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Since the omission of Nick Compton, the English batting order for the first Test has been known. After some warm-up matches the next point on the agenda for Australia is to conjure up a plan to dismiss the English batsman.
Below are a few strategies the Australian bowlers need to employ for each of England’s top seven batsmen.
Alastair Cook
Bowl full, full and full. The English captain is more comfortable on the back foot than any other player around in world cricket.
Australia’s bowlers need to ensure they starve him of any back foot play and ensure he hits most of his shots on the front foot.
Cook rarely comes forward and when he does he does not move his front foot to the ball, he prefers to play with his hands.
Cook succeeds playing off the back foot to reasonably fullish deliveries due to his crouched technique, low hands and strong bottom hand.
To get Cook out of this comfort zone, the Australians need to bowl that slightly fuller length and angle the ball across him.
Ideally as a bowler, you want Cook to play through the covers on the front foot because that is one way of inducing an edge.
Mitchell Starc is often criticised for bowling a lot of full half-volleys but against Cook they might just do the trick.
Joe Root
The young man from Yorkshire stands tall and loves punching off the back foot.
Like Cook he is extremely good off the back foot and through the onside, and in his few Test matches Root is a known to have a slight waft outside the off stump.
A short of length ball moving away is Root’s weakness. When he does play the cut or the square drive off the back foot, the feet remain stationary and he is likely to give you a catch at gully.
A bowler like Peter Siddle is the likely man to trouble him with the length he can bowl.
Jonathon Trott
Bowl outside an inch outside Trott’s off-stump and he will still work you through mid-wicket.
He can work balls through the onside from the stumps but he does it with risk of playing across the line. The challenge is to keep the inswinger as a surprise.
Bowlers have to try and get Trott to play the off-drive and keep a strong leg side field. Australia’s objective should be to let Trott get the majority of his runs on the off side.
Trott is also not the most accomplished player against spin, he plays from the crease and Nathan Lyon should bowl wide of the off stump, with six men on the leg side and a vacant cover.
Kevin Pietersen
The English grounds are small and top edges can go for sixes but Pietersen is a compulsive puller or a hooker.
Australians need to come hard at KP, it may require plenty of effort from bowlers half but the short ball needs to be a weapon.
South Africa undid him last year by peppering with short balls and then throwing in a quick yorker.
Starc and Pattinson both need to be in Pietersen’s face. Bowlers need to dangle the short ball carrot because KP will take it on and he can be vulnerable.
Starc with his pace and bounce is a likely optioin, and when done it should be followed up with a yorker at his toes.
Ian Bell
The most technically equipped batsman in the England team, so the Australians need to outsmart him.
Recently Bell has been dismissed a fair bit edging wide half volleys.
Australia needs to keep it well wide of off stump and quite full. Bell has opened a lot in one-day games lately and is not as patient as what he was some time ago.
A bowler like Starc needs to keep angling the ball away from him and deprived him of laying bat on ball.
It might seem boring and negative, but it will be effective against a restless Ian Bell.
Jonny Bairstow
The little man from Yorkshire is a aggressive batsmen who likes to counter attack.
He is still young in his test career but from what he has shown, he can be susceptible to short balls.
Because he is not so comfortable with the short ball, he likes to shuffle across towards off stump so the Australian bowlers should try to trap him LBW.
Another player with a strong bottom hand, he is not a great driver of the ball through the offside so encourage him to drive with the ball leaving him.
A back of length bowler such a Siddle or Pattinson with pace can expose Bairstow.
Matt Prior
The England wicket keeper is one of the main reasons for their resurgence but he too like the others has a weakness that can be exploited.
Prior favours the offside and likes to stay leg side of the ball. You almost need to encourage him to hit through the leg side and bowl at off and middle stump.
As a natural driver of a cricket ball, one gully is a premium for Prior and if Australia is on top a second gully is a must.
Prior goes hard with his hands the bat can get away from the body at times so the bowlers need to try hit the seam and jag one back at him.
Starc with his full length and ability to bring the ball back in is Australia’s biggest asset against Prior.
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