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Could a 4-0 whitewash of the forthcoming series against India be the least helpful outcome in Australia’s quest to win next winter’s Ashes series?
Against the backdrop of what has been the most emotionally draining and tragic week in cricket, there would be nothing sweeter than seeing the Aussies come out and blitz the Indians in a 4-0 whitewash.
From an Australian fan’s point of view, I would love to see it. But would this actually hinder our Test team’s progress in the long run?
Granted, I’m making a large assumption here that the Indians would come out and serve up something not dissimilar to what they produced in a flaccid, shambolic performance in their recent showing in England.
Let us make the following assumption: Australia win 4-0 (or even a comfortable 3-1 win for argument’s sake). Let’s also assume that we carry through a relatively unchanged line-up from the recent Pakistan series. Perhaps replacing Glenn Maxwell, disregarding Alex Doolan, rotating our usual cartel of quicks and persisting with Nathan Lyon as our spinner.
Such a result would mean that the hard lessons imparting on us in the UAE at the hands of the Pakistanis would more than likely go unacknowledged. The old adage that ‘why fix what ain’t broke’ comes to mind.
In the context of our batting performance, our inability to navigate quality spin bowling for sustained periods of time was exposed against Pakistan. A 35-year-old, left arm slow bowler was Pakistan’s leading wicket taker (and leading wicket taker for the series).
However, one disclaimer I’d like to make was that one of Zulfiqar Babar’s wickets was Glenn Maxwell when he chose to reverse sweep when chasing 550-odd, but that’s another story. Moreover, Yahsir Shah claimed 12 victims. Will the Indians provide the stimulus needed to address our inadequacies against spin bowling?
If talkback radio, social media and the general vibe of the thing was any indicator, the Australians lacked the technique and temperament to grind against the aforementioned bowling on a pitch that demanded it.
While in between last summer’s Ashes victory and the Pakistani series there was an outstanding victory against South Africa on their home turf, one mustn’t forget that it was quite often Brad Haddin and the lower order rescuing our batting from some questionable starts and top order collapses. Has this issue been resolved?
The issue of the batting line-up and order itself is again something that’s going to have to be settled before we travel to England. Are we going to persist with Chris Rogers? A comfortable series victory may take some of the spotlight off his place at the top of the order. Prior to the Pakistan series this seemed to be a hot topic of discussion.
Assuming we persist with a David Warner, Steven Smith and Michael Clarke nucleus to the top order, who will round out top six? Are we going to allow Shane Watson back into the line-up?
Although I have a feeling that Mitch Marsh will retain his number six spot (and rightly deserved given he was the sole highlight of our most recent series), an inconsistent Watson averaging 25-odd may be sufficient against an Indian attack in Australia but I doubt it will hold up in England.
While I have focussed predominately on our batting line-up, I feel that this is where the bulk of the issues with our current team lie. I feel that we have the fast bowling stock that will prove worthy in English conditions.
With no Test cricket for the Australians between the Indian series and the Ashes, this forthcoming series will need to provide answers. A whitewash against India may halt the momentum of the questioning, reviewing and exposure of flaws in our line-up (particularly batting) that need to be addressed.
It doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t enjoy every minute of it, though.
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