Observations from the Boxing Day Test

Boxing Day saw a world record attendance at the MCG

The Ashes series saw the teams head to Melbourne for the traditional Boxing Day test. After being behind by 51 runs of the first innings, Australia won by eight wickets with more than a day to spare. England missed an opportunity to salvage some pride in the series and would be very disappointed with the result. It has been a woeful Australian summer for the English and they have more soul searching to do before the Sydney Test.

Anyway, here are some observations from the Test:

• Nathan Lyon captures 100 Test wickets - Since the great leg spinner Shane Warne retired, there have been no fewer than 12 spinners tried in the Australian Team. Lyon is not Shane Warne and bowls “offies” rather than leg spin; however he has now taken 100 Test wickets which is a remarkable achievement in itself. In England’s second innings Lyon took five wickets including wicket No. 100 (Stuart Broad caught at slip) and you would expect that he now feels that he is finally (and firmly) established within the Australian team. Lyon is the first off-spinner to take 100 test wickets since Bruce Yardley who snared 126 wickets between 1978 and 1983.
• Poor shot selection from England – The England batting line up continues to find ways of dismissal through poor shot selection. Ben Stokes, Tim Bresnan and Kevin Pietersen all played poor shots which caused their dismissal in the second innings. Pietersen has probably raised the ire of his team by stating that he does not trust the English tail to stick around once Bresnan is dismissed so he starts playing more aggressively. This probably leads to......
• England being mentally fragile – In addition to winning the Ashes back and leading 4-0 in the current series the Australians have forced Jonathan Trott to return home through a stress related illness and brought about the premature retirement of Greame Swann. It has exposed the short comings in Matt Prior’s game and he was dropped from the Melbourne Test. Alistair Cook is under real pressure as captain as well. The impact of Mitchell Johnson’s pace on the batsmen has resulted in them not wanting to spend time out in the middle. 
• For me, this Ashes series shows a stark cultural difference between the two teams, if not the two countries as a whole. There is no doubt that the Australians would have been subject to a large amount of torment and abuse in England during the English summer. On the field England have world class sledgers in Prior and Anderson and the sledging by the fans would have been intense. The Australians under their own turmoil continued to fight on the field and although England won the series 3-0 it could possibly have been a 3-2 result. 
• Part of the Australian psyche is that there is a point in time when “enough is enough” and they become very determined (and even aggressive) to rectify an adverse situation. That point in time occurred in the England summer and very few people outside of Australian cricket realised it. England were not prepared for this onslaught and when confronted they backed into their shells (with the exception of Bell and Broad) rather than fight. It is a classic example of the hunter becoming the hunted.

• Graeme Swann’s retirement – in the lead up to the Boxing Day test Graeme Swann retired from Test Cricket with immediate effect. This was premature and probably highlights the above point regarding the mental fragility of the England team. Yes, it is possible that this was always going to be Swann’s last test series. However, if that was the case why not play out the entire series. Especially given that these tests are in Melbourne and Sydney. The atmosphere in these tests is incredible and worth the life experience alone. To pull up stumps in the middle of the series was soft and Swann retires with the knowledge that his last over went for 22 runs. Furthermore, the Sydney pitch tends to suit the spinners, which makes his decision even more bewildering.
• Who said that Test Cricket is dead? – Test Cricket may be suffering a slow death in many countries, but try explaining that to an Australian. The traditional Boxing Day test in Melbourne attracted 271,865 over four days with a world record 91,092 on Boxing Day. Unfortunately the play was slow at times during the afternoon session on Boxing Day. However there was a fantastic atmosphere and it was worth the attendance money just for the experience.

England still have more soul searching to undertake before the Sydney Test, it is difficult to imagine that they will win given their best spinner Swann has now retired. While a whitewash 5-0 series result would be good for Australia, the work still has to be done to achieve it. This will be an interesting match to watch and a great way to bring in 2014.

Observations from the Perth Ashes Test

image:www.live.cricket.com.au

The Ashes have been won and now equilibrium is restored…hoorah. The Australian cricket team has been able to do what many people thought was not possible at this point in time and bring the Ashes Urn back to Australia. (well…metaphorically speaking anyway)

But just imagine if the English had been able to successfully defend the Ashes, it would have been a national disaster of epic proportions and there may have been a need to sacrifice the first born child of every family to the God of Cricket in the hope of obtaining a turnaround of fortunes.

Well, we can all rest now that danger and “mass sacrifice” has been averted with the series win. Another way of saying it could be “On the 15^th day Australia reclaimed the Ashes”.

So with equilibrium restored, what were the takeaways from the Perth Test?

• The Australian fielding continues to shine – there have very few mistakes made by the Australians in the field this summer and the difference between them and the England team is striking. Some of the catches that are being taken are simply amazing. Mitchell Johnson catch to dismiss Kevin Pietersen in England’s first innings was first class as was Ryan Harris’s catch to dismiss Kevin Pietersen in the second innings.
• England look shattered – it would not be completely wrong to think that the English batsmen are beaten before they take their guard at the crease. Australia’s bowling attack has implemented their bowling plans for the English to perfection and the lower order looks very timid against the short pitched bowling being offered. This has then transferred to the field where many catching chances have been dropped and when they have had the ascendancy against Australia, they have not been able to take their chances.
• A tale of two wicketkeepers – there is a stark difference in the performance of the two wicketkeepers during the summer. As mentioned in previous posts Brad Haddin is very much in form and has not missed a beat behind the stumps. Haddin has scored 325 runs at 65 in the series with one century and three fifties, this effort has been crucial in allowing Australia to post large scores. On the counter side, Matt Prior has had a torrid time with the bat scoring 107 runs at an average of 17.83 over the six innings. Prior’s keeping had remained solid up until the Perth Test but it started to drop off during the second innings where a couple of missed chances were costly for England.
• Welcome to the Grand Canyon….. (Oops) the Perth Pitch – the very hot weather and the clay composition both combined to produce a pitch that was very hot and the cracking was very plain to see by the third day. Shane Warne almost lost his mobile phone in one of them and there were regular shots of people shoving their hands in them. If the ball hit a crack well you have no hope of knowing what it would do. Nathan Lyon bowled a wide after hitting a crack as it almost turned at right angles towards leg slip. Chris Rogers was lucky that he was wearing a chest guard as he would have probably broken a rib or two from another ball that surprisingly kicked up

• Australia’s improved attitude – this can be basically put down to the change in coaching staff over the last six months. The appointment of Darren Lehmann has brought about a more relaxed atmosphere in the Australian camp and the results are starting to show on the field. After a sluggish start under Lehmann, where it could be said that Lehmann was gathering information on what needed improving, the Australians are a settled team with the same line up being used in the three tests so far (and again in Melbourne). Lehmann has adopted an attitude of hard work but allows his players to reap the rewards off the field. The team environment is far healthier than it was under Mickey Arthur and it was just the injection that the Australian team needed.

Now that the Ashes have been decided it will interesting to see if England make wholesale changes to the team for the Melbourne and Sydney Tests. Stuart Broad is in doubt after receiving a yorker on his right foot from Mitchell Johnson in Perth and England are intending to send some of its star players back to England before the One-Day Series starts. These players may be sent home early as the schedule for England is fairly busy over the next 12 months.

Observations from the Adelaide Ashes Test

Ben Stokes and Mitchell Johnson square off in the Adelaide Test

image: www.cricinfo.com

If you asked most pundits what the result would be for the Adelaide Ashes test, the answer would have been a draw with plenty of runs scored. The drop in pitch was expected to be hard with very little wear over the five days. In fact when Michael Clarke won the coin toss he had no hesitation in choosing to bat.

After five days, not only was there a result in the Adelaide Test but it was a resounding win to the Australians who now have a 2-0 lead. The unlikeliest of series results may eventuate next week after the Perth test...... if the Australians win

What were the observations from the Adelaide Test ?

• Adelaide Oval has lost some of its charm. This may make me sound anti-development and anti-progress, but this is not the case. The redevelopment at Adelaide Oval is needed and should be very good for Adelaide. The issue is that when you watched the game from the Cathedral End on television you could be excused for thinking it was the MCG and not the Adelaide Oval. The only difference being the size of the sightscreen. Thankfully when viewing north from the River End, the hill and the old scoreboard were still visible.
• Catches win matches and the Australians caught well. The fielding of the Australians has improved dramatically over the last 12 months and it may finally be bringing results. It is no coincidence that the rehiring of Mike Young as fielding coach has been the major factor in the fielding improvement of the Australians. On the reverse side the English put three catches down on the first day which potentially cost them the game.
• These two teams don’t like one another. Unfortunately the niggling, sledging and aggression that both teams are showing towards each another does not look like abating anytime soon. This could get very ugly if it continues and that is not good for the game. The umpires had to step in a couple of times to separate players after the situation got heated. Currently the official line from both teams is that it is part of the game, but it is not far away from becoming really hostile and uncontrollable. The match referee and the ICC will need to keep a close eye on these proceedings to ensure that it remains under control.
• Haddin continues to impress with the bat by scoring a century at Adelaide Oval. When the game was in the balance on Day 1 both Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin produced a record breaking partnership of 200 for the six wicket at Adelaide Oval. This partnership took the score from 5/257 to 6/457 and provided the foundation for Australia’s win. Haddin’s 118 in support of Clarke’s 148 showed that Haddin is currently on top of his game.
• The other factor in the win was Mitchell Johnson’s bowling figures of 7/40 in the first innings. The spell was simply awesome with two chances of hat-tricks produced from some very fast and intimidating bowling. This spell gave Australia a 398 run lead on the first innings with over 2 days to play on a perfect batting pitch. The game was well and truly lost at that point.

With a short turn around until the Perth Test, England will need to regroup quickly or risk the Ashes falling into Australian hands. There will be at least one change to the England team as only one spinner will need to play in Perth. Surprisingly, it could be Panesar ahead of Swann as Australia has picked several right handers to counter Swann. The other option for England is to drop both spinners and bring in two seamers, although this may play into Australia’s hands.