Australia’s fielding is letting them down.
Whenever Peter Siddle has the ball in hand, all sorts of chances are being dropped, forcing him to do it himself on Day 4 with a sharp caught-and-bowled. The brains trust will also be concerned by the two missed LBW referrals off Nathan Lyon’s bowling, which were out.
Looking ahead to the third Ashes Test in Leeds, though, and the form of David Warner and Cameron Bancroft is much more of a concern.
Since the World Cup, Warner has been horribly out of form, with Stuart Broad dismissing him for scores of two, eight and three. This seems to have impacted his form in the field, putting down a few chances the Warner of old would have snaffled.
This will be worrying captain Tim Paine and coach Justin Langer, as Warner was always going to be key to getting Australia off to a good start by putting the pressure back on England, but it just hasn’t happened.
To add to Warner’s woes, his opening partner Bancroft has been in bad form as well, with scores of eight, seven and 13. Australia’s opening partnerships stands of two, 13 and 11 might have the selectors regretting the omission of Joe Burns from the squad, as they might need a wholesale change of Burns and Marcus Harris in for Warner and Bancroft either for the next Test at Headingley or the fourth at Old Trafford.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
What more could we ask from Steve Smith? He was in the wars against the rapid pace of Jofra Archer and he got hit numerous times, yet he still wanted to come back out straight away and get his name on the honours board.
Smith is one of the best ever, and courageous as well. It was very poor form from the spectators to boo Smith off the ground after being hit on the neck – an incident that brought back the memory of Phillip Hughes.
After being hit a few times, Smith never looked the same. He looked rattled. Hopefully for him and Australia his arm will be fine, and he will be able to play a major part in the series, piling on the runs.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
At the start of the series, many commentators thought Rory Burns was a weak option at the top of the order for England. He has proven his critics very wrong.
He is currently the series’ second top-scorer behind Smith and he has looked the most solid out of all the English batsman. He isn’t perturbed if he takes 50 balls to score a run. He is happy to stay in and let the other batsman build around him, which will make him a good opener for England in years to come.
On the other hand, captain Joe Root is struggling. It happened to Alastair Cook and history is repeating itself.
During the 2013/14 Ashes, Cook was in a torrid run of form and England were getting hammered, so his credentials as captain were questioned. He managed to hang on to his role for another three years and rediscovered his fine touch with the bat.
They are similar circumstances for Root. Chances are Root will be able to bounce back from this and have a long future as England captain, but he will need to find a balance that works for him.
(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
At Headingley, Australia must drop Warner and select Harris.
Warner has been our go to man alongside Smith for years now, but he needs some time to clear his head after the World Cup.
It would be beneficial for him to have a match off and spend some time enjoying a mini-break so that he can be primed for the fourth Test. Bancroft could have been dropped, too, but Burns isn’t in the squad. If Bancroft doesn’t score runs in Leeds, then Warner can come back in his place for the fourth Test.
It’s a very daring move, especially with the series on the line, but it might just pay off for the Aussies.
Also, if the pitch is flat at Headingley, Mitchell Starc or James Pattinson should replace Siddle to offer the attack extra pace.
England should drop Jason Roy and Jos Buttler and bring in Sam Curran and Dominic Sibley.
Buttler is much like David Warner – he’s worn out from the World Cup and needs a break, and could be replaced by Curran, who’s a good bowling option and a decent bat.
Roy’s omission is no surprise. Sibley is a talented young opener who’s scored the most runs in County Division 1 this year, tallying 940 at 63. His first-class record hasn’t been great, averaging just 39, but he still has ten centuries and 19 fifties.
He is currently in a good run of form, coming off 244 and a run of four straight scores over 50. Add a strong 74 against Australia A and England would be wise to give him a crack, ending the failed Roy experiment.
Murray
Guest
Khawaja should have kept his spot and Warner should have been dropped. Warner out again for a duck tonight, why does he maintain his spot? Poor selection from the Australian selectors yet again.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
Poor Brad Hodge
pakistanstar
Roar Rookie
Not sure Langer can keep defending him when he averages less than 27 after 10 tests with 3 50's and no 100's. We've dropped players with better records than that.
Scumbags&Superstars
Roar Rookie
Warner's career stats away from Australia against good opposition are appalling. Should never have been in the touring squad and certainly should not play in Leeds.
riddler
Roar Rookie
i will try and find the stats today. i know that it is very ugly. good to see that i am not on my pat malone on here with people realising he is not the dog’s boll ocks. and take that bloody tape off your hands. harris should step in for thursday. give him a rest and get him in the nets to work on his weakness.
terrykidd
Roar Pro
Seeing that catch on multiple replays I wonder how embarrassed Root is now after claiming he caught it ....... at the time he probably genuinely think he did get it, but the replays show otherwise
terrykidd
Roar Pro
What about the other way round for Patterson (3) and Pucovski (6) ???
terrykidd
Roar Pro
Pretty much agree with this ..... a couple of changes I would make .... Warner and Bancroft out, replaced by Kawhaja and Harris, Labuschagne to No 3, Siddle dropped and replaced by Starc. Those changes might give us a start when batting and certainly gives us more venom and options when bowling.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
Well it could have been 26.5, and not have factored in the poor series now
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Yeah. The QCA literally went beyond the pale by allowing Usman to don the Baggy Maroon. It's perfectly ok to let Saffers like Kepler & Marnus in, but they absolutely should have drawn the line at Usman. Didn't they know that he's one of 'them'? You know. A Blue bagger. [fx: spit]
riddler
Roar Rookie
pretty sure i saw on the bbc that his avg for first innings in england, all time, was under 20. not just this series where he is around 3 i imagine.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
Hopefully they have more than Burns on that flight Gee, we need more batsman in reserve
Nick
Roar Guru
Lol. I prefer not to count it. neither Wade or Ussie are purebred from their states. :silly:
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Actually, the last time it happened was the 1st Test in this series. I forgot Usman K. :laughing:
Nick
Roar Guru
That's a great stat... Thanks to people like Warne, Ponting and Gillespie doing their bit to represent, it happened quite a bit in the early 2000's. The most recent I can think of is in 2006 in Bangladesh (when Gillespie got 200*). Ponting - TAS Warne - VIC Gillespie - SA Hayden - QLD Langer - WA Clarke - NSW Dizzy didn't play again after that, and there have been scarce South Australian's making it. Wonder if there is a more recent example?
Gee
Roar Rookie
Bancroft is gone so Warner is safe for the time being. He has always been a flat tracker so his seniority will excuse his form for a bit. Bancroft averages 25, looks like he can't hit a four, has played about ten tests and is the only actual convicted cheat in the side. Worth a go on his English form but not up to it in reality. Labucangne is a certainty next game so Harris opens if Smith plays or Khawaja moves up to open if Smith is fit. And hopefully Joe Burns is on a 747 this week to shore up the squad.
Mike B
Guest
I'm not a huge fan of Warner the person, however he has served his time as Bancroft and Smith did and so has the same rights for selection. As a batsman he is a proven match winner when on song - Bancroft is not that. I think, if there is a change to be made, then Harris comes in for Bancroft. That of course, is if Smith doesn't play. After the showing by Loosebuschange, he HAS to play. What a great innings - ended only by an extremely dubious and lucky catch. I'd be going Warner, Harris, Khawaja, LB, Head, Wade OR Warner, Khawaja, LB, Smith, Head, Wade if Smith is fit. On the bowling front I'd be very tempted to fight fire with fire and bring in Starc. He should be quite charged up after being left out. Hazelwood faded a bit and Siddle has been stoic but perhaps we need more right now. The team I'd like to see is Warner, Khawaja, LB, Smith, Head, Wade, Paine, Pattinson, Cummins, Starc, Lyon. There's a 5th bowling option there in LB and some good batting depth with Starc at 10. Starc needs to "man up" and rip in at 150 km as we know he can.
Mika
Roar Rookie
Yes a tough one. if Warner was ever going to stand up, it was here in the 2nd dig, with Smith out injured. He would have felt responsible to get it done, and wanted it so bad. But he poked at a ball. He's been getting his hands/gloves in the way of balls he does not need to play frequently. Moving his batting position. Dropping catches. We saw in the World Cup he'd remodelled his approach. Seemed like a good idea. For whatever reason, it's not worked, he's not playing on instinct and he's completely rattled. One part of me considered putting him in behind Wade (to face an older ball and tired bowlers), putting Khawaja to open and dropping Bancroft with Harris. That might be a bit radical though... I do not agree with dropping Siddle. He's our English conditions guy and he's doing the job superbly - his team mates have let him down badly with dropped catches.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Speaking of the "professional era"... How globalised is cricket now? Englands' Barbadian decking Australias' Saffer. And in other unnewsworthy news... Marnus L taking the field in this Test meant that the Oz team featured players from every State. Wonder when the last time was that this occurred?
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
And young Marnus' performance with the bat too, that partnership with Head was a sensible show of how to bat and he was very unlucky with the dismissal, coming of short leg and possible bouncing before Root.