The Ashes: England

Over the years I have generally taken a relatively pessimistic approach to English cricket, especially so after the 2006/07 Ashes tour which has made me very cautious in predicting an England win. I have no doubt that we will fare far better this time around under the calm leadership of Andrew Strauss. However, and it pains me to say this… I am still predicting an Australian win at 2-1. It’s very close and I can see us sneaking a drawn series however I believe the 2 teams are quite evenly matched and since the Aussies are on home soil where they are quite formidable (the aforementioned 06/07 tour is a case in point) I find it very hard to see us winning the series outright.

If we are to stand any chance of achieving glorious victory I believe it rests firmly on the cocksure shoulders of Graeme Swann. He is the ace in our deck and I think he needs a 30 wicket series in order for England to win. The pace attack has almost no experience of Australian conditions with only James ‘I Need Cloud Cover or I’m Completely Useless’ Anderson having bowled here before. As his new nickname, which I’m confident will catch on would suggest I have next to no faith in Anderson’s ability to perform in Australia, don’t get me wrong, when he’s bowling in England with grey skies and it’s hooping he’s a world beater, but what swing bowler in those conditions isn’t? What I’m worried about is whether he can contain the Australians when the ball isn’t swinging (which it won’t for large periods of time). I am relatively happy with the other two likely seamers in Broad and Finn although there are question marks over Finn’s economy and inexperience. Unlike others, I think Broad’s aggression in Australia will be key when toiling on a long hard day, you don’t want timid fast bowlers and Broad will not shy away from a contest.

Although I think you need 5 bowlers in Australia I cannot see where that 5th bowler comes from without making the batting look significantly weaker. The only possible option I saw was playing Rashid at 7, however I can see why the selectors didn’t go down that route with his inexperience, I firmly believe he will be involved next time around. I think Panesar was the obvious choice as second spinner as he has all the necessary qualities; some form, control and experience. The backup seamers Bresnan and Tremlett probably won’t get a game unless injuries intervene with Tremlett the likely next in line. Although I was quite surprised at his inclusion I can see why the selectors went down that route as they are clearly obsessed with height on this tour and believe that holds the key. I was disappointed that Bresnan got the nod ahead of Shahzad as I think Shahzad would have been much more threatening in Aussie conditions due to his reverse swing and pace. Bresnan has struggled to take wickets in Test matches and did not have the best of summers, I hope they did not include him for his batting abilities.

I am worried by the lack of form displayed by our batsmen coming into this Ashes series; Strauss didn’t have the best time against Pakistan and seems to have a weakness against left-arm seamers (Australia have both Johnson and Bollinger), Cook saved his place with a century against Pakistan but has hardly ever looked comfortable in the last few years and his record against Australia is poor, Pietersen seems to have completely lost his confidence in his own game. Somehow he needs to rekindle the fire of 2005 (maybe it was the skunk hairdo?) or England will once again have to make do with a, let’s face it, poor No.4, Collingwood has struggled all summer for runs and we’ll have to hope that his northern grit, so evident in his displays at Cardiff and in South Africa comes to the fore once again.

Trott is about the only England batsman in form and I feel that we will have to rely on him to be the bedrock of the innings. Nevermind all his agonizingly long routines, as long as he’s scoring runs against Australians he can take all the time he needs. Bell has been out injured for a while but has looked good on his return. I have long held the belief that Bell is like a rabbit caught in headlights when it comes to pressure situations however over the last year he has slowly convinced me that he is now capable of turning a dire situation into a match winning one. For England to stand a chance at winning the Ashes some of our batsmen have to rediscover their best form, we cannot rely on Trott and the likes of Broad and Swann to bail us out every time.

I am very cautious about our chances however if we play to the best of our ability I am confident that we can come home with a positive outcome.