The Ashes 2013 series is finally upon us as England host Australia in the first Test match starting on Wednesday at Trent Bridge.
We’ll have live scores and commentary of the opener from Trent Bridge starting at 8pm AEST.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since Australia last played a Test. For starters, they went winless in the Champions Trophy and crashed out early as defending champions.
Captain Michael Clarke continued to miss games because of his back-related issues – pulling out of the final Test in India, the IPL and then the Champions Trophy – before featuring in a couple of warm-up games.
Dave Warner brought a couple of fines and a suspension upon himself which eventually also led to the ousting Mickey Arthur as the coach of the side, just a few short weeks before the start of this Test match.
Since then, things have cooled off a little off the field while their performances on the field against Somerset and Worcestershire have given their fans something to smile about.
Of course it’s easy to credit the new coach Darren Lehmann for this minor turnaround but his true test will come first at Trent Bridge and subsequently over the period of the series.
Lehmann was quick to propel Shane Watson back to the top of the innings while Chris Rogers has been chosen to partner him – and although Clarke has not given up on Warner, it’s difficult to see him displace either of the two as an opener.
The Roar understands Warner may not make the squad, with Steve Smith to bat at 6.
On field, the focus has been on Australia’s batting given how poorly they batted in India. The conditions in England have been said to be dry, with a wicket short on much to offer the fast men. This puts the onus on the spinners: Ashton Agar for Australia, and Graeme Swann for the English.
Agar, the 19-year-old left arm orthodox, has sensationally been chosen after just ten first class games, with 31 wickets at 29.38.
As much as the team tries to put the onus off captain Clarke’s one-man batting displays in recent times, it could well boil down to how the skipper goes about with the bat.
Watson’s form in the lead-up has been encouraging, as is Phil Hughes’ run-making but Australia need partnerships, and centuries, and the pressure will be on them to get going. Chris Rogers will get his chance as opener.
England have made a couple of changes to a fairly stable side – necessitated by the return of Kevin Pietersen and the form of Joe Root. A Pietersen-Root swap would have been par for the course had it not been for Nick Compton’s poor form in the New Zealand series.
What that has ensured is that Root will now open the innings with captain Alastair Cook while Pietersen will slot in back to the middle-order.
It’s a solid batting line-up with batsmen who can accumulate the runs and those who can smash the ball to all parts of the ground and take the game away from the opposition. How Peter Siddle and co. adapt to these vagaries will be interesting.
All said, England start favourites with Australia needing to dig deep into their bag of goodies to spring a surprise.
Live coverage of the game begins from 8pm AEST on Wednesday and you can join me for this live blog on the first day of the Test match.
Trent
Guest
It's going to be close all the way to the end( but wont reach 5 days it will end early on day4, the batsman's to find it difficult to score big). Aus in their first innings will get a total of 198 all out, Eng in their second innings will struggle again and they'll end up getting 194 all out, aus to come in at day 3 trailing by 213runs with 3 days to go, time is on their side, but again aus to struggle they will end up getting 188 all out Clarke to top score but it won't be enough England to snatch the first test of the ashes by 25runs
Disco
Roar Guru
Both sides have a strong tail. It's just that Australia's starts higher up.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Is this a joke? He hoops the white ball around. It's the red ball he supposedly doesn't swing as much.
Disco
Roar Guru
Well, seemingly it's important that the good blokes like Watson, Cowan and Hughes play no matter what.
Disco
Roar Guru
?
Disco
Roar Guru
It's the only way he knows. So overrated by some.
Disco
Roar Guru
Except Lee was awesome at the start of his Test career and then fell away. Anderson's improved massively and if he stays fit I suspect that bowling average will drop a little lower. He keeps things very tight and applies pressure, so he's not all about wickets.
Disco
Roar Guru
Could we leave Sachin out of it? This isn't the Cricinfo comments section.
Disco
Roar Guru
Because they were protecting him.
Rob na Champassak
Roar Guru
He certainly doesn't get the time to make that comparison - that is very true. As a former umpire, I know exactly how difficult it can be to be consistent with those kinds of decisions. Sometimes you will see two deliveries that look more or less identical, and yet intuitively you come to different conclusions. I don't know whether this is just a function of probability or (as I have always suspected) of ulterior information that the senses are flooded with during an appeal - the noise of the crowd, the confidence of the appeal, the body language of the batsman etc. The point is that I suspect that it is close to impossible to be infallibly consistent with these sorts of decisions. Chris Rogers is still unlucky, but that's the nature and the drama of the sport.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thanks mate, glad you like it. Hope to have you around tomorrow too!
Bee Bee
Guest
Great to see lots of wickets. The most interesting tests are usualy low scoring ones. Don't count out Australia so quickly. I predict a healthy wag in this tail. Pattinson, Siddle, Starc (all street fighters with a bat.) Cmon Aussies.
Rob na Champassak
Roar Guru
Thanks Suneer, your coverage again was second to none. Nice to have an alternative to cricinfo that actually gives some analysis and detail.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
It's been an excellent day for the bowlers, some of the batting techniques were tested, some of the patience and temperament was tested too and in the end, only Jonathon Trott and, to an extent, Steven Smith have come out with their heads held high. Australia seemed to have done well to bowl England out for 215 but two really bad strokes, one excellent delivery and a dodgy decision put England back in the game. Clarke will want to get as close as possible to the English total on a pitch that might crack as the game progresses. Stuart Broad's fitness will be crucial to their chances - he did not come out to bowl after being hit on his shoulder. Expecting three bowlers to bowl through the day will be expecting too much, and will allow the Australian middle and lower-middle order some breathing space. That's it from me, will be back tomorrow for the second day's play!
Rob na Champassak
Roar Guru
England are in the driving seat in this Test match even after being dismissed in their first dig for just over two hundred runs. Their bowling team made sizeable inroads into the Australian batting order, and they will feel confident of knocking Australia over before lunchtime tomorrow. Australia need something very special to come back from this position. Even if they scratch their way to a first-innings lead, they are going to have to bowl to England in what will be good batting conditions over the next couple of days. England have a big opportunity to really punish the tourists with a big Third Innings score of 400+. If they get anyway near a three hundred run lead, you would think it would be game over. For Australia, the equation is simple. It is absolutely crucial that these two at wicket bat through all three sessions tomorrow if they are to get into a winnable position. With fourteen wickets falling on the first day, there is now very little chance of a draw in this match. Every session that follows is therefore going to be more crucial than the last. Australia can't afford to lose the first session tomorrow. England don't want to either, but they have a little more breathing space.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
End of the over and end of the day's play then, only two off that one. Australia have ended on 4/75 which is not too great, but an improvement from where they were at the loss of their third wicket - 22.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Wow, just one over from Finn and Anderson's back to bowling his 10th in the innings. Will probably be the last of the day too.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Agar had started his career off with this delivery and now Swann delivers a full-toss outside the off stump. Thumped through extra-cover for a four by Smith! 4/73 in the 20th
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Three singles off the Finn over, quickly taken ones those. Seven more minutes to go and Australia have gotten themselves to 4/69 in 19.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Wasn't a terrible decision but to the naked eye it did look like it was going down. It looks like the umpire completely missed that. I would have agreed with the benefit of doubt bit had it been the third ump who hadn't been consistent, but for an on-field ump, it's a split second decision to make. I don't think he gets time to think and compare with a previous decision in that short span of time. He's just failed to spot there being a distinct chance of the ball going down there.