Ok, so my reluctance to believe that England were a nailed on certainty for victory after Day 3 proved to be a bit on the cautious side, nevertheless, this is Australia and my scars are still a long way from healed.
If I was a neutral watching, I would have said that England looked a certainty from as far back as Day 2. But in my case, when it’s my own team or country, I can sometimes be reluctant to jump the gun.
Anyway, the win is now in the bag and what a thrashing it was. To hear Ricky Ponting say “we were out-batted, bowled and fielded in this entire game,” in describing his team, sums up the one sidedness of this whole test.
I was very surprised with how meekly the Aussies capitulated in the end. To lose the 6 wickets with more than an hour to go before lunch was a pretty poor effort, especially with the prospect of rain coming later in the day.
The manner of defeat was alarming with no real fight at all, it sounds like Ian Chappell showed more backbone in the Adelaide Oval car park than the team did out in the middle. Mike Hussey’s wicket started the rot, it was a very poor shot from the man Australia would have been relying on to do the bulk of their batting.
I can only imagine the flak that Ricky Ponting must now be getting. I have already heard reports about people calling for Shane Warne to come out of retirement. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
I am actually of the opinion that this Aussie team isn’t as bad as it is being made out to be. Yes, one or two changes needs to be made. But apart from that it is just simply out of form, whereas England are in top form. With the two sides performances being so different, the gulf in class is currently being a bit exaggerated.
I got the feeling watching Ryan Harris that if he got some support he could be a real handful. If Australia had the Michell Johnson of 2 years ago against South Africa, suddenly Australia would have a more than handy attack again.
Speaking of Ryan Harris, I don’t blame him for reviewing his LBW decison. I wouldn’t care whether I was a number 8,9,10 or even 11, I’d still have wasted a review on myself even if I knew I was out, if I had been on a King Pair!
From England’s point of view, according to the press this morning, apparently this was the perfect test performance. I just hope this means we haven’t peaked yet.
Don’t think it’s the end of the world losing Stuart Broad either, I believe Chris Tremlett has a big part to play in this series and he will not make England any weaker. It will only become a problem if we lose any more fast men.
Also couldn’t understand all the moaning about Strauss’ declaration. What did people want him to do? Declare earlier and let Australia go well past our total and force us to bat last on a 5th day wicket? Some people are never satisfied.
Apart from the obvious massive margin of victory, my highlight of this test was the innings of Kevin Pietersen. I’ve said on this blog many times that the key to England winning or retaining the Ashes was our batting. With Kevin Pietersen back at his best our batting should now be far more secure than it has been prior to this series.
Pietersen now seems to have plenty of support from those around him and another solid batting display from them all in the 1st innings at Perth next week could be enough to keep the urn.
Stani Army
Agree with you in regards to Hussey’s shot. It was the kind of stroke you’d play if you were intending to go for a win but there was no chance of a win. Crazy shot.
I certainly think their batsmen are out of form, but I think their bowlers, Harris apart, are just poor full stop. Maybe that has caused their batsmen to start having negative thoughts. I cannot see them getting 20 wickets….unless Warne comes back 🙂
As for Pietersen; do you think John Buchanan’s pre-series comments were deliberately designed to get Pietersen fired up? England’s batting was crucial, so it goes without saying that Pietersen’s also was. With the kind of approach to coaching Buchanan has i.e. uses lots of psychology, I wouldn’t put it past him.
So you think Tremlett should be Broad’s replacement Dean? I think they should go with the exciting Shahzad. It will be easy to go with Tremlett but he is similar to the other bowlers like Finn.
Cricket Betting Blog
Agree about their batsmen Stani, think you have a point about the bowling perhaps effecting them. I’ve regularly made a similar point that England’s previous lack of runs has dragged down our bowlers.
Their attack is putting more pressure on the batsmen, no matter how many runs they score, it won’t be enough on current form. They also know that one batting failure means an almost certain test loss.
With regard to Buchanan, if his remarks did fire Pietersen up, I don’t think that he meant them too.
I like Shahzad and think either he or Tremlett could easily replace Broad. I was thinking that Tremlett is more a like-for-like replacement.
Strauss and Flower might go more horses-for-courses and pick which ever one they think suits the wicket best. If I had to choose I think I would slightly prefer Tremlett as at the moment I see him as more the finished article.
Especially if the Aussies pick Phil Hughes, also the selectors probably are of the veiw that Ponting and Clarke are struggling against the short ball, think that could tilt things in Tremlett’s direction more.
But don’t think Shahzad would let England down if he gets the nod. I did hear reports on the radio that there was talk around the England camp of him coming in for Finn for the 2nd test.