Tag Archives: Ashes

The Ashes: First Test Day 2 Preview

November 22, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

It was a brilliant day of cricket yesterday and day 2 looms large as one of the most important in the series. Australia fought back in the final session on day 1 to almost return the game to parity and both sides will be looking to take a hold on the game on day 2.

Here are my keys to winning the day:

How long can Australia bat?

At 6/135 Australia’s innings was in absolute disarray but Brad Haddin, ably assisted by Mitchell Johnson, rested the rot and remains unbeaten on 75 runs. Australia is only 27 runs from 300 which will be their first target of the day. Given the position Australia was in every one over 300 will be a nail in the hearts of the Englishmen so the longer Australia bats into day 2 the more pressure the Englishmen will feel.

M Johnson: now to step up with the ball

Johnson’s effort with the bat on day one in concert with Brad Haddin was a stoic and solid display at just the right time for his team. He will be bowling at some point on day one and one expects him to take the new ball. It will be vital to Australia’s chances of winning this test match that Johnson performs well and, in particular, does so in his first spell before the ball gets older and pitch flattens out even more.

Trott factor

Jonathan Trott, by his own lofty standards, had an ordinary series in the 2013 Ashes. He returns to a happy hunting ground for him following his performances in Australia in 2010/11 and one again expects him to be a key roadblock to an Australian victory should he recapture that form. He seemed to find strange ways to get out in the last series and Australia clearly has a plan to test him out with the short ball. Expect a deep backward square leg to go out as soon as he walks to the crease. His wicket early will be a prized one for Australia.

Will the Bell toll again?

Ian Bell was the best batsman from either side in the 2013 Ashes and has gone from being one of the most maligned and underperforming players in the English side to the glue that holds the English batting order together. He historically has not enjoyed Australian conditions but the quality of his driving on the up in England would suggest he will enjoy the extra bounce here. He came in regularly when the English were in trouble in the last series and if they are in trouble again on day 2 he will be looked to to return the game to England’s favour.

As I mentioned at the outset this will be another great day’s play and could have a large bearing on the outcome of the test and the series. Play kicks off in 2 hours time. Enjoy!

The Ashes: First Test, Day 1 Talking Points

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

I have just gotten home from the first day of the of 2013/14 Ashes series and what a first day it was! It was a day that had something for every cricket fan no matter whether you are an Australian or English fan or just a one of the game’s purists. It would be fair to say that it was England’s day but Australia’s fightback in the final session of the day has made it a closer day that looked likely at the tea break.

Here are my talking points from the first day’s play:

Courier Mail v Broad: Broad wins in a first round knock out!

The Courier Mail lost the plot with its campaign to sledge Stuart Broad and to “silence him” by ostensibly not mentioning his name. 5 wickets, including the first 4 of the Australian innings, on day one from England’s key allrounder are enough for me, and basically every cricket fan, to declare this battle a win for Broad by knockout. Widely panned by all serious cricket journalists and all fair minded fan this stunt has done nothing but fire up the English team and successfully so it would seem. The people responsible at the Courier Mail, the journalist who wrote the article, the person who operates the social media and the editor who approved the stunt should be banished from this series for the remainder.

White ball form DOES NOT equate to form in the long form of the game

Australia’s top order again struggled. I have been vehement on this blog and in general discussion that some of Australia’s test players had been given insufficient time to prepare due to playing in a one day series before the test match and, I hate to say I told you so, so it proved for the most part today. George Bailey, on debut after a stunning series of scores in ODI cricket, looked out of sorts and out of touch and played at a ball he should have left. Shane Watson parried at a ball outside off stump that he should have left alone. It is easy to say that with more time in first class cricket at home instead of being in India they may not have played at those balls. I know Brad Haddin was on the same tour but he is not a top 6 batsman.

The Maligned Rise: Mitchell Johnson

It was a great day for Johnson. Under the pump from most fans (including me I concede) and under pressure given the situation Johnson played a gem of an innings. He was assured in his foot work, left the right balls alone and hit some very long balls when the opportunity arose. This was an excellent rearguard performance but the real test for Johnson will come tomorrow when he is called on to take the new ball. I, for one, he can take the confidence he must have gained from today’s performance and put it into play with the ball.

The Pitch: slower than expected … just the way James Sutherland ordered

I went into the ground expecting to see an old school Gabba wicket in late November particularly given the weather we had in Brisbane earlier in the week. I expected a bouncy green tinged wicket. What we got today at the Gabba, in the main, was a slow wicket with limited lateral movement. Fans should hark their minds back to the openly reported directive from Cricket Australia that James Sutherland and his sidekick wanted to see more batter friendly pitches for first class cricket this year. Seems that directive has impacted on the pitch prepared by Kevin Mitchell Jnr for this test.

Tomorrow beckons with Australia on 8/273 with Brad Haddin unconquered on 78 and Ryan Harris on 4. It presents as another great day of cricket.

The Ashes: 1st Test Preview

November 20, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 1 Comment

Well it is finally here: in less than 24 hours the first ball in a 5 test, 25 (hopefully) day odyssey of cricket between the oldest of cricketing enemies, Australia and England, will start. The weather has cleared up, Kevin Mitchell Jnr is putting the final touches on the best wicket in the country, the Barmy Army is warming up their vocal cords at the Pig & Whistle and Shane Watson’s hamstring is at 90%. All of this means: it is go time!

I commented earlier in the week that I have been somewhat nonplussed by the series coming up. I have to say though that with less than 24 hours to go my excitement levels have gone from about 2 / 10 to 14 / 10 and I can not wait now for 10am to arrive.

Australia Cricket is in a state of flux at the moment. Domestic T20 cricket is the focus of Cricket Australia as is appeasing their BCCI masters so Australia’s preparation has been less than ideal. Injuries have also again gone through the Australian bowling ranks like a dose of the black death circa the 14th century. The Australian captain has a bad back that is, apparently, being held together with the assistance of a machine developed by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s personal trainer. Australia’s premier allrounder, Shane Watson, has a dodgy hamstring again. Davey Warner has a new girlfriend.

England come into this game also with injury concerns, most particularly involving their wicketkeeper and vice-captain Matt Prior. The English preparation has been chequered with an ordinary performance first up against a Western Australia XI, 5 days looking at rain in Hobart and then a solid performance against an “invitational XI”. Their precocious batter Kevin Pietersen plays his 100th test match. They come into this series having won the last two series between the two combatants.

The last time Australia and England played in Australia the result was a 3-1 win for England in a series they, frankly, dominated with the bat. England is ranked 3rd in the ICC Test Championship rankings whilst Australia is presently ranked 5th.

The Gabba is a special place for the Australian team and Australian fans. Australia has not lost a test match at the Gabba in over 20 years. This is where Australia starts its test match summers for a reason: the team plays it best cricket here. It is telling to note though that when Australia has lost at the Gabba it has run into the best bowlers of the time: Malcolm Marshall (1984), Richard Hadlee (1985), Graham Dilley (1986) and Ambrose (1988).

Key Players:

Shane Watson: Watson is either loved or hated by cricket fans, both from Australia and abroad. His importance to the Australian line up is clear given that he has been selected for this test match, ostensibly, at only 90 per cent fitness. I am strongly of the view that Australia rely on him most with the ball and will do so again in this test match. On what presents as both an early seaming deck and then a flat batting deck depending on the day of the game, Watson’s overs could well prove the difference between a win and a loss. Of course his work with the willow will also be important as will his catching at slip. Watson is, really, Australia’s only triple threat and if he plays well it will go a long way to an Australian victory.

Jimmy Anderson: I mentioned the names Marshall, Hadlee, Dilley and Ambrose above and Anderson is certainly a similar style of bowler to Messrs Hadlee and Dilley in that he will exploit any seam / swing bowling conditions more than any other bowler in the game. Anderson’s bowling in the first test of the series in England was heroic (or heroically irritating if you were an Australian fan) and set up the English victory. He is the cornerstone of the English attack and will have conditions made for him to exploit.

The Toss:

Win the toss and bat: it is as simple as that is the usual mantra for the Gabba and for England I think that is the way to go again. There will be some green grass on the pitch but they have quality openers who can get through the nasty first hour but then cash in once the pitch flattens out. For Australia, on a green top, I would be taking a risk and bowling first. Johnson is in the team to break bones it would seem and there is no better time for him to do that than with the new ball on a green wicket.

The Weather:

Earlier in the week it was suggested that it was going to rain / storm for the first 3 days. The forecast has improved markedly and whilst there will some cloud cover it looks like it will be fine for at least the first three days.

The Winner and Why:

I actually think that this game will be a draw. The Gabba possesses the best wicket in the country but with questionable weather coming for the last couple of days I have real concerns that this fixture could end up a copy cat to last year’s test match which petered out to a draw off the back of an epic double hundred from A Cook.

Bring on Day 1!

Ashes Countdown 2013/14: Radio rights still an issue … wake up Cricket Australia!!!!

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

I have been shocked to read today that the rights to cover the Ashes test matches on the radio have not yet been decided between the incumbent broadcaster, ABC Grandstand, and Cricket Australia ostensibly because Cricket Australia has demanded it alone will host the link to the streaming of the radio commentary through its website. This, of course, would leave the ABC without the ability to display the link on its own website.

That’s right folks: Cricket Australia is seeking to restrain ABC Grandstand from, in effect, publicising and playing the ABC’s own content on its own website.

I have said it before and I will say it again: James Sutherland and Cricket Australia have lost the plot with this strategy. The traditions of the game in this country include the ability of people to listen to the game on the national broadcaster. It has been so for some 83 years. Surely Mr Sutherland and his merry band can see that sometimes tradition is more important than commercial imperative? Indeed, is not this stance actually also likely to have a negative effect on Cricket Australia’s brand with its most ardent of followers (who listen to the game on the ABC) thereby effecting it commercially?

James Sutherland and Cricket Australia need to wake up and listen to the fans of the game, like me, rather than sound of CA’s ever increasing bank balance and retain one of the longest standing traditions in our game. If not because it is right thing to do then because they are, in my opinion, going to lose more fans than they gain by maintaining their position.

Ashes 2013/14 Countdown: Five Fearless Predictions

November 19, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 1 Comment

We are now only 2 sleeps away from day 1 of the first test of the 2013/14 Ashes series at the Gabba. The press is replete with hypothesis and supposition as to how this series between England and Australia is going to be played out. My lack of excitement (as reported yesterday) notwithstanding, I have spent much time thinking about this series. So much so I have looked in my metaphorical crystal ball and come up with five fearless predictions for this series as follows:

Stuart Broad v Australian crowds: there will only be one winner

Stuart Broad has installed himself, with some assistance from Boof Lehmann, as public enemy number one for Australian fans this summer. The barmy army did a good job getting under the fragile skin of Mitchell Johnson and it played a big part in Australia’s loss in previous series. The Australian crowds will need to do a similar job on Broad here. Anderson gets a lot of kudos from the press as the leader of the English attack but one senses that when Broad is on his game England are a much better bowling line up. For Broad, a victory in this battle will be simply measured in wickets and runs. For the Australian crowds a victory could well lead to Michael Clarke lifting the Urn.

Michael Clarke: will average less than 35

The captain comes into this series with an unsettled mind and unsound body it would seem. His publicly run “feud” with Ricky Ponting has dominated the cricket press in this country and regardless of which camp you are in (I confess to being strongly in the Ponting camp) you have to concede that having to deal with this sideline drama can not be good for his mental make up going into the series. His back is obviously restricting him and he has had limited time at the crease in the lead up to iron out any flaws in his form. Add to that an English team which will see him as the key wicket in all 10 innings and I expect this to be a series of struggle for Clarke.

The Australian XI for the Sydney test will be very different to the one for the first test

Cricket in Australia is in a state of flux. That is abundantly and heartwrenchingly obvious. This current position of the game here has begat a selection panel that is quick with the trigger finger when it comes to the removal of players who are not performing. I expect the bowling ranks, in particular, to be a revolving door of changes either brought about by injuries or the return of other players to net form. The names Pattinson, Starc and Bird will be appearing at some point on an Australian team sheet. Also likely is the name Hazlewood. If any of the batters don’t fire then Doolan, Khawaja and Hughes will all figure.

Kevin Pietersen will score a hundred and will offend everyone

It is undeniable that Pietersen is an outrageously talented batsman. He will score a hundred at some point in this series and it will be both aesthetically pleasing and important in the context of the game. As an Australian fan that bothers me but as a fan of cricket I look forward to watching Pietersen in his pomp. Given his start to the tour on social media he also seems to be going out of his way to antagonise the public. Bating Brisbanites about the qualities of our proud city has set the tone for how Pietersen will deal with Australian fans and journalists. I expect he will not stop there with his banter which could see him irritate everyone.

No matter what happens, the Three Stooges will survive

This prediction is the one that galls me the most: James Sutherland, John Inverarity and Pat Howard will still be in a job regardless of whether Australia loses the series. The security of Sutherland’s job has already been locked in by the board of Cricket Australia. Simply put: Cricket Australia is making too much money and is too focused on cash over results to sack him. If Sutherland is secure then I posit then that both of Howard and Inverarity are too: they are clearly Sutherland’s men and if the results of the team so far have not been enough to see them sacked then they will survive this series as well.

I know I said that there were five fearless predictions. It would not be a prediction blog though without giving a prediction for the result of the series. I have to give two such predictions because my heart says something decidedly different to my head. My heart says Australia will win 2-1 but my head says England will win 2-1. I think Brisbane and Adelaide will be draws, one because of the weather discontent and the other because I expect the pitch to be a road. Perth will go to the Australians whilst England will win in Sydney. That just leaves Melbourne: Australia’s biggest test match stage. Unfortunately my head says that England’s class will come through against an Australian team over-confident after a win in Perth.

Bring on the cricket!

Ashes 2013/14 Countdown: Why am I not excited? Blame the Three Stooges!

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

I am a cricket fanatic. I do not deny it indeed a rejoice in it. I have been to the first day of the first test of the summer at the Gabba every year since 20 November 1998 when the Australian’s led by Mark Taylor and Alec Stewart’s England faced off. This year will be my 15th year anniversary of attending the first day of the first test of the summer. I have seen some great things on day 1:

* G McGrath’s 6/17 against the West Indies on 23 November 2000
* N Hussain’s brain melt and bowling on 7 November 2002
* R Ponting’s 149 against the West Indies on 3 November 2005
* The “Harmison Ball” and another Ponting hundred on 23 November 2006
* P Jacques’ breakthrough hundred against Sri Lanka on 8 November 2007
* P Siddle’s hatrick and 6/54 against England on 25 November 2010
* The partnership between Amla and Kallis on 9 November 2012

It is an Ashes year this year and, by rights, I should be more excited than normal for day 1 given the contest that is about to take place. Strangely though I am, frankly, just a bit nonplussed about it all. I have been away for a week and have had plenty of times to ponder the upcoming test and my lack of current excitement for it and suspect that a combination of my ongoing disgust with the administration of the game in Australia, the lack of first class cricket that has been played in Australia to date and concerns about the Australian team selected has led to this.

A couple of people have suggested to me that I am just a “fair weather” fan and am not excited about the cricket because Australia is losing but that could not be farther from the truth. I concede I hate that Australia is losing but this is the Ashes for goodness sake: I should be just itching for the action to start. My worries though about the state of the game in Australia under the watch of the “Three Stooges” (Sutherland, Howard and Inverarity) are getting in way of that. I wonder if I am alone in feeling this way because, I concede from a limited sample, the bulk of cricket people I have been talking with about the series seem similarly nonplussed. This has left me to further wonder whether some of the passion Australia cricket fans have for the game is being sucked of the fans by the state of the game.

Hopefully I will get over my disdain for the work of the Three Stooges in the next couple of days as I am immersed in the lead up to the game because, in my respectful opinion, there are few better days of cricket to attend than the first day of the first test of the summer. I have been to cricket at every test ground in Australia, save for Bellerive, and day one of the first test of the summer is right up there, for me, with Boxing Day at the MCG.

One final ponderance: there has been special cricket played on the first day of the first test at the Gabba over the last 15 years which I have been privileged to watch. I am left to wonder though, given that there are still tickets available, how long Brisbane fans of the game will be afforded such a privilege? This day is one of the show piece days of cricket for the year but support for it, and the Brisbane test, continues to wane. This can not go on much longer before the Gabba loses this game.