Following a huge defeat in the first Ashes Test, England’s lead up to the second test in Adelaide has been far from perfect.
It has been marred by the departure of Jonathan Trott due to a stress-related illness, bans placed on the Australian media, a rejected sledging peace treaty and a disappointing performance against a sub-par CA Chairman’s XI in the heat of Alice Springs.
So can England bounce back in Adelaide, or will they suffer another defeat to go down two-nil and head to Perth with their hopes of retaining the Ashes on life support?
A major talking point prior to the beginning of this Test has been how the new drop-in pitch will play. Traditionally, the pitch at Adelaide has been lively for the first session, before flattening out and eventually becoming a turner in the final couple of days.
This was evident in the last Test England played at Adelaide Oval as Graeme Swann picked up figures of 5-91 in Australia’s second innings.
In recent Sheffield Shield matches played at the ground, however, the pitch has flattened out and hasn’t deteriorated as the match has progressed. This was evident in the match between South Australia and Western Australia, with innings of 601, 434 and 3/202 over the four days.
To avoid a five-day batting fest resulting in a draw, Adelaide Oval curator Damian Hough is leaving more grass on the pitch, with South Australian Cricket Association suggesting that we should “expect to see a traditional Adelaide pitch for this Test match” in a recent interview with ESPNCricinfo.
A traditional Adelaide pitch, or even a flat pitch, will favour England as this pitch is the one which most resembles English pitches.
Additionally, the Adelaide pitch will not offer as much pace and bounce as the Gabba pitch. This is also beneficial for England, as the English batsmen struggled to cope with this pace and bounce from the Australian bowlers, especially Mitchell Johnson.
Following a strong first innings bowling display from the English bowlers in the first Test, the English batsmen put in a disappointing batting performance in the first innings, losing 6/9 at one stage. The English then collapsed again in the second innings, suffering another middle order collapse of 4/9.
It is hard to imagine the English batsmen could bat so poorly again, especially on a flat deck. There are still plenty of questions surrounding the English batting line-up following the departure of Jonathon Trott which are yet to be answered.
Gary Ballance is the man favoured to make his test debut and replace Trott, with Joe Root likely to move up the order to No. 3.
This move up the order raises concerns about his technical flaws which were so clearly exposed by Mitchell Johnson in the first innings in Brisbane. There is likely not going to be anywhere near as much bounce in Adelaide as there was in Brisbane, a factor that should result in an improved English batting performance.
One of the major talking points following the first test was sledging. A variety of opinions were presented on whether sledging should be allowed, where players must draw the line and the involvement of the umpires in monitoring sledging.
It is evident that Michael Clarke was only fined because his comments were aired on TV, even though they should not have been aired, and that far worse things have been said on the cricket field.
What is clear, though, is that aside from Kevin Pieterson and public enemy number one Stuart Broad, the English players have struggled to cope with Australia’s sledging, which has come both on and off the field.
Darren Lehmann has quite rightly rejected a meeting with English coach Andy Flower to discuss sledging and where to draw the line, leaving the issue up to the umpires to monitor.
It is clear to everybody that the Australian players will continue to sledge and there is nothing the English players can do about it, and as a result the must learn to deal with it. This can mean simply ignoring any comments or deciding to dish it out as it’s given to try and put the Australians off their game.
If the English players do not quickly learn to cope with sledging they will be in for an extremely long Australian summer.
Despite Australian off spinner Nathan Lyon’s success in Brisbane, his English counterpart Graeme Swann produced a disappointing performance – so disappointing, in fact, that when Swann was hit for his hundredth run for no wickets, his English teammates jokingly celebrated the milestone.
England will require a much improved performance from Swann if they hope to pick up a victory in Adelaide.
It is important that Swann doesn’t rely on the pitch do the work for him. He must bowl a much better line and length than he did in Brisbane and be able to adapt to the conditions – something he also failed to do in Brisbane.
In order for England to rebound in the second Ashes Test match at the Adelaide Oval, it is imperative that they quickly refocus and forget about everything off the field once the first ball has been bowled on Thursday morning.
Additionally, the batsmen must deliver a far better performance than what they did in Brisbane and the team has to be able to block out the Australian sledging, or learn to use it as motivation.
Without an improved performance by Graeme Swann it will also be extremely difficult for England to pick up the victory.
My Verdict: An improved English batting and Graeme Swann bowling performance on a flat deck resulting in a draw.
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