England Must Not Be Complacent

A sizeable chunk of playing time was lost due to bad weather so the third Ashes test at Edgbaston fizzled out into a bore draw. Significantly the Australian batsmen helped themselves to another century and once again England’s batsmen missed out. The century count now stands at 6-1 in favour of the Aussies.

England has plenty of batsmen who are capable of scoring half centuries. They do not place enough value on their wickets and seldom convert to a three figure score. With Kevin Pietersen absent through injury this could have an impact on the two remaining test matches.

To combat the lack of big runs from the top order, England select their lower order with one eye on a bowler’s prowess with the bat. This is a defensive strategy and ultimately does not win test matches. If a bowler does not take wickets and if the captain is reluctant to utilize him then he should not be in the side.

With Brett Lee and Stuart Clark waiting on the sidelines Australia will be able to improve their bowling attack. In comparison England will probably continue to select Stuart Broad who is the weak link in the bowling department. It is ironic that his batting is what keeps him in the team. Having a famous surname does not do any harm either.

When Broad comes on to bowl the Australians heave a visible sigh of relief. He is a young player and his time will come in future Ashes series. England needs to be ruthless in selection as well as on the field. Genuine pace and hostility have been absent at times during this series. This is something that Harmison would provide especially since Flintoff is almost a spent force due to injury concerns.

The attack is not well balanced as there is an over reliance on swinging the ball. This is fine when conditions are conducive to swing bowling. However, when the ball does not swing on unhelpful pitches then England is devoid of ideas and inspiration.

As the series approaches its climax, the concern is Australia is getting stronger as England are weakened by the loss of Pietersen and the consequences of persevering with an unfit Flintoff. England cannot afford to be carrying non contributing passengers such as Bopara and Broad coupled with injured players if they want to regain the Ashes. Australia only needs to draw the series to keep the urn and they will fancy their chances of doing exactly that.

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