- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
After three days, it seemed we were in for an enthralling and even Ashes Test at the Gabba. Just one day later, and England’s obituaries were being written.
1. England are in danger of imploding
The harsh reality for England is they have just been thumped by ten wickets in a game they controlled for two and a half days. The fact Australia were patchy in winning by that margin might be of even deeper concern.
While you could point to one or two crucial moments in this match going the home side’s way, in the end I feel you get what you deserve in terms of the overall result. Not only are England now 1-0 down in the series, but it is their sixth straight Test defeat in Australia.
Perhaps now the grim realities of this squad are about to be exposed. England didn’t exactly go down fighting here, and off-field incidents continue to engulf them.
I know it’s only one Test, however they looked a bedraggled side as they walked off the Gabba on Monday. The Ben Stokes’ saga rolls on, and now they have to deal with more off-field controversy surrounding Johnny Bairstow.
To me their body language looked like a team that didn’t necessarily believe they could win, and that’s a real worry. While there were some positives to take out of the match for the tourists, the way they finished the match would have dented the side’s confidence heading to a vital Test in Adelaide.
A draw is highly unlikely in Adelaide, so England need to win this Test, otherwise they are staring right down the barrel at another long chastising summer much like 2013-14.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
2. Lyon channels his inner Warne
I have to admit I was shocked by some of Nathan Lyon’s comments in the lead-up to the Test. Maybe someone had egged him on or whatever, however it seemed stunning for a seemingly quiet and understated off spinner to be talking about players being scared and trying to end careers.
However it also shows just how confident and bullish Lyon is these days about his place in the Australian side and what he knows he can deliver on the pitch. He would have known if he had bowled poorly, or if Australia had lost the Test, those words could blow up in his face, and yet he went like a man on a mission to prove he is the best finger spinner in Australian history.
There were times during the match when Lyon’s bowling to the left handers was about as good as you see from anyone, anywhere in the world. To generate the amount of drift, turn and bounce on that surface, as well as bowling with relentless accuracy, showed a man at the peak of his powers.
Make no mistake, Australia could have been in some trouble in this game had it not been for the sustained pressure Lyon created and the crucial breakthroughs he made. To be honest, his match figures of 5/145 off 60 overs probably don’t even do justice to how well he bowled. He totally controlled England and did it like a man who expects to dominate this summer.
3. England need to rethink their tactics and get more aggressive
To me, to win in Australia you have to go on the attack and meet fire with fire. England were too submissive with the bat and, for the majority of the Test, they set defensive fields. Joe Root’s funky fields at times looked good, but when Australia started applying the acid, England quickly retreated and went into a defensive mode with some of the field placings.
These sort of attritional tactics with bat and ball might keep you in the contest for long periods and limit batsmen, however, when you need to win a big moment I think these sort of tactics will get you nowhere.
[latest_videos_strip category=”cricket” name=”Cricket”]
I was stunned by the lack of intent to get out of the crease against Nathan Lyon. Admittedly Lyon bowled outstanding well to the left-handers, but the likes of Mark Stoneman, Dawid Malan and Ali tried nothing to put him off his game.
England batted really well on Day 1, however despite not losing wickets, they were never taking the game away from Australia. So when Australia did take three quick wickets towards the end of Day 1, they were right back in the game instead of on their knees.
England’s quicks, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, lacked pace and thrust, Moeen Ali cut his finger and couldn’t bowl, while both Chris Woakes and Jake Ball lacked rhythm. Trevor Bayliss and Joe Root need this side to come out with far more intent and aggression in Adelaide, or the series will be 2-0 in the blink of an eye.
4. Bancroft looks and talks like he belongs
Sometimes I try and get an insight into a player just by listening to them and how comfortable they feel in interviews and press conferences. Cameron Bancroft exuded the traits of a man confident in his own game and surroundings every time I heard him interviewed before, during and after the Test match.
He has a dry humour about him and isn’t afraid to make fun of himself, both qualities that will make him a likeable team player over time.
More importantly, he batted fantastically in the second innings to score 82 not out. His technique looks really tight to me, and he managed to also show he could attack by hitting a number of silky boundaries to take the pressure off David Warner.
I know Matthew Renshaw did quite well, however Bancroft looks a better and more accomplished player to me at this stage of his development, which is no surprise considering Bancroft is four years older and has 42 more First Class games under his belt.
It was the right decision to make the change given Bancroft’s form, and I feel he could establish himself with his combination of temperament, personality and work ethic
5. Cook heads tourists’ batting concerns
I said at the start of the series that England’s batting looked brittle and they needed their senior players to step up. Veteran opener Alastair Cook had a nightmare in Brisbane making scores of just 2 and 7.
While any opener can have that sort of game, it continues a pretty wretched start to the tour for the England legend after he failed to fire in England’s two lead-up games. Since his heroics in 2010-11 against Australia, Cook has averaged around 30 in his last eleven Ashes Tests, and that’s not good enough for a player of his class and experience.
While Stoneman, James Vince and Malan all scored half centuries in the first innings, I don’t think they have the quality to be consistent throughout the series.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Joe Root has plenty on his hands with the captaincy of a side lacking depth and confidence, so he really needs Cook to lead from the front with the bat. Moeen Ali looks a place or two high at Number 6, and the loss of Ben Stokes has clearly upset some of the balance in the side. Ali used to be able to play like a Number 8 and with reckless abandon.
However as soon as you move up to 6 you know, as a batsman, you have more responsibility and that just doesn’t suit certain players. Stokes is not arriving in Adelaide, and England don’t look to have the scope to make any changes, so they need more out of Root and Cook with the bat in Adelaide if they want to turn things around.
6. Selectors vindicated for Marsh and Paine picks – for now
There was a lot to lose for the Australian selectors when they went back to Shaun Marsh for an eighth time and plucked Tim Paine out of obscurity.
While neither player really set the world on fire, Marsh made an important half century when Australia were under all sorts of pressure, and Paine was generally tidy with the gloves.
Marsh showed his experience by digging in to face 169 balls and blunt an England attack that had their tails up. While his dismissal was extremely soft, the innings was a big one in the context of the game.
Paine looked good with the bat despite only making 11, before being removed by a good ball by Jimmy Anderson. He made one mistake with the gloves but was otherwise close to perfect, and his sharp work to dismiss Moeen Ali, when he was the only one to appeal, might have been the turning point of the Test match.
While both players haven’t exactly cemented their spots, neither looked out of place, and as long as Australia keep winning they will be given more and more time to find their feet and not feel each time they’re playing for their positions.
It’s always far easier as a cricketer in a team if you feel like you have secured your spot for a few Tests and can simply relax and play your natural game, rather than feel like every dismissal or dropped catch could mean your axing.
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.