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England served up pitches to suit their side in the last Ashes so why shouldn’t Australia do the same?
Having exposed the English batsmen’s distaste for facing sharp bowling on a brisk deck at the Gabba, Australia should capitalise by ensuring the remaining venues offer spicier-than-usual surfaces.
After being roughed up by Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris, both of whom were clocked at speeds of at least 147kmh, the Poms will be fearful of what they will encounter at the WACA.
The British press have already identified the MCG and SCG – the venues for the fourth and fifth Tests – as the grounds where England will have their best chance of victories.
Both of those pitches are more similar to English decks than those in Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide.
Australia are well within their rights to ask the groundsmen to prepare them so they more closely resemble the Gabba than Manchester.
The decks in England during the last Ashes at times appeared as if they had been imported from the subcontinent.
It seems likely this was done to negate Australia’s only strength, its pace attack, while exaggerating the perceived gulf in talent between the team’s respective spinners.
Graeme Swann ran amok on the uncharacteristically dry surfaces, snaring 26 wickets for the series.
Just two European summers previous, when spin-reliant India visited, the English pitches had mostly been laced with grass.
During Australia’s Test tour of India early this year every surface comprehensively favoured the home team.
South Africa, meanwhile, have not had one good Test spinner since being re-admitted to international cricket.
They have, however, birthed a bevy of dynamic pacemen.
Not surprisingly, when teams tour South Africa they are typically met with pitches which assist the quicks.
None of this is unfair. It is part of the tremendous challenge of overseas Test tours.
Visiting sides should not expect the hosts to give them a break.
Australia, too, have seemingly tailored pitch conditions to favour their side in the past.
The Gabba Test deck was unusually benign last summer.
Could that have had something to do with the presence of three of the world’s leading pacemen, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel?
While teams steadfastly deny doctoring home pitches, it is plain for all to see.
Australia should gleefully participate in that tradition this summer.
The new drop-in pitch at Adelaide has been so genial this season it appears the only way to make it challenging for batsman would be to bury landmines on a good length.
But the squares at Melbourne and Sydney could easily be enlivened so as to continue to provide generous aid to the devilish deliveries of Johnson and Harris.
That would serve the dual purpose of making lifer harder for Graeme Swann, whose tail is wedged firmly between his legs after the worst match of his glittering Test career at Brisbane.
Of course, England’s accomplished pacemen James Anderson and Stuart Broad would also cherish juiced-up decks, particularly against Australia’s misfiring top six.
But it is a risk worth taking in order to maximise the Aussies’ strength.
The defensive option for Australia would be to ask for batting paradises at every ground apart from the WACA to try to grind out a series win via a string of draws.
Or they could, and very well might, just leave things to run their natural course while focusing solely on playing better cricket than England, regardless of the conditions.
That would be an admirable approach.
It would also be a tad naive given the rare opportunity Australia have been afforded after their shock thumping of England at the Gabba.
This series is about more than just regaining the Ashes, as grand an achievement as that would be.
An against-the-odds triumph could also prove to be the circuit breaker which prompts Australia’s ascent back towards its relinquished status as a perennial Test cricket heavyweight.
Make no mistake, the difference between the sides in the last Ashes was mental.
Australia achieved four first innings leads yet finished the series winless because they did not possess the same self-belief as their opponents.
Besting England for the first time in seven years would give the Australian side an injection of that priceless confidence which can help Test teams convert winning, or even losing positions into victories.
With so much at stake, why would Australia not request a bit of help from the local groundsmen?
The English top seven is in disarray and it is Australia’s pace brigade which has engineered this situation.
They should be assisted in maintaining this dominance.