.

This series has swayed violently from Test to Test and one suspects there is plenty more drama in the offing.

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