To make a bold assumtpion; if you are persevering with this blog you either
a) really really love your cricket, or b) or one of the following: My Dad,
my American girlfriend who couldn't pick Shane Warne out of a line-up, or
the guy who sits next to me at work. For all those in the first category,
I'd point you toward, if you haven't seen it already, Tim de Lisle's
outstanding article on cricinfo called "Are you England in disguise?".
I've been trying to decide who gets to be self-satisfied in that last test.
On one hand, England outplayed the Australians for all but a day out of
four. They bowled willingly, and fairly well, they batted decently, and best
of all, they have played below their optimum, and still looked better than
an Australian side whose bowling attack is looking pretty average. They have
avoided the pain of not winning a winnable test by not getting that close to
victory in the final analysis also.
On the other hand, Australia aren't 2-0 down, which was a real possibility
at 10.30 on Monday. They have probably the best two batsmen on either side
(Clarke and Ponting, closely followed by Strauss), of which the former looks
like increasingly an irresistible cross-breed between the Waugh twins,
reliable and beautiful in equal measure. Mitchell Johnson has found some red
blood left in him, and his bowling, whilst not back to its best, showed good
signs. Brett Lee, a leader, and in his own right, a wonderful bowler, is
probably going to be back soon. His return will be an immeasurable boost,
despite the kick in the teeth it will be for, most probably, Peter Siddle.
Unless Hauritz is rather harshly dropped, Stuart Clarke will probably miss
out too, although at Headingly, he would be a good bet. Graham Manou looks a
capable understudy to the excellent and unlucky Haddin. Maybe things will
fall into place after all...
England would be well advised to drop Broad for Sidebottom. He may well be a
good batsman, he may well be better looking than Andrew Strauss, but Stuart
Broad isn't the wicket-taker we need him to be, and with Flintoff bowling at
full speed and half-fitness, we need a genuine swing bowler to complement
the now-indispensible Anderson. If England want to retain pace, they could
just play Harmison. Either way, picking Broad would be an error. Dropping
Bopara for Trott would also be a good shout. Bopara has been found out by
bowlers admittedly better than the West Indies. Like Hussain, that weird-ass
technique needs a-polishing before he can come back and dominate like his
instincts tell him to.
So, to Headingly, dear friends, where the crowd roars, and the clouds cover,
and the ball swings. If you look carefully, the ghost of Botham and Willis
still wanders round at every decent moment for England in a Headingly Ashes
test, although you probably won't need to listen carefully, as they haven't
shut up about it all bloody summer.
