Tag Archives: Ashes

The Ashes: 5th Test Preview

August 21, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

Tonight is the night that some Australian cricket fans have been praying would come quickly since the disaster that was the Lords Test match: the start of the last test match of the Ashes series. To say that it has largely been a tour of discontent for the Australia cricket team and its fans would be an understatement. Indeed, one only needs to consider that Australia has used all but one player from its original squad and two players from outside the original squad in this series as an indicia of how well things have gone for the baggy greens.

It wouldn’t be a test match that Australia is competing in at present without there being a selection change from the last test and this premise has held true in the lead up to this test match with James Faulkner coming in for Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Starc returning, for the second time, for his third test on tour in place of Jackson Bird. Shane Watson will bat at 3 and Brad Haddin at 6 in another realignment to the top order for Australia.

As an Australian fan I come into this game with the most limited of expectations to be honest. More changes, including one weakening the batting lineup, could not fill Australian fans with any resembling confidence. Equally, the Australian team will be desperate to avoid a 4-0 result and Darren Lehmann will have given them a rev up that would have metaphorically torn the paint from the walls of the dressing room in Chester-le-Street after the capitulation of the batting order there.

On the other hand the English team will come into this game on high after Stuart Broad’s excellent performance with the ball lead them to victory last time out. They have been forced to make two changes to their squad, albeit only one from the starting lineup, with Bresnan and Onions out hurt and Woakes and Kerrigan into the squad of 14. There is some thought that Kerrigan might play and bowl in tandem with Graeme Swann but a decision on that has yet to be made by the English hierarchy.

It is striking that for Australia there are careers on the line, coupled with those that have already been ended it would seem by this tour (Cowan and Khawaja), with a poor performance from the likes of Watson and Smith likely to find themselves on the outer if they perform badly here. At the same time England have no such problems though they will be looking to their young charges in Bairstow and Root (his 180 aside) to lift their performances in order to secure their positions for the summer tour to Australia.

There are also some massive risks arising for Australia out of a game that really is a dead rubber. Ryan Harris plays his 4th test match in a row for the first time in his career and given his history of injuries he will be watched closely by fans of both teams for any sign of a limp. Peter Siddle also looked completely spent at the end of the 4th test so I am hoping he is had sufficient time to refresh physically and mentally for this game. It would be final nail in the coffin of a tour of discontent for one of Australia’s two key strike bowlers for the return series to suffer a long term injury in this test match. There are also similar risks for England in playing Jimmy Anderson in this test match as he has not looked the bowler he was at Trent Bridge since that test match and seems down on enthusiasm as well as form.

It goes without saying that the umpiring in this series has been woeful at best and there is a real possibility that an umpiring drama at some point will arise. Aleem Dar and Kumar Dharmasena are the men in the middle for this game whilst the woefully out of form Tony Hill is in the TV hot seat. Roshan Mahanama will referee his 45th test match here whilst Richard Kettleborough is the 4th umpire.

The toss of the coin will be vital: particularly for England who will be desperate to bowl last and unleash Graeme Swann on a worn wicket against an Australian batting lineup replete with batsman all at sea so far when facing his bowling. It goes without saying that whichever captain wins the toss, he will bat first.

Key Players:

Shane Watson: Is there are more maligned representative of Australia in any sport at the moment than Shane Watson? I do not wish to troll over that old ground however, suffice it say, he has the opportunity in this game to again prove his doubters wrong. He has moved back up to the engine room of the order to bat at number 3 and one would expect that he will have the pressure off him to bowl a significant number of overs given the selection of Faulkner. If Watson scores runs at the Oval, Australia will score 300 plus for only the second time on the tour and put themselves in a good position to push for victory.

Jonathon Trott: If you had have told me at the start of this series that by the end of the fourth test match Jonathan Trott would have only scored 194 runs so far I would have been asking you to check your medication! Trott has been in the middle for almost all of England’s excellent results since he debuted at this same ground against this same opponent in the final test of the 2009 Ashes. He scored a hundred on debut in that game and given his drought so far with the willow it would surprise me not if he scored one here for England. He is a class player and is certainly due. Of course, when he scores runs the statistics show that England generally win so if he finally puts his mark on the series here that will bode well for them.

Prediction: Head says England because I just don’t think Australia has selected a balanced lineup here given that batting has been the weakness all series and the selectors have weakened rather than strengthened that aspect of the team. Heart and every other fibre of my being wants to see Australia win. I fear though that this is going to be another very tough test match for Australia fans.

Play commences in a little under 3 hours.

The Ashes: So you want Watson dropped? Are you drunk?

August 20, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , 2 Comments

The 5th and final test of the Ashes Series is imminent and thus selection speculation for the Australia team is rife. The usual phalanx of former players and commentators (including those of the armchair variety) have come out of the woodwork to demand the dropping of Shane Watson. In reply I ask: are you drunk?

I know that question is inflammatory and condescending, and on that basis I withdraw it in order to pose it in a different way: on form, in comparison to the other batters in the team, explain to me why Watson ought to be dropped?

Here is the exercise I would like all those calling for such a change to the Australia team to undertake: set aside your irritation at his use of the DRS as well as your irrational hatred of his, alleged, personality traits (and look at his actual form.

Some number to assist with that exercise are as follows:

· Watson is Australia’s 3rd highest run scorer in the series after Michael Clarke and Chris Rogers.

· Watson has a better batting average in this series than Messrs Khawaja, Cowan, Smith, Haddin and Hughes.

· If one broadens the scope and includes England batters in the equation then the following batters have also scored less runs than Watson despite having played the same number of tests: Bairstow, Trott and Prior. It is also worth noting that his 180 runs aside at Lords, Joe Root has only scored 80 runs in 7 innings at an average of just over 10.

Forget the Australian batters for a moment, are the people suggesting Watson be dropped also lining up to suggest that Jonathan Trott be sacked? Are they also suggesting that Joe Root be dropped? I think not.

Steve Smith and Uzman Khawaja are obviously in worse form than Watson and whilst Khawaja’s name has been mentioned in dispatches as being a prime target to have been dropped, Steve Smith’s name has not been mentioned. Shouldn’t he, Smith, be ahead of Watson in the dropping stakes?

I am all for debate: debate is the cornerstone of intelligent discussion. That said, I would really like it if the debate was based on the actual numbers and actual form of the players rather than issues, imagined or otherwise, one has with the person.

If Watson is to miss the 5th test at the Oval, as sad as it is to say, I hope it is due to injury because if he is dropped on form it makes a mockery of the selection process given the form of other players with lesser claims to being in the team.

The Ashes: More changes afoot for Australia in the 5th test … why? And who?

August 19, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

It has been reported in the News Limited press, who have been uncannily correct in their prediction of changes to the Australian team this tour (is Malcolm Conn actually a selector?), that there will be at least two changes to the Australian team for the 5th test at the Oval with Usman Khawaja and Jackson Bird to be left out.

I have been overt previously in other posts on this blog and will say it again: I firmly believe that Australia should make as limited as possible changes to the team for this test match and, in particular, should not be tinkering further with the batting line-up. That said, given Malcolm Conn’s uncanny knack for getting this stuff right, it looks certain that wishes of fans like me will be left unsated and thus it is important to look at who might be wearing the baggy green come the toss of coin at the Oval.

Thus, of the players in the squad at the moment who ought be the replacements for Khawaja and Bird?

The batters who can come are: Phil Hughes, Ed Cowan and Matthew Wade. The favourite, he is the darling of the News Limited press after all, is Phil Hughes. To be honest though, despite that sarcastic assessment, Hughes has been the form batter for Australia in first class matches played on tour with 436 runs at an average of 62 with 5 fifties. If a change is to be made, on form, Hughes must be the man to come in. Of the other contenders: Wade has played only 1 first class game on tour and that, of itself, must count him out of the selection frame whilst Cowan would appear to be on the outer with the NSP never to return despite a solid performance in the first class games on tour.

The bowling stakes come down to a race in two between James Faulkner and Mitchell Starc. I have already written at length about why James Faulkner ought be selected. I concede that this would be a selection based on potential rather than form given that in the 3 first class games he has played on tour he has taken only 7 wickets at an average of 32. Starc, form wise, is the clear selection option given that in his 4 first class games on tour he has taken 16 wickets at an average of a shade under 21. In test matches he has played on tour he performed admirably despite being dropped twice with 8 wickets at an average of 27. He has been punished it would seem for being erratic at times and not being able to create pressure on the English batters.

On the basis of the foregoing:

1. If Khawaja is to be dropped then I think it is clear that Phil Hughes will return. I disagree with that move but if it is happening then one must accept same and move on.
2. On the bowling front, form suggests Starc will be selected however I think that would be a narrow minded mistake given the opportunity to give Faulkner a game ought, frankly, be irresistible.

If changes are going to be made, which I am against, then is dropping Khawaja and Bird the only changes that should be made? I think that there are some other changes, given that change seems to be happening, that could also be made. For example, on form can anyone convince me that Steve Smith is in any better form with the willow than Khawaja? Aside from an early half century in the first test and 89 in partnership with the captain in the 3rd test he has not passed 20 in six other innings. If there was another batsman in the squad, given Cowan is on the outer and Wade’s lack of cricket, would he survive the rearrangement of deck chairs seemingly being undertaken by the NSP? I, frankly, doubt it.

Given Brad Haddin’s poor form with the willow (170 runs at 25 in the test matches) it is surprising that there is not more pressure on his position in the team (given Australia’s fascination with batting wicket keepers) but, again, that may have more to do with Matthew Wade’s lack of first class cricket on tour than anything else. It must be said though that aside from a couple of mishaps at Lords Haddin has been in fine form with the gloves and thus making a change would solely be for batting reasons and they are, in my view, the wrong reasons to be changing a wicketkeeper.

On the bowling side, and I know I am beating a dead horse here, is it time for Peter Siddle to have a rest? Since his 5/50 in the first innings of the first test at Trent Bridge, which most unbiased fans would say was more luck than good bowling, Siddle has taken 12 wickets in 7 innings at an average of 33. At Chester-le-Street he struggled and looked like he was spent as early as the English first innings. If changes are being made then I would suggest that Siddle be rested and Faulkner be selected in his place (if Starc is coming in for Bird).

England lead the series 3-0 and will be desperate to complete 4-0 victory at the Oval. Australia will be desperate to finish the series with a win and with that in mind I advocate as few changes as possible. If I got my way, the team for the final test would be:

Rogers, Warner, Khawaja, Clarke, Smith, Watson, Haddin, Faulkner, Siddle, Harris, Lyon

If more changes are to made, as suggested by Malcolm Conn, then I would go further than just dropping Khawaja and Bird. Steve Smith can count himself lucky there is not another batsman on tour and I would rest Siddle. My preferred team in that context would be:

Rogers, Warner, Hughes, Clarke, Smith, Watson, Haddin, Faulkner, Starc, Harris, Lyon

It will be very interesting to see what the Australian selectors will do. Obviously the avoidance of more knee jerk reactions to Australia’s current form would be preferred but that does not seem to be an option the NSP is alive to.

Only 2 days till the final test of this, frankly, terrible tour for Australia begins. The final day of the test, whichever one it is, can not come soon enough for Australian fans.

Postscript: Before those who have questioned my keenness to see David Warner not in the team, I am alive to the contradiction the foregoing presents. I remain firmly of the view that he, and Australian cricket, would be better served by him spending a full season in the Sheffield Shield. I do not believe he should be in the test team but it is obvious that he is in there to stay at the moment so for present purposes I am not going to seek to push my view any further.

The Ashes: England squad for the 5th Test

August 18, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , 3 Comments

England have today named a 14 player squad for the 5th and final test of the Ashes series at the Oval.

The squad is: A Cook (c), J Anderson, J Bairstow, I Bell, S Broad, S Finn, S Kerrigan, K Pietersen, M Prior, G Swann, C Tremlett, J Trott and C Woakes

Tim Bresnan and Graeme Onions are out of the squad from the 4th test with injury. Steve Finn returns having been dropped after the second test.

Simon Kerrigan, for those who don’t know of him, is a 24 year old left arm orthodox spinner who has played 48 first class matches and boasts an impressive record with 164 wickets at an average of 26.52. He has not appeared in the top English team at any level.

Chris Woakes, having already represented England at ODI and T20 level, is another 24 year old (does England have some depth at the moment or am I missing something?) this time an all rounder, again with an impressive first class record, having played 82 first class fixtures during which he has scored over 3000 runs at an average of 38 and taken 284 wickets at an average of 25.48.

The Ashes: 5th Test … A dead rubber or an opportunity?

August 18, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , Leave a comment

I have been a staunch advocate for the Cricket Australia National Selection Panel to not make changes for the sake of making changes to the Australia test match lineup and I remain so. There could be nothing worse for building consistency in a team than consistently changing said team as is clearly evidenced by the current predicament the Australian team finds itself in.

Nonetheless, after much reflection I can only conclude that there is no better opportunity to blood a player with a view to the future than in this fixture. The series is gone and this is a dead rubber so all eyes must be focused on winning back the Ashes in Australia, a series that commences only 3 months almost to the day from the end of this test match.

To that end I believe that James Faulkner MUST be awarded his first baggy green in this game for the, hopefully, betterment of Australian cricket and the strengthening of both our batting and bowling lineups.

With Pattinson injured, Starc proven erratic and Bird innocuous under pressure the time is right to grant a debut for the young left arm swing bowling allrounder from the apple isle to see what he is made of. He possesses an excellent first class record albeit on a helpful home grand and has been shown in the past to have the fire in the belly that at times has been lacking, either actually or perceived, in Australian teams of late.

That change aside I see limited benefit in making any other changes. If Usman Khawaja is to be Australia’s long term number 3 then he must be supported by the NSP and selected. Nathan Lyon has done enough in the eyes of everyone but for John Inverarity to secure his spot. Talk of Ashton Agar being selected to bat at number 6 is surely hyperbole from a desperate press core. Finally, say what you like Brad Haddin: he is still the far superior gloveman to Matthew Wade and given that the wicket keeping is still the primary focus of his role he must be selected as well.

This final test is both the dead rubber and the opportunity I mention in the title to this post. One wonders whether the NSP has the courage to take the opportunity or whether it will revert to type and make knee jerk changes that see the same faces leaving or returning depending on whose turn it is. Only time will tell.