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The Ashes: 5th Test, Day 2 Preview

August 22, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , , 2 Comments

Australia won the first day of this final test of the English swing of the 2013/14 Ashes contest. In fact they won the day be a very long way off the back of Shane Watson’s rollicking 176 and the failure of the debutantes selected by the Poms.

Day 2 presents an opportunity for Australia to press their advantage in the game whilst for England they can regain their ascendancy with a strong showing. Here are my keys to Day 2:

1. Bat long Australia … bat very long

Australia’s position at 4/307 puts them in the box seat in this game but given the state of the pitch they will need to score many more runs today to secure their position in the game. One suspects that if Australia can bat till tea or, even better, stumps their position will be impregnable. Steve Smith and Brad Haddin, when he bats, hold the key to a big score for Australia. Smith is 34 runs away from a maiden hundred which will go a long way cementing his position in the team.

2. Early wickets … both for England and Australia, if they bowl

This wicket is at its best for bowling when the ball is new or newish so for England they need to collect early wickets in the first 30 minutes of day 2 whilst the new ball they took last night is newish. It seems likely that Australia will bowl at sometime on day 2 and given that they have only selected one spinner they will be looking to their new ball bowlers to get them off to a start which, if it does not arise, could see England very quickly on top.

3. Things can only get better for the debutantes … can’t it?

In order for England to regain the ascendancy in this game, if they are unsuccessful in the first 30 minutes of day 2 they will need their bowlers on debut to improve markedly on their day one performance. There are only so many overs that Graeme Swann can bowl so “Darryl” Kerrigan will be called to the crease at some point. If his stage fright remains from yesterday then he might be consigned to the ranks of Messrs Tahir and McGain in only 2 day of test cricket. That said, if he can return and take a couple of wickets he will not only help out his team but also regain some confidence.

4. Dusty, dusty, dusty … Is this the Oval or Madras?

This pitch took turn, albeit slow turn, within the first hour of play and, by that point, Graeme Swann was already at the crease bowling. The more turn the pitch takes the more England will be confident of resting Australia’s advantage in the game given the quality of Swann as a bowler and the lack of ability in the remaining batters for Australia in combating him.

5. Trott: he is due …. very due

I mentioned in my preview of the game that Jonathan Trott is a key man for England in this game and, noting his out of character and woeful form, he is certainly due for a big score. This is precisely the pitch that Trott thrives on batting on so him breaking his bad form line will be vital in England’s chase of whatever total Australia puts up.

Day 2 commences at 8pm Australian time (Eastern Standard) with Steve Smith chasing his maiden first class hundred.

The Ashes: 5th Test Day 1 Talking Points

August 22, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment

It was Australia’s day in the final test of “part 1” of this year’s Ashes contest at the Oval. If you had have asked Michael Clarke whether he would be happy to accept 4/307 at the toss I am sure he would have gleefully accepted.

Here are my talking points from Day 1 at the Oval:

1. Watto Rises

I commented in my preview of this test match that S Watson was possibly the most maligned sportsman to play any sport for Australia currently and that he was the key player for Australia in this test match. What a fantastic response from a player under pressure. Troubled early by Broad and Anderson, Watson took advantage of some loose debutant bowling and suddenly was 80 not out at lunch. He himself admits (to Jim Maxwell on TMS / ABC) that the knock to the head from Broad gave him something to wrong other than getting to 100 but the courage to stay out there after such a knock can not be underestimated nad ought never be forgotten. The usual phalanx of Watson “haters” will cry that it was bad bowling and a dead rubber but at the end of the day this was a wonderful hundred and hopefully the first of many.

2. Pup Struggles

At the other end of the spectrum have you ever seen Michael Clarke play a more out of form innings for 7 runs in your life? He looked like a rabbit in the headlights facing Stuart Broad and could not seem to even pick up his bouncer let alone play it. It is troubling that he is getting bowled so often at the moment but it is even more troubling when you see him struggling so much to play a delivery that used to be his bread and butter and the source of one his signature scoring shots.

3. Kerrigan: In company with McGain and Ahmed?

Perhaps that is an unfair comparison after the first day of the test match but this was a debut to be forgotten as the left arm spinner nicknamed “Darryl” by Australians of the 90s lost his length, his line and his confidence. Either too full or too short he was taken apart by a rampant Shane Watson in the first session and his day did not really improve from there. Must improve on day 2 to avoid being consigned to the same scrap heap that is occupied by McGain and Ahmed after their less than stellar debuts.

4. Where are we playing? Mumbai?

I made this comment on twitter and will make it again here: what is going on with the Oval wicket? I remember it as being a fast and hard surface where the likes of Devon Malcolm scared the life out of opposition batters. The wicket for this test match is so dry and worn and that spin was in use from the 11th over and by the day’s end 38 overs of this form had been bowled. To be fair I am certain that number would have been more if “Darryl” Kerrigan could have found a line and length. Australia need 500 as a minimum to ensure they are not spun out by the Graeme Swann in the third innings here.

5. Boof: give yourself an uppercut!

Whilst not exactly related to the game, the comments of Darren Lehmann on an Adelaide radio station regarding Stuart Broad were out of line and inappropriate. I am all for the larrikan streak that Lehmann brings to the role of Australia coach but he is still a representative of this country when a speaks and needs to be mindful that comments like those made are inappropriate to say the least. An apology must be forthcoming.

It was a wonderful day for Australia but it will be all for nothing if by lunch tomorrow England are batting. It is obvious to say, but I will say it again yesterday, Australia’s target for day 2 has to be to bat for time. If they do the runs will come. If they do not and England are in after lunch then England will be in the box seat and Watson’s ton wasted.

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.

Cricket: Will the administrators listen to Rahul Dravid?

August 20, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

I have waiting until this evening to read the speech of Rahul Dravid to the ESPNcricinfo For Cricket Summit and to say it is a must read for any cricket fan would be an understatement. If you want to read it in full here is a link to the speech http://www.espncricinfo.com/cricinfo-for-cricket/content/story/663447.html

In describing test cricket Dravid relies on an allegory about a tree to make the point that test cricket is the life blood of the game. He says:

“Test cricket, an older, larger entity is the trunk of a tree and the shorter game – be it T20 or ODIs – is its branches, its offshoots,” he said. “Now to be fair, it is the branches that carry the fruit, earn the benefits of the larger garden in which they stand and so catch the eye. The trunk, though, is the old, massive, larger thing which took a very long time to reach height and bulk. But it is actually a life source: chip away at the trunk or cut it down and the branches will fall off, the fruit will dry up.”

Dravid expresses concern for test match cricket and suggests a series of improvements to assist the development of the game such as:

  • Re-working first-class and test match cricket contracts to increase the pay of players who specialise in those forms.
  • Regularising the itinerary of all cricket so that in test cricket all teams play each other in a four year cycle.
  • Introduce marques tournaments in a test match context: a Champions trophy of Test Match cricket for example.
  • Improving first class competitions in developing nations or smaller, less resourced countries.
  • For less resourced countries integrating overseas teams into the domestic competitions of better resourced countries. Dravid suggests a Bangladesh team playing in India, a Zimbabwe team in South Africa, a West Indian team in England and a New Zealand team in Australia.

I love the ideas in this speech from Rahul Dravid and I have to say I only hope that the administrators of the game worldwide look at this roadmap for improving the game of cricket and actually take on board the ideas presented. If they do not then the fear that Dravid states for the game, I suspect will become reality.

Dravid warns:

“We are, I believe, maybe one generation away from reaching the point where our entire youth structures could cater only to T20 without any emphasis on the longer form of the game. By not giving young players a chance to explore their versatility, endurance or even improvisational skills, we will be selling ourselves and our sport well short.”

I can only pray he is wrong!