Before the start of the series, England were definitely the stronger outfit when looking at the teams on paper. However, after the first 2 test matches it appears there is quite a gulf in class between the two sides. England does look stronger in every department and should be a certainty from here to retain the urn.
Australia have not done themselves too many favours in terms of selection. Nathan Hauritz is no Shane Warne but he is by far the best spin bowler at their disposal. For some strange reason, they seem reluctant to choose him. Instead they are throwing rookies like Xavier Doherty and Michael Beer in at the deep end. If that was not bad enough, there has even been a campaign to bring back Shane Warne.
As well as the absence of a quality spinner, the Aussies have problems with their main strike bowler. Mitchell Johnson has gone from cricketer of the year to the embarrassment of being dropped after a wicket less test match. He is a shadow of the bowler who was a force to be reckoned with against the South Africans last year.
Because of the aforementioned issues, it is hard to see where Australia will take 20 wickets to win a test match. They would probably need the helping hand of the conditions to bowl England out twice. Whichever way you look at it, the Ricky Ponting era seems to be drawing to a close.
Make money from the Ashes by Cricket Trading on Betfair.
3 comments:
Well I think its the consequence of many great players like hayden, gilly, mcgrath, bevan etc retiring in a very short span of time, the world cup would be a deciding factor of their dominance in world cricket
I think Australia still have a very capable one day squad. However, all the big retirements were players who really excelled in the test match arena.
Most teams would struggle after losing so many quality performers in a short space of time.
yes india defeated australia, albit aust was the champion, thaks to share the great information and i really like it and i find it very help full and very informative, hope that you will keep it up and will share more information as like this
live cricket
Post a Comment