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Trent Bridge will be the venue for the penultimate Ashes Test match, starting on August 6. This Test could well decide the series, and clearly Australia needs a plan to counter the English bowling in order to have a chance of squaring the series.
Michael Clarke
Skipper Clarke is clearly struggling as a batsman, having scored nothing substantial on this tour and with a highest score in his last 10 Ashes innings in England of 38. This poor run of form is having an impact on his fielding, but more importantly his captaincy.
He is usually proactive leading the team in the field, but of late Clarke has been reactive on numerous occasions. This was illustrated by the fact that he was changing fields as soon as batsmen started attacking, rather than trusting his bowlers to get wickets with aggressive field sets.
The way he leads the side will be crucial in the upcoming Test, and Aussie fans would be hoping that he gets a good score under his belt to restore his confidence.
Batting
Australian depend largely on their top three, especially Steven Smith – when he has failed to deliver the side has struggled to put up a good total. Chris Rogers is Australia’s top run-getter in this series, with 385. Apart from Smith and Rogers, no Australian batsman has scored a century in the series.
This projects a very fragile batting side, and the chance of a collapse is always round the corner. The whole batting unit needs to realise its responsibility and bat around Smith, rather than just leaving it entirely on him to deliver.
I see one change in the batting line-up – Shaun Marsh coming into the side in place of Adam Voges. Voges’ tally in all three Test matches stands at just 73 runs at an average of a tick over 14. Fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson have more runs than Voges for this series.
Bowling
The bowling should not be tinkered with, as it has jelled nicely and is consistent enough. Josh Hazlewood has been the pick of the bowlers so far with most wickets (14), and a better average and strike rate than his fellow quicks Starc and Johnson.
Front-line pacers have performed decently, but in patches. A more consistent and focused effort is required to dismantle England’s batting. In six innings, the Australian attack has come up with just one five-fer, by Starc at Cardiff.
Although the bowlers have been slightly under par, on any given day they have the ability and quality to uproot any batting side. They would be hoping that this is the case in the upcoming Tests, as the margin of error for Australia in this series has significantly reduced after the loss at Edgbaston.
At Trent Bridge
The Aussies’ track record at Trent Bridge is pretty impressive, having won seven out of the 21 matches played here and drawn nine. Having said that, Australia have lost the last two encounters with England here – in 2005 and 2013.
The last time the two teams met here, in 2013, England won in dramatic fashion by 14 runs in perhaps the most entertaining Test match played here.
There is a rare Aussie record at this very ground: the highest partnership for the first wicket. This feat was achieved by Geoff Marsh and Mark Taylor when they accumulated 329 runs and laid the foundation of a massive first innings score of 602 runs.
Geoff Marsh will be hoping his sons Mitch and Shaun can achieve something like that if they feature in the Test together.
Verdict
England will lose the upcoming Test match, as they have won alternatively in their last seven Tests.
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