Many one eyed England fans, or members of the ‘Barmy Army’, as they are known to the rest of the cricketing world, are thrilled to attend what is expected to be a British blitzkrieg for the excellent English in the upcoming Ashes series.
But, if you look through both squads and what the possible squads could be, then the force from down under do stand a chance in around a week’s time when the First Ashes Test commences at Trent Bridge.
First of all, Australia are going to head into the fiercest cricketing contest there is with a brand new coach who has revitalised Australian cricket in just a couple of weeks.
Darren ‘Boof’ Lehmann has stepped in after Micky Arthur’s sacking (as many experts in Australia wanted him to) and has mixed around the bearings of the squad of youths that Australia has recently played with.
Out go ageing bowlers past their prime like Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus and in come sparkling new bowlers like Jackson Bird, James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc.
There might also be a cameo from the wise swing master himself in Ryan Harris, providing that he doesn’t injure himself on the plane ride over to the mother country.
Lehmann has also switched the batting line-up around, with courageous captain Michael Clarke looking to take a gamble and move up a spot from number five to compliment his inexperienced top order batsmen in Phil Hughes, Ed Cowan and David Warner.
One of those three bats are destined to be left out of the team for the first Test match as ‘Boof’ has announced that Shane Watson and Chris Rogers will open proceedings for the Aussies batting in the first Test.
That decision was justified by the two’s glittering partnership of 170 in a tour match, with Watson even stating that Rogers can fulfil the roll left by Watson’s previous opening partner in Simon Katich.
So far in the tour matches Cowan, Hughes and Warner have all batted fiercely, as one of them may just carry the drinks on July the 10th.
After Warner’s Twitter outrage and late night punching of hilariously named English counterpart in Joe Root, his stocks may have fallen a touch, but nobody can deny that he is a sensational batsman when he is on song.
His hard hitting side may not be suitable for opening the batting, but for coming in later on when the bowlers are weary may fit him better.
However, Warner has a long way to go, as Phil Hughes looks all but certain to play first drop due to his county experience.
That means it is out of Cowan and Warner. Even though Warner is a rolling controversy, Cowan is slow and patient, but his slowness can border on stagnation as he waits for a rubbish ball that will never come before falling for a measly score.
But at least he is consistent at grinding out an innings, unlike Warner who is the extreme version of a hit and miss cricketer.
When he is hot he is scorching, like in Perth two years ago against the lacklustre Indians, but when he is cold he is downright frozen, proven by his latest efforts with the bat in the Indian subcontinent.
But I think that Lehmann will make the right decision, with Rogers and Watson opening, followed by Hughes and then Clarke, and then topped off nicely by Warner and maybe an all-rounder like Smith or Faulkner, with Haddin coming in at seven.
That seems like a brilliant batting line-up considering the lack of depth of their batting stocks currently, but you never know whether Cowan may get the gig with Warner and Hughes.
To Australia’s bowling, their pace bowlers seem to cover it perfectly.
With the fiery Pattinson and Siddle possibly bowling together, Mitchell Starc, Ryan Harris and Jackson Bird all present strong chances to play, with Siddle fighting for his spot.
If Harris is fit then he should play, and Bird did well with Australia A only a year ago.
Bird can be compared to McGrath, but only if he digs deep and bowls excellently in England.
A third option in Starc could be another way to go, but not for the first Test.
His left arm swingers are a great weapon that can fool even the best batsman, but he doesn’t use his in-swingers to right handers enough that he can get smacked around. If his length drops like it can, then he will get belted.
I don’t know who will get the gigs, but it’s a brilliant contest. With the spinners Lyon will be there for the first Test, with his tour of India ending pretty decent, but if he bowls his medium pacers that do nothing then Fawad Ahmed may get a call.
There has been a lot of change recently, but Australia can win the Ashes. I predict a 1-1 scoreline because Ashes series are always close, with the last Test deciding the fate of the two nations.
Make sure you watch on July 10 as an excellent Ashes series unfolds before our very eyes.
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