Pat Cummins knocked over Ollie Robinson to claim the last wicket of the fifth Ashes Test, completing a 4–0 series win and putting a dispirited England squad out of its misery.
Not surprisingly, given the rapid fall of wickets on the third day in Hobart, it didn’t take long for the barbed comments to start being directed at Joe Root, his team, the coach and pretty much anything to do with English Test cricket.
Meanwhile, pundits reviewing Australia’s success were glowing in their praise of all and sundry. Well, nearly all and sundry – little mention was made of the impact Justin Langer had, because all the attention was on Pat Cummins, wonder captain, and his squad of players.
The English press were just as gushing in their praise for Cameron Green, Travis Head and Scott Boland as they were scathing in their attacks on most of the England squad.
With the dust settling on the celebrations, I can’t help but wonder whether this Australia side is that good – or was England just that bad? I’m equally wondering whether we’re in much better shape than England as far as Test cricket depth is concerned.
(Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
Right now Australia has real strength in two areas.
Our fast-bowling squad is the equal of any in the world and, in terms of depth, would probably shade all, including India.
Our other area of strength is wicketkeeping. Alex Carey will be better for playing in his first Ashes series, but there are at least two or three other candidates waiting for their opportunity if he doesn’t live up to expectations.
Players like Josh Inglis and Josh Philippe are strong Test chances, while Jimmy Peirson is keeping all honest with some excellent performances for the Bulls.
In all other areas we are not a lot better off this summer than we were 12 months ago, when we struggled to find batsmen and our spin stocks were exposed.
Think back 12 months to the disaster that was our batting stocks and ask yourself what’s changed. The simple answer is: not a lot. The team succeeded this year because Usman Khawaja and Travis Head found form and Dave Warner wasn’t batting on one leg.
Sooner rather than later we’re going to need to find two Test-quality opening batsmen, and our options are limited.
Dave Warner will likely keep his spot even though his record outside Australia is as poor as his record in Australia is good. Marcus Harris may have done his dash, Khawaja is in the twilight of his career – as is Warner, for that matter – so that leaves Henry Hunt and maybe Bryce Street as the only contenders.
Sure, there are other guys in Shield who have made the occasional century, but there’s no-one demanding to be considered apart from these two.
We have similar issues with Nos. 3 to 6. Clearly the current line-up has a lock on their spots, but what happens if one or more is injured?
Matt Renshaw would be the mix but so would Mitch Marsh if the pre-Christmas media reports were anything to go by. Glenn Maxwell’s name has been mentioned in dispatches because of his ability to play spin even though it’s been quite some time since he played any red-ball cricket.
Other than these guys, who else is in the mix?
Of course there’s Will Pucovski, a super talent with the bat but super scary thanks to the number of concussions he’s suffered. I’m guessing he’d be a chance to play Tests again next year but not over the Aussie winter, when Australia has three tough Test series to complete. And if his health doesn’t allow him to play Tests, we’ll be struggling for options.
Finally, there are our spin choices, and right now we have no-one we’re 100 per cent sure could replace Nathan Lyon as a Test-quality spinner.
Mitchell Swepson will likely get his chance in the coming months, but again, if Lyon is injured, who else is in the mix? Adam Zampa, Ashton Agar or perhaps Matt Kuhnemann?
(Photo by Albert Perez – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images
The concern for Cricket Australia has to be the lack of young talent pushing their claims for Test inclusion. That players like Maxwell, Mitch Marsh and the like are still seriously in the mix when they’ve played little red-ball cricket in recent summers is surely telling them there are problems with the current Australian red-ball system.
In many ways our summer scheduling parallels the English summer, with red-ball cricket starting early, having a long middle break to accommodate the domestic T20 competition and then resuming almost as an afterthought.
Right now there are no Shield matches scheduled, which cannot be down to COVID issues given there’s a complete list of remaining BBL matches on the Cricket Australia website.
It would be very easy to assume Australia are strong in Test cricket following this series, but the reality is we are not strong in two key areas.
England Test cricket is in a shocking state in exactly the same key areas as Australia: batting and spin bowling. I’m guessing we’re only three or four years away from being in a similar position thanks to similar factors, mostly around the emphasis on white-ball cricket through scheduling and so on.
Warner, Khawaja, Starc and Lyon must be getting close to retirement, yet we have a replacement for exactly one of them. Cricket Australia needs to recognise this and make the necessary changes to ensure players can develop into Test-quality prospects.
If not, we could easily go the way of England, which is not a pleasant prospect at all.
JamesH
Roar Guru
Absolutely. There is a gaping chasm between the 'old' heads of Warner and Khawaja on one hand, and the raw potential of Pucovski, Street and Hunt. Other than Harris there's almost no one in the frame who straddles that divide, given Bancroft simply hasn't found his pre-ban form.
Paul
Roar Guru
I think you nailed the difference between Harris & Khawaja. I'm also thinking what's left of the Shield season could be super important for Street, Hunt, etc because you're right, selectors need to get at least one new opener around the squad and hopefully get them into the team.
JamesH
Roar Guru
I'm not suggesting Harris will succeed. I think he has some basic opening batter tools that Khawaja lacks, and finally showed some growth in this series. That doesn't mean he will have a fruitful test career. His tendency to get out after doing the hard work is infuriating. Khawaja has the opposite issue - a bit shaky early if there is movement, but knows how to cash in once he's set. If this were a battle for a position in the middle order then it would be Khawaja, no contest. I think they will look at taking Street on the Asia tours if Pucovski doesn't get back to scoring runs in the Shield this summer, even if for nothing but the experience. They have to plan for the scenario where Harris doesn't make it and Pucovski never gets past his concussion issues.
Paul
Roar Guru
I think we'll have to agree to disagree about Harris, James. You're seeing things in his batting at I'm not. The issue as you rightly point out is that asking Khawaja to open with Warner in places where's he's struggled before, is hardly ideal, yet you're suggesting a guy who's struggled in all conditions, will do better in Asia? I'd take a punt on one of the younger brigade you mentioned, if an issue arises with the openers. Hopefully they can rise to the occasion.
JamesH
Roar Guru
England's attack created chances because they have a good attack, Paul. They would have lost this series comfortably even if they had taken them, though. The difference here is that our attack had the penetration it lacked last summer (partly due to England's poor batting, but partly due to better bowling too), and we had a greater spread of contributors with the bat. Against India it was Marnus/Smith or bust in the top 6. This series we had Head, Warner and - to a lesser extent - Harris and Green providing valuable contributions as well. How often in the last 6-7 years have we had a decent series with the bat when neither Marnus nor Smith has starred? As for Harris, my point is that the glimpses he showed in the past were starting to become something more. There was clear improvement as the series progressed and he was desperately unlucky that Khawaja had a blinder in Sydney. I honestly believe Harris would have been a better chance of getting through the new ball on day 1 at Hobart than either Khawaja or Warner, based on the way he applied himself in Melbourne and during his County stint mid-last year. History says he probably wouldn't have turned that into a big score, but in those conditions simply blunting the new ball had value. We need Harris to find his feet as a test cricketer. Khawaja is a square peg in a round hole, and relying on him and Warner to open over the next 12-18 moths means we're banking on two of Pucovski, Hunt and Street to be test-ready by that time. That's a pretty big gamble, and I think it's precisely why the selectors have shown patience with Harris.
JamesH
Roar Guru
Of course he played and missed and got edges. It was a difficult pitch to bat on with plenty of sideways movement. And sure, he had some luck. Everyone who scores runs on a tricky wicket has some degree of luck go their way. But he maximised his chances by playing with soft hands, leaving deliveries he didn't need to hit and not following the ball. To say that it wasn't a good innings is farcical. It was the defining innings of the match. Compare that to Khawaja's dismissal in the first innings in Hobart on a similar deck, where he pushed away from his body at a ball that he didn't need to play. It's not exactly the first time in his career he's done that either. To me, that's the difference between Khawaja being a good batsman and being a good opening batsman. He can bat anywhere in the order on a flat wicket because he's a sublime talent, but when there's lateral movement it's a different story. Harris was guilty of the same thing at times earlier in his career. But the fact he didn't do it in Melbourne wasn't a fluke. He spent the winter playing County Cricket on seaming pitches in England and succeeded precisely because he tightened up his technique. He still has an issue with getting his front foot to the pitch of the ball, which led to his downfall several times in the series, but he's at least shown a willingness to learn and adapt.
Pierro
Roar Rookie
it’s certainly a hypothetical chat and a great outcome this summer after losing to India twice on home soil. I think the change In captaincy , Carey’s good start and rappoir in the side and green/heads evolution have all been big this summer as well as the line and length of Boland shining. probably the only debate that matters now is still the opening pair and their ability to tour after mediocre averages in this home series and spinners for subcontinent really. Aus has to win on subcontinent to be a seriously good side and I do t have any confidence over warner Harris starc and Lyon on Subcontinent so Aus needs to get busy with spinner strategy and the opening conundrum. we haven’t rotated street or hunt or swepson which may have been a mistake going forward
Mike
Guest
OUATOTR - what was that comment about? Is it because a negative word was dared to be said about Mark Waugh? Waugh was a great player but hardly beyond criticism, especially with an overall average that is disappointing and not reflective of his talent or some of the top innings he played for Aust.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Had a bit of a sooky cry to the admin did you? Just quit making your stupid comments in the first place.
Son of Coco
Guest
Tip the cap, sir.
Shed Bloke
Roar Rookie
Breaking News: In a shock move, the English Cricket Board have announced the appointment of tennis World No.1 Novak Djokovic as their new batting coach.???? "We acknowledge he doesn't have a background in our sport, but we couldn't overlook the fact that it took Australia two weeks to get him out."
Adam
Roar Guru
I mean, Hobart practically offered them a home game with the weather, wicket and smaller boundaries it felt like a British village. But they still stank up the joint...
Gee
Roar Rookie
Smith will find form again. He is a very hard trainer and is always looking for ways to improve his batting. I can't see him accepting mediocrity in his game or having a close enough is good enough attitude like Mark Waugh was famous for.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Agree with most of what you say except I'd still put Australia as slight favourites against India if they came out here now (we failed to win at the SCG and Gabba last year due to poor captaincy/selection), and the bit about closer results at the Gabba and Adelaide if the batting order were reversed. England picked the wrong team for the Gabba and I don't think could have taken the same advantage of the first morning conditions even if they bowled first. England threw their wickets away poking at balls outside off stump, Australia didn't play like that at all this series. Woakes, Stokes and Leach would have still bowled pies and got hammered. At Adelaide, Australia got a big first innings score through impressive discipline. Do you really think England would have shown the same discipline if they had batted first? They didn't during any other innings this series. They didn't really get the worst of conditions as it rained after losing just one wicket on the second evening, so they did less batting during the evening than Australia did. Poor preparation is definitely a factor, but the fact is England have been awful all year in test cricket, whether playing in Australia, England or India. Their fielding has been bad, but so has their batting and (to a lesser extent) their bowling.
Paul
Roar Guru
Things got ugly in 2016 when we got belted by Sri Lanka then hammered by South Africa As you say though, nothing nearly as poor as England across the series, though it seemed pretty bad at the time.
Son of Coco
Guest
The worst "ebb" in the past 30 years was in 2013 when Australia lost a few (6 I think) in a row...and even then they were at least competitive in enough of those matches. England was just terrible from start to finish. There were 56 (I think) sessions of cricket. England won maybe 5 of them.
Paul
Roar Guru
At least give us a week to enjoy this Paul! I'm pretending I'm one of those Tassie cops who called time on the celebrations Matt. :happy:
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Tempo I think it's pretty obvious Australia would be favorites in Australia against any team except India who have beaten Aus twice in three years in Australia . In England I think it's very marginal . If we reversed Australia batting first at Gabba and aus bowled first at Adelaide things may have been very close . conditions and poor fielding as well as covid conditions had a big say in this series in Australia . if we are comparing sides I'd say one big reason england were not as good as their fielding was terrible and drop catch count awful . on that level Australia are playing much better cricket
Paul
Roar Guru
the top guys are pushing a million quid, Tony and Roots on more again. At least he earns his pay, trying to diplomatically tell us his team's not that bad.
Paul
Roar Guru
"I don’t think we’ll ever get to an ebb as low as English cricket." There be all hell to pay if we did, given the obvious warning we've got from this series. That said, we seem locked into white ball cricket dominating our summer, which is a clear reason for England's woes. If CA doesn't place more emphasis on red ball cricket and do it soon, we could find ourselves struggling.