Ashes 2013 1st Test: Five things Australia can take away

Peter Siddle

4. Tail or top-order?

Here is a stat to give us some perspective. The total number of runs (two innings) Australia scored prior to the fall of 6 wickets was 277 as opposed to the 299 runs scored when the last four batsmen were dismissed.

This included Australia’s highest individual score of 98 which was made by Ashton Agar. The larger point is that the Australian tail is more competent than the English tail but that remains an asset only as long as the top-order can cancel out the English top-order’s performance which was not the case at Trent bridge. Australian top-order batsmen need to make sure that they do not enter their shell when the pressure is applied but play to the merit of the ball.