ASHES: Talking points from day one at Sydney

Should Haddin and Johnson share the man-of-the-series award? Has a Test side ever fielded players from five different countries? Can Smith become an elite Test batsman? How did England forget Watson’s LBW weakness? Will England admit overlooking Onions was a mistake?

These were some of the questions raised on the first day of the fifth Test at the SCG.

Australia once again recovered from a batting collapse to make a solid total of 326 before leaving England in trouble at 1-8 at stumps.

Has a Test side ever fielded a side with players from five different countries?
England have frequently been mocked in recent years for their proclivity for selecting South African-born players.

At one stage they had four in their Test side – Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior.

Meanwhile, fellow South Africans Craig Kieswetter and Jade Dernbach were suiting up for England’s ODI side.

England recently have cut back on their portion of South African-born players thanks to the retirement of Strauss, Trott’s mental illness-related departure, and Prior’s sacking.

They have, however, spread their reach to Zimbabwe, Northern Ireland and New Zealand in selecting Gary Ballance, Boyd Rankin and Ben Stokes respectively this summer.

The answer to the question posed in the sub-heading above is ‘yes’.

In fact, England once fielded a team with players from six different countries as my esteemed Roar colleague Kersi Meher-Homji pointed out in this article.

“Seven overseas-born cricketers from five countries represented England in the first Test against New Zealand at Christchurch in January 1992,” Mr Meher-Homji wrote.

“They were Hick (born in Zimbabwe), Lamb and Robin Smith (South Africa), Pringle (Kenya), Lewis and DeFreitas (West Indies) and debutant Reeve (Hong Kong). Only four were ‘home grown’ Englishmen – skipper Graham Gooch, Alec Stewart, R.C. (Jack) Russell and Phil Tufnell.”

With Australian Sam Robson reportedly next in line for a batting berth in the Test side, there is every chance England could equal their record at some stage this year.

Should Brad Haddin be joint man-of-the-series?
Haddin has been, by a distance, Australia’s best batsman in this series.

When the Tests have been in the balance it is Haddin who has responded every…single…time.

In all five matches Australia have found themselves in peril in their first dig.

Haddin has turned those precarious scenarios into ones of strength for Australia by smacking 407 runs at 81 in his side’s first innings.

His series return of 465 runs is the sixth highest by a wicketkeeper in Test history.

Only once in his seven innings this series has he failed to pass 50.

His ‘keeping has been overshadowed by his masterful feats with the blade.

But he has been very tidy behind the stumps both to Australia’s marauding quicks and to blossoming spinner Nathan Lyon.

Mitchell Johnson’s menacing, marauding displays of venomous pace have spawned more headlines this summer.

But Haddin has been just as consistently influential.

It would be fitting for them to share the man-of-the-series award

Can Steve Smith become an elite Test batsman?
There were strong signs during the Test tours of India and England this year that Steve Smith had made significant development with the blade.

His shot selection, balance and defence had all improved noticeably since his ill-fated infancy in the baggy green.

Then he crashed his debut century in the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval and his confidence surged.

That knock seemingly imbued Smith with the assuredness a young player needs to blossom at Test level.

In the past six Tests, he has returned 465 runs at 58 to stamp himself as a future star of Test cricket.

The most impressive aspect of his performance this series is that his two hundreds have both come after he arrived to the crease amid a collapse with England’s bowlers well on top.

During both today’s innings and his hundred at the WACA he began with relative caution before unfurling more expansive strokes once well set.

They were intelligent, well-paced digs which suggest Smith is now ready to make the most of his extravagant talent.

How did England possibly forget Shane Watson’s LBW weakness?
In the previous Ashes series in England, the home pacemen peppered Shane Watson’s front pad in an effort to expose his propensity for falling LBW.

The tactic not only exploited this weakness but also played on Watson’s mind to the point where he was making exaggerated efforts not to play around his leading leg.

This summer England have inexplicably adopted a far shorter length – not just to Watson but to all the Aussie batsmen.

Watson’s trademark LBW dismissal to James Anderson this morning was, incredibly, the first time in the series England had trapped an Aussie batsman in front this series.

On the Sky Sports UK coverage of the match, a graphic revealed that of the 328 deliveries the English bowlers had flung at Watson, only 18 would have hit the stumps.

That equates to just one in every 18 deliveries.

It is perhaps the most astounding statistic of the series.

For an England side which prides itself on by-the-numbers cricket, it is a comical failure.

Will England admit overlooking Graham Onions was a mistake?
As former England Test batsman Ed Smith summed up on Twitter today:

“Watching England bowl: such a shame they don’t have a bowler in the country who takes 67 first-class wickets a season at about 18 a piece…oh, just remembered. They do. Graham Onions. England just don’t pick him.”

As I argued in this piece prior to the start of this Ashes, England were foolhardy to overlook Onions in favour of selecting three similar, towering quicks in Chris Tremlett, Steven Finn and Boyd Rankin.

Onions, meanwhile, is plying his trade in the South African first-class competition for the Sunfoil Dolphins.

In his last outing his secured 4-66 from 26 overs.

How England could have done with such frugal returns from the accurate quick this summer.

Australia’s batsmen were exposed during the winter Ashes for their impatience against consistent bowling.

An extended sequence of dot balls often precipitated a wicket.

England’s bowlers have largely lacked the kind of dependability for which Onions is known.