- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
We’ve got too many quality fast bowlers, our batsmen can score runs on our pitches, England’s top order is too weak, they don’t have Ben Stokes…
Really, why we’ll win the Ashes could go on and on.
But after Wednesday’s initial offering, here are the other reasons why we could well lose the sacred urn this summer.
The Australian side feels immature
I can’t recall an Australian team in recent memory that had a more immature vibe about it.
Matt Renshaw had to leave the field to go to the toilet; David Warner has declared war on England; Steve Smith seems to need loud mates around him to feel confident; Usman Khawaja likes to spit the dummy to the press; Glenn Maxwell is, well, Glenn Maxwell; Matt Wade got his job because of his sledging, a skill he’s consistently undermining with his poor performance.
To be fair, you’ve got a few who feel like grizzled old campaigners, who don’t seem like they’d melt when things go wrong – Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Peter Handscomb, Steve Smith.
I just wish there were one or two more – say, like a Brad Haddin or a Mike Hussey type. To be honest, I don’t know who you’d bring in to fill that role now. There were players I feel were candidates but who have been driven out of the international game, like George Bailey, Cameron White and Chris Hartley.
When the pressure is on, this side tends to crack. They had several chances to win the series in India but fell in a heap. They did it in Sri Lanka and in the first Test in Bangladesh and against South Africa at home. And they could easily do it against England.
Pat Cummins’ body
It’s held up better than anyone hoped – I was terrified of him playing Tests, but it’s lasted so far. But he was so, so injured for so, so long. I’m nervous.
If he has a twinge or two it could not only dent our attack but also inspire silly decisions like bringing back Mitch Marsh as a ‘spare tire’.
AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi
England may not spontaneously combust
A lot of Australian success against England depends on the Poms spontaneously combusting during a Test series. In 2013-14 you had Graeme Swann and Jonathan Trott in free-fall and Kevin Pietersen sooking. In 2006-07 you had Duncan Fletcher replacing form players in Monty Panesar and Chris Read with the out-of-form Geraint Jones and Ash Giles in a doomed attempt to recreate 2005, and Andy Flintoff cracking under pressure.
But what if the English keep it together? What if they make sensible selections, back their players, ignore their media, and don’t panic if they have a few bad sessions? They’ll be a lot harder to defeat.
You can’t depend on England not to collapse in a heap all the time – as we found out to our detriment in 2009, 2010-11, 2013 and 2015.
England hold them
So they don’t have to win the series, they just have to draw.
Australia should win these Ashes, provided they play six specialist batsmen – they’re just so much more confident at home, and when you’ve got players like Chadd Sayers and Jackson Bird unable to get a game in the Test side it means your bowling stocks are pretty good. But it’s not going to be as easy as everyone else thinks.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.