Is the 4-0 Ashes series win all that matters from this Australian international cricket summer, or does the lost One-Day International series to England take the gloss off it?
At the end of the first week in January, there were few problems with the Australian cricket team.
The bowling unit was – and still is, to be fair – probably the best in Test cricket. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon took 23, 22, 21, and 21 wickets respectively. Nine England bowlers took 55 wickets between them, by comparison.
Nine batsmen made more than 300 runs across the Ashes series, and five of them were Australian. Three of those Australians made more than 400. Steve Smith finished with 687.
With the possible exception of Cameron Bancroft, who has still shown plenty of promise this summer, and perhaps Jackson Bird’s bowling in Melbourne, there really wasn’t much to worry about.
The selectors made two hugely debateable and contentious calls at the start of the series, and both Shaun Marsh and Tim Paine repaid the faith and had impressive series.
Peter Handscomb battled early, was dropped – even though the selectors made it sound like it was a horses-for-courses decision – and Mitchell Marsh exploded in his place.
(Photo by Philip Brown/Getty Images)
Even not playing Chadd Sayers in Adelaide was the right call.
At the end of the first week in January, everything looked pretty bloody rosy indeed. What could possibly go wrong from here?
Well, in short, everything.
The rolling back of the all-out attacking batting that had been at the crux of so many Test collapses in the previous few years suddenly meant the one-day batting struggled to finish off promising starts.
Australia’s tactic of starting strongly in the powerplay, before consolidating and ‘accumulating’ runs through the middle order produced targets that might have taken some getting five years ago, but have become pretty standard and very gettable in the last two.
The best Test bowling attack in the game, minus its key off-spinning foil, suddenly looked very run-of-the-mill and well, hittable.
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Australia’s ODI game plan which had not that long ago delivered a World Cup, suddenly looked not just old, but ancient.
And then there was the performances of the senior players; the very same players who were clinical in their dismantling of England during The Ashes were now firing on maybe not even half of all their cylinders.
Smith struggled for runs. David Warner’s output was even worse. Starc, Hazlewood, and Cummins were ‘managed’ through the series, and though they took wickets at reasonable strike rates and with decent economy, they were all guilty of bowling wrong lines and lengths at times.
(AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
And with only one bouncer per over allowed in ODIs, English batsman went after them after said bouncer was inevitably delivered early in an over.
What became obviously needed after the first loss, and was confirmed mid-series, was that ‘full review’ of how Australia tackles one-day cricket would be conducted. It was the sort of thing usually reserved for not just lost Test series – and lost Ashes series in particular – but heavy Test series losses.
And everything is apparently on the table: Should Smith remain captain? Are the power hitters needed at the top of the order, or down lower? Are there too many allrounders or not enough? Should Nathan Lyon be recalled (again)? Is there enough variation in the bowling?
Are the coaches developing the right game plans? Are more specialist players required?
Are specialist selectors required?
By the end of the one-dayers, it appears on the surface that Australia put so many eggs in the Ashes basket that minimal thought was put into the ODIs at all. As has been written and spoken of widely over the last month is that England are a much different team playing much different cricket when the colour of the ball changes from red to white.
Yet Australia either didn’t recognise that – a horrendous failure in planning – or couldn’t see that its’ own tactics since the last World Cup have been ineffective – a horrendous failure in reviewing past performances.
The Test team looks well settled for the most part. Steve Waugh used to say that it was rare that every player in a Test XI would be in top form, and that the team unit usually had to ‘carry’ a player or two. That’s about where the team is after the Ashes win.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
But the one-day performances do bring all that down by a good way, and if the Australians are honest with themselves, they must recognise and acknowledge that. England can take plenty of positives out of the one-day series and see if they can be applied to their Test team, which might soon be due for the same kind of overhaul that their one-day side undertook after the 2015 World Cup.
Australia has no such positives to take out of the ODIs. They best they can hope for is that the promised review really does look at all aspects and identifies some pretty obvious failings a few years out from the next World Cup.
So how should the Australian cricket team rate their summer?
A tick above average, if they’re honest with themselves. I don’t think they have the luxury of compartmentalising the ratings, because compartmentalising the planning is what has got them in this current position.
Performances over the summer started off well; very well in fact. But the dramatic tailing off over the one-day series can’t be ignored, particularly when the biggest drop-off came from senior players.
The review should make for very interesting reading, if indeed it becomes publicly acknowledged.
Until then, I think it’s time to start watching some rugby…
Tanami Mehmet
Guest
Humdrum
Marshall
Guest
It should be considered a success big time. 4-0 Ashes win is a great result. ODI's outside of the WC are basically for experimentation and we are a bit further along with working out our lineup and developing a squad for the next WC
Kurt S
Roar Pro
The schedules make it difficult to have the touring party arrive earlier. However, they are in a country for a set period of time and think there is little dispute in saying that ODIs run a distant second to Tests in the importance and relevance stakes. If that is the case, why is the Test series being played as the curtain raiser for international the season? Is there another sport or general entertainment that has the main gig going on before the lesser lights? What is wrong with wanting the best competition in the premium contest within the confines of the current touring calendars?
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
Perhaps England should have arrived earlier ... to "acclimatise"?
Kurt S
Roar Pro
It would have been interesting to have seen the ODIs played before the test series to allow the touring party to get acclimatized. Imagine what a test series it would have been to watch had England gone into the Gabba test with a 4-1 ODI series win? I miss quality test cricket with both team prepared for conditions.
bear54
This summer is the canary in the coalmine for Australian Cricket. Management have to realise we must have a specialised team for each version of the game. I'm sorry for the players who will have their contracts reduced because they're only playing one form of the game but clearly this is a necessity. Our test players may have dominated the Ashes but they were poor in the ODI's. I'd like to think it was not the case of an "Ashes Hangover" given they were being paid to play their best for their country and the attending fans forked out their cash in anticipation of premium effort. Tactics and coaching can be held to some account but when the batsmen (bar Finch) aren't scoring enough runs the result is inevitable. I'd like to see a panel of test selectors, ODI selectors and T20 selectors all fighting for the best candidates and if this means 33 different players then so be it.
Brett McKay
Expert
I'd be happy to find positives from the ODI performance, Basil, I really would...
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
Basil................... England one day series was the first lost on home soil since 2010. Oz have lost 11 of last 13 ODI's. When Australia's losing all of a sudden it's a sideshow. Yet punters still buy tickets. Nice
Fionn
Guest
Agreed Peeeko and James.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
After the Ashes and the One Day series, it is a good time to reflect on our summer of cricket. The summer has been an outstanding success. We won the Ashes 4 nil. If we lost every One Day game and every T20 after that, it would still ebe a successful summer. I don't believe the English players have comforted themselves over their Ashes loss with the knowlege that they won a One Day series 4 - 1. Not even the likes of Morgan, Butler and Hales would seriously suggest that oneday wins more than make up for test match losses. If nothing else, hopefully even this dismal one day series will turn out to be a positive for our cricketers moving forward. A review is now a priority and that review should have heaps of evidence, and current evidence at that, on what clearly doesn't work. One hopes the result of that review sees selectors facing the same consequences as players, for some of their "funky" selections. Don't hold your breath though.
JamesH
Roar Guru
Basil & Bush Those are fair points. I confess I was looking at it from the perspective of our current tactics; at least moreso than those at the WC (although in the WC games against the better sides they did the bulk of their fast scoring at the end, not the start).
Nick
Roar Guru
Hi Bush The 2015 world cup scores need to be discounted in their entirety. Not just by Australia, but by every country. "We" certainly weren't the only nation belting runs at will that world cup. The fielding restrictions were so ridiculously relaxed (just 4 people outside the circle after the 10th over) that it was open season for the bowlers. Save for England, who went in with a 1960's team and strategy, no other nation has been able to exceed or even match the totals that were hit during late 2014 and the world cup.
Brian
Guest
I actually think our bowling is just as good, maybe even better if Lyon continues his form albeit spin won't be a key in South Africa. Its the batting where the Saffers are superior. Smith's best in the world but no one else averages 40 away from home.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Lucky it's an opinion site!
The Bush
Roar Guru
Warner and Finch might not be "bashing" like Roy and Bairstow right now, but that's because Warner's not playing well and Finch has had to hold the innings together. Both of those batsmen are more than capable of matching England's with respect to electric starts. I somewhat agree that England might be more aggressive during the middle overs, but at the 2015 World Cup Australia scored: 342 151 (bowlers match in NZD) 417 376 133 (chasing and did it in 15 overs) 216 (chasing) 328 186 (chasing) So other than the exciting game in NZD (or when chasing) we belted the bowling everywhere. We can't have spent too much time batting at less than a run a ball at any period really. We bat like that at the next World Cup and we're one of the favourites.
The Bush
Roar Guru
I said this exact thing to Ronan yesterday when he was talking about tactic changes. It's not that Australia needs to learn a new tactic, they just need to return to the tactics that won them the world cup... tactics that England simply adopted (though perhaps are going even more gung-ho at). Your mention of Faulker is a good point though. We batted seriously deep when Faulkner was averaging about 40 at a great strike rate and was batting at 8. It really balances a side to have great bowling and batting allrounders at 6 and 8.
BurgyGreen
Guest
The real test for the Test side will be South Africa - just as Michael Clarke's whitewash side proved that they were more than hometown heroes by bringing down the Proteas away. Smith's insane current (Test) form will be the key over there just as a rampant Mitchell Johnson paved the road to victory for Clarke's team. I genuinely have no idea what will happen - our batting, appearing indomitable at home, could crumble against their fearsome bowling attack (slightly better than ours in my opinion, especially in their own conditions), or the firepower of Smith and Warner and our quality four-man attack could lift us to a hard-fought victory. This series, thankfully 4 Tests long, has a huge chance of being an absolute classic.
Basil
Guest
I agree with Liam. Remember he's talking 2015 WC. Clarke gave the batsmen a licence.The captaincy styles between Clarke and Smith as well as Faulkner completely dropping off as why we have seen a change. England are on our WC winning blueprint.
Perry Bridge
Guest
3 separate teams. And we saw when S.Smith a couple of years ago - after a fling in the IPL - was recalled to replace Finch as Aust T20 capt (which then saw Finch out of the starting XI at the T20 WC) - only for Smith to need a rest subsequently - illustrating that the load was not sustainable anyway. That surely was a clear indication that one nation, 3 teams, one captain wasn't a comfortable equation.
Basil
Guest
All the lead up this summer was "THE ASHES". From the previous summer, it was all about this summer being "THE ASHES". You guest it, it's about "THE ASHES". The ODI's and T20I's weren't even on the radar. Let's not make it something it's not. Let's stop trying to find negatives.