Welcome back to everyone who has decided to read this blog after my prolonged absence. I’ve had a very hectic last few months, but the excitement of The Ashes has forced me to come out of retirement. With the series starting tomorrow in Brisbane, and a green pitch that the opening bowlers have to look forward to, we should be in for a cracking first day.
If we all remember the first ball of the 2006/07 Ashes when Stephen Harmison sent it straight to Freddy Flintoff at second slip, it set the tone for the whole series. I can’t really see Tim Bresnan or Stuart Broad bowling that type of ball in the first over of proceedings, but then again, Harmison who was one of the top ranked Test bowlers in the world at the time, was hardly expected to do that. We would have expected that sort of ball from say Darren Gough or Dominic Cork, but not Harmy…
There has been a lot of banter heading into this series beginning with the Aussies putting a massive hologram (pictured right) in the centre of London, welcoming the Urn back to Australia. Then you have England being the first team in history to have no one show up to the pre test luncheon, you have the ex England coach Duncan Fletcher calling this Australian side the worst Australian side in 30 years (I bet the English will be hating Fletcher for that), and now you have Mitchell Johnson throwing verbal abuse at Andrew Strauss, saying he can’t handle the short ball.From a neutral perspective, I can’t really decide who to back. Australia are the favourites (despite what everyone is saying) for numerous reasons.
1) The first test is at the Gabba where they haven’t lost since 1988 against the ferocious West Indies pace attack.
2) The Aussies love playing on fast bouncy tracks – wait until they get to Perth and Adelaide and watch their batsman knock up huge scores.
3) The English hate playing in Australia – 2006/2007 will be in the players minds that were part of that tour (even if they do say it’s forgotten).
4) The Aussies are desperate and a desperate Aussie side is a dangerous one – you have half the team playing for their place or out of form, some pundits will argue this is a negative, but I think this is a huge positive. Look for Mike Hussey and Ricky Ponting to have HUGE series.
On paper, I would back the English, but I can’t really get past the flimsiness of Alistair Cook, the rashness of Kevin Pieterson, the inability of Matt Prior to make large scores, and the lack of pace from England’s top bowlers. Not one has the ability to frighten the Aussie batsman and these pitches will not be as friendly (except the Gabba) as the pitches at Durham/Headingly/The Oval.
I think England would have more chance if Australia held The Ashes, then the English would have to play attacking cricket to win it back. England will play a little bit defensive looking for draws rather than wins, and in the end, it will be the attacking mindset of Shane Watson, Ponting, Michael Clarke and every Englishman’s favourite player, ‘Mr Cricket’ (Hussey, pictured left) that will get Australia over the line. I think Australia will win this series 3-1 with most games being tight, but England never really looking like winning it.
