After the first part of the Ashes drama at Gabba, Brisbane, where all the protagonists played their parts well, all is set for the second part of it, this time the stage is Adelaide Oval and it starts tomorrow. High octane performance by the actors Michael Clarke, David Warner, Mitchell Johnson, James Anderson, George Bailey and others made sure that there was not a boring moment in the first test match. Mentally debilitated after the heavy loss in England, the Aussies were licking their wounds and were preparing well in anticipation for a pay back to the English. They walked the talk when they crushed England mercilessly and gave a tremendous blow to the confidence of the Englishmen.
Apart from a brilliant contest between bat and ball, there was utter chaos in the Brisbane test, with war or words between the players of the two teams often crossing the limits of gentlemanly behaviour. The now infamous “get ready for a broken f*****g arm” taunt from Michael Clarke to James Anderson was the tipping point of the whole controversy. If the Australian public has trained their guns on Stuart Broad (remember the banner at Gabba that said, “Stuart Broad, I know what you did last summer”, in reference to his refusal to walk after he nicked the ball while batting at Trent Bridge), the players have Anderson on their radar. It is sure that the sledged and bruised England will certainly seek vengeance and will come back hard at the Australians. A mouth watering contest is on the cards and the batsmen on both sides can expect a flurry of short pitched deliveries aimed at them from the fast bowlers of the other side.
Before the start of the test England has certain issues to sort out. First of all they will have to find a replacement at number 3 for Jonathan Trott who has left the team because of a stress related illness. There is every possibility that Joe Root will be promoted to that number as he is a much better player than to languish at number 5. If he was good enough to play as an opener in England, there is no reason why he should bat at number 5 in Australia. In that case there is a need to find a batsman at number 5. There is every chance that Root will be replaced at number 5 by his Yorkshire teammate, the Zimbabwe born, Gary Ballance, who would make his test debut. England also has some problems in the middle order as the charismatic Kevin Pietersen is terribly out of form. Though his good form will be just one innings away, England has been looking for that one innings for quite some time. The bad form of swashbuckling wicket keeper-batsman Matt Prior is another big worry for the visitors. If his dismissals in the first test are anything to go by, then he is completely out of sorts. English captain Alistair Cook, who is capable of making big test scores, isn’t completely in his brilliant self and his fellow opener Michael Carberry is a newbie, who is only trying to find his feet in the test arena. However the most important challenge for the English batsmen would be to negotiate the pace and bounce of Mitchell Johnson, who has vowed to continue with his short of length bowling approach.
In the bowling front too England has many things to worry about. The off spin of Graeme Swann had been one of the main reasons why England attained their supreme status in test match cricket. However he has been low on confidence recently and was not at his best in the Gabba test. In fact his offie counterpart in Australian team, Nathan Lyon had been a much better bowler in the last test. Swann gave lot of room for the Aussie left handers to swing their arms and received much lesser spin on the Gabba wicket than he usually gets. Stuart Broad was brilliant at Gabba and showed that he was not perturbed by the unruly crowd that was baying for his blood. But Anderson was not at his best and he was not able to swing the ball in Australia as he was in England and it should be a matter of worry for the English. A much greater worry is the absence of a third seamer who can support the new ball bowlers. Chris Tremlett was rather weak in the first test and hopefully England will replace him with Tim Bresnan.
However all is not lost for the visitors yet and they can overturn their fortunes if they can apply themselves. Cook could always play a captain’s knock anytime and his appetite for big runs, playing long innings, is well known. KP is a batsman who can turn it on anytime and if he gets into his hitting mood then he can blow away any attack. Ian bell had been the anchor around which other players batted in the summer edition of Ashes in England. The little Warwickshire right hander is a brilliant player who is capable of a long test match innings. Anderson, who had been the target of the Australians, particularly the Aussie captain, would be all fired up and on his day he is a handful with the swinging red cherry. The lanky Englishman Broad can trouble the Aussie batsmen with his steep bounce and could well be England’s answer to Mitchell Johnson.
All in all cricket enthusiasts are looking forward to seeing an awesome test match, where fire will be met with fire, bouncers with bouncers and words with words. The on-field umpires and the match referee will surely have a tough match on their hands. May the best team win.
Before the start of the test England has certain issues to sort out. First of all they will have to find a replacement at number 3 for Jonathan Trott who has left the team because of a stress related illness. There is every possibility that Joe Root will be promoted to that number as he is a much better player than to languish at number 5. If he was good enough to play as an opener in England, there is no reason why he should bat at number 5 in Australia. In that case there is a need to find a batsman at number 5. There is every chance that Root will be replaced at number 5 by his Yorkshire teammate, the Zimbabwe born, Gary Ballance, who would make his test debut. England also has some problems in the middle order as the charismatic Kevin Pietersen is terribly out of form. Though his good form will be just one innings away, England has been looking for that one innings for quite some time. The bad form of swashbuckling wicket keeper-batsman Matt Prior is another big worry for the visitors. If his dismissals in the first test are anything to go by, then he is completely out of sorts. English captain Alistair Cook, who is capable of making big test scores, isn’t completely in his brilliant self and his fellow opener Michael Carberry is a newbie, who is only trying to find his feet in the test arena. However the most important challenge for the English batsmen would be to negotiate the pace and bounce of Mitchell Johnson, who has vowed to continue with his short of length bowling approach.
In the bowling front too England has many things to worry about. The off spin of Graeme Swann had been one of the main reasons why England attained their supreme status in test match cricket. However he has been low on confidence recently and was not at his best in the Gabba test. In fact his offie counterpart in Australian team, Nathan Lyon had been a much better bowler in the last test. Swann gave lot of room for the Aussie left handers to swing their arms and received much lesser spin on the Gabba wicket than he usually gets. Stuart Broad was brilliant at Gabba and showed that he was not perturbed by the unruly crowd that was baying for his blood. But Anderson was not at his best and he was not able to swing the ball in Australia as he was in England and it should be a matter of worry for the English. A much greater worry is the absence of a third seamer who can support the new ball bowlers. Chris Tremlett was rather weak in the first test and hopefully England will replace him with Tim Bresnan.
However all is not lost for the visitors yet and they can overturn their fortunes if they can apply themselves. Cook could always play a captain’s knock anytime and his appetite for big runs, playing long innings, is well known. KP is a batsman who can turn it on anytime and if he gets into his hitting mood then he can blow away any attack. Ian bell had been the anchor around which other players batted in the summer edition of Ashes in England. The little Warwickshire right hander is a brilliant player who is capable of a long test match innings. Anderson, who had been the target of the Australians, particularly the Aussie captain, would be all fired up and on his day he is a handful with the swinging red cherry. The lanky Englishman Broad can trouble the Aussie batsmen with his steep bounce and could well be England’s answer to Mitchell Johnson.
All in all cricket enthusiasts are looking forward to seeing an awesome test match, where fire will be met with fire, bouncers with bouncers and words with words. The on-field umpires and the match referee will surely have a tough match on their hands. May the best team win.
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