The biggest attraction of the Ashes for me is the fact that it is a five match series. Its only over that duration that the true grit and ability of sides emerges and it is a pity that the biggest casualty of the overloaded international cricket calendar has been the five match Test series. The Ashes is about the only remaining one and the number of non-Ashes series played over five matches in the recent past is less than the number of fingers on one hand. And to find a five match series that does not involve England, one has to go back more than ten years!
So while having two Ashes series in successive seasons is probably a bit much, I for one will not be complaining at all even if as George Dobell points out, these two teams are nowhere near the best in the world at the moment. I will not be making any predictions either though I will be really surprised if England don't win, though it probably won't be as much of a walkover as many in the media would make it seem. Instead, I'm going to go with five things that I will be wishing for that will hopefully make for good viewing, especially as a neutral.
1) Matt Prior at #6: The biggest "area of development" (to use a very corporate term) for Alistair Cook as a captain in my opinion is to be more positive especially given the personnel he has at hand. England's biggest trump cards in the series are Anderson and Swann and playing with only four bowlers over a five match series opens them up to more injury risk, especially Swann. So I'd like to see an England line-up with Prior at #6 (he's more than capable) allowing them to play five bowlers. Bresnan, Broad, and Swann will need to step up on their batting but there's no reason to not have faith that they can.
2) Harris/Bird ahead of Mitchell Starc: Indications seem to be that Mitchell Starc will be in Clarke's first choice bowling line-up but I for one would love to see Ryan Harris or Jackson Bird play ahead of him. With Pattinson and Siddle as their strike bowlers, what Clarke will really need from his third seamer is control. And in flat and hot conditions, Starc was unable to deliver that at all in India. While not as flat and nowhere near as hot, the dry summer will present similar surfaces and a repeat of Chennai/Mohali is not what the Aussies will want. Starc's time will come, maybe as early as the return series.
3) Root and Smith scoring hundreds: One of the big gaps between the new generation of cricketers (post T20 if you will) and the previous ones is the lack of young batsmen making a mark in Test cricket. A look at the table of top Test averages (with a cutoff of 1000 runs scored) since 2010 shows that there isn't a single player under 25 in the top 20 (Darren Bravo and Tamim Iqbal are at 21 and 22). So the emergence of Joe Root in particular is cause for celebration and to see him make an Ashes hundred would be great. I'm a big fan of Steve Smith as well and in a struggling Aussie line-up he can bring in a lot of vim and vigour at 5/6 if given a chance.
4) Long spells for Nathan Lyon: Spin will play more than a supporting role in this series and while Michael Clarke's overall handling of Nathan Lyon has been pretty solid, the inconsistent treatment meted out to Lyon in India was hard to fathom. And while Lyon's overall record is not spectacular by any means, he's the best Australia have and is still only 25 so needs strong backing. Some good fields for him and the confidence of long spells will be critical if Australia are to have even a sniff.
5) Swann and Panesar in tandem: Staying with the spin theme, my last wish will be to see Australia having to face up to Swann and Panesar at the same time, at least at Old Trafford and the Oval. If the teams most recent tours of India are any indication, the last thing Australia will want to see is a turning wicket and an off-spinner and a left-armer attacking their shaky-against-spin line-up. Of course, for this wish to come true, the first one will also have to but hey given its just wishes, no reason not to make them interdependent :-)
So those are the five things that'll have me delighted though a five match series is enough as it is. Hoping its as least as good as the last one we had in England if not 2005. Maybe then the ICC will insist on more five match series amongst other teams. Now there's a wish that will never come true!
So while having two Ashes series in successive seasons is probably a bit much, I for one will not be complaining at all even if as George Dobell points out, these two teams are nowhere near the best in the world at the moment. I will not be making any predictions either though I will be really surprised if England don't win, though it probably won't be as much of a walkover as many in the media would make it seem. Instead, I'm going to go with five things that I will be wishing for that will hopefully make for good viewing, especially as a neutral.
1) Matt Prior at #6: The biggest "area of development" (to use a very corporate term) for Alistair Cook as a captain in my opinion is to be more positive especially given the personnel he has at hand. England's biggest trump cards in the series are Anderson and Swann and playing with only four bowlers over a five match series opens them up to more injury risk, especially Swann. So I'd like to see an England line-up with Prior at #6 (he's more than capable) allowing them to play five bowlers. Bresnan, Broad, and Swann will need to step up on their batting but there's no reason to not have faith that they can.
2) Harris/Bird ahead of Mitchell Starc: Indications seem to be that Mitchell Starc will be in Clarke's first choice bowling line-up but I for one would love to see Ryan Harris or Jackson Bird play ahead of him. With Pattinson and Siddle as their strike bowlers, what Clarke will really need from his third seamer is control. And in flat and hot conditions, Starc was unable to deliver that at all in India. While not as flat and nowhere near as hot, the dry summer will present similar surfaces and a repeat of Chennai/Mohali is not what the Aussies will want. Starc's time will come, maybe as early as the return series.
3) Root and Smith scoring hundreds: One of the big gaps between the new generation of cricketers (post T20 if you will) and the previous ones is the lack of young batsmen making a mark in Test cricket. A look at the table of top Test averages (with a cutoff of 1000 runs scored) since 2010 shows that there isn't a single player under 25 in the top 20 (Darren Bravo and Tamim Iqbal are at 21 and 22). So the emergence of Joe Root in particular is cause for celebration and to see him make an Ashes hundred would be great. I'm a big fan of Steve Smith as well and in a struggling Aussie line-up he can bring in a lot of vim and vigour at 5/6 if given a chance.
4) Long spells for Nathan Lyon: Spin will play more than a supporting role in this series and while Michael Clarke's overall handling of Nathan Lyon has been pretty solid, the inconsistent treatment meted out to Lyon in India was hard to fathom. And while Lyon's overall record is not spectacular by any means, he's the best Australia have and is still only 25 so needs strong backing. Some good fields for him and the confidence of long spells will be critical if Australia are to have even a sniff.
5) Swann and Panesar in tandem: Staying with the spin theme, my last wish will be to see Australia having to face up to Swann and Panesar at the same time, at least at Old Trafford and the Oval. If the teams most recent tours of India are any indication, the last thing Australia will want to see is a turning wicket and an off-spinner and a left-armer attacking their shaky-against-spin line-up. Of course, for this wish to come true, the first one will also have to but hey given its just wishes, no reason not to make them interdependent :-)
So those are the five things that'll have me delighted though a five match series is enough as it is. Hoping its as least as good as the last one we had in England if not 2005. Maybe then the ICC will insist on more five match series amongst other teams. Now there's a wish that will never come true!
Comments