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The Ashes Urn - AP Photo/Rob Griffith
England’s recent good form against the West indies back on home (damp) soil is a reason for growing concern for their confident Australian opponents.
Andrew Strauss has seen his team emerge from a doubtful tour of the Caribbean, where they were expected to win easily, but stumbled early and could not mange to find a winning a formula.
The Windies under John Dyson’s tutelage did look a better disciplined group under the warm and sunny skies of Barbados and Jamaica, but so far the dreary and threatening May atmosphere has contributed to layers of clothing and seaming pitches. Pitches that the likes of that well known English destroyer, Graeme Onions, have prospered upon.
Dyson would not have been happy with his leading batsmen’s (Gayle and Chanderpaul) decision to take the buckets of rupees in the Indian Premier League instead of playing the pre-Test first class matches. Both those batsmen have failed miserably, as you would expect coming off southern hemisphere hard wickets in a slogging format.
It is early for Test cricket to be played in the northern hemisphere, but there is no doubt that the confidence gained by the England team will be in the forefront of their thoughts when July 9th comes along.
Winning form is good form.
The Australians will be coming off 20 over games in the IPL, closely followed by more slash and bash in the Twenty20 World Cup, the final on 21st June. The First Test is just two weeks later. Whereas England have had recent Test series in the Caribbean and at home. This may well be of significance.
It would appear that the form and fitness of Brett Lee is being judged solely on 4 over spells in the IPL. Lee has already been selected for the Twenty20 World Cup, having not completed more than 24 balls in any match since the Boxing Day Test.
Rising 33 years of age, the prospect that Lee can find the raw pace of his twenties, or the stamina that comes from successive first class games and a couple of hundred overs, is slim.
Andrew Hilditch must think otherwise, just as he must be sick of explaining the selection of Andrew Symonds “when in form……. Andrew is one of the finest players in the world “ etc etc. We agree with you Andrew, its just that he hasn’t been in your suggested municipality of ‘form’ for about 18 months!
The emergence of Onions and off spinner Swann, along with the growing strength of rumour as to Andrew Flintoff’s progression to full fitness, is all good news for England.
Australia have not played orthodox off spin for sometime (I don’t put Harbajahn Singh in the ‘orthodox’ box), and Swan has certainly played a valuable role for Strauss in the recent resurgence.
Onions reminds one of Matthew Hoggard and if it is a wet summer and the pitches become the traditional slow seamers, then traditional English cricketers will come to the fore.
An offie ala Titmus, Illingworth or Emburey (remember Emburey and Phil Edmonds doing the business in the cool summer of 1985?), along with Monty Panesar, could present a stern examination for an Australia batting order that has struggled against Paul Harris, Dan Vettori and Saeed Ajmal in recent times.
The Ashes squad (announced this coming Wednesday) will have to be chosen with a few different parameters than that which lost in Australia and won through largely the efforts of new players in North, Hughes and Siddle in South Africa.
Batsmen with the ability to play long and patient innings will be needed to play around the likes of aggressive Hughes, Ponting and Clarke.
Simon Katich is an ideal counterpoint to Hughes up front, but Chris Rogers (the highest total run scorer in all forms of the game in the world in calendar 2008 through to the present time) will be an essential selection.
He has significant county experience and, regardless of weather or pitch variety, knows how to get the job done.
Australia have prospered in northern Ashes series when the summers have been warm and dry. The weather conditions have been of significant influence.
England are on the upward trend. After the Windies series they will have a greater sense of self belief, and they might just be praying for a few rainy days to assist the cause.