With the Ashes series in England not that far away, the question is can Australia retain the Ashes they won so convincingly in 2006-07?
On current form, they might find it difficult to beat England this time around compared to the last time when the two countries met.
England would’ve been taking notes on the thrashing India gave Australia in Mohali recently, with an eye to next year.
The England side under Kevin Pietersen is a far different side to the one which was thrashed 5-0 in the last Ashes series. Most of their batsmen are in good form, and with Simon Jones back in the England side, their bowling attack which includes Andrew Flintoff, James Anderson, Steve Harmison, and Monty Panesar is better balanced than what Australia has at the moment in India.
For Australia to have any chance of retaining ‘the Urn’, they must have Andrew Symonds back in the side, Matthew Hayden scoring runs, and more support for Brett Lee who’s nearing the end of his career.
They need a fair-dinkum spinner that can take wickets, not a part-time spin bowler like Cameron White who although has done OK up to this point in India, would struggle in England. The Australian bowling attack could struggle to take 20 wickets the way the pitches are prepared in England.
So while I still think Australia will retain the Ashes next year, it’ll be a much harder assignment than it was in 2006-7.
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