Trentbridge test

Ashes to Ashes

Round 1 to England!

In one of the oldest international sporting rivalries England have taken a 1-0 series lead over the dastardly Australian cricket team. I say dastardly because Australian teams have a reputation for "sledging" and I don't mean tobogganing. Not averse  to a bit mud slinging psychology. 

In a rather tense match England edged out (quite literally as it happened) the Aussies with a 14 run victory. I think England nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory but an Aussie might say they did instead. 

I am always wary of a press that rights Australia off at anything. I don't trust Australians. They always pick their game up for the Old Enemy. And any way they can't surely be that bad. 

This game raises more questions for England however than it does Australia. They can take much from a game where they were given little chance but fought back at every turn. They would not roll over. 

England selectors have got to look at how we failed to polish off an innings twice. We had broken the back of the innings but failed to go for the jugular. In the first innings Oz were 130-9 had we picked them off at that point we would have had a different game

My only criticism of the dominant Aussie team of the late 1980's to early 2000's was that they relied too heavily on 2 bowlers. Glen McGrath and Shane Warne. Fortunately for Australia these were amongst 2 of the greatest bowlers to wear an Aussie shirt. I perhaps under rated Glen McGrath but Shane Warne's genius was all too evident. All Australia needed were some back up bowling to keep an end going. 

England are heading that way. Jimmy Anderson at the moment is a head and shoulders above the rest. Don't write of Broad he has a knack of coming good and I think we can expect good things from him. Swann is always seen as our greatest threat but he didn't bowl all that well. Finn had a bit of a 'mare to be honest. I like Finn as a bowler, he is tall and pacy but on a pitch that was as dead as a Dodo he pitched too short and was often targeted as the one to score from. His place might be under threat. Tim Bresnan would be my choice. He is perhaps not as good a bowler as Finn at his best but he is a worker and dependable- he also bats a bit. I wouldn't mind seeing Graham Onions given a go. I think he has been underrated by England since he debuted in 2006. The choice is there.

But let us not forget the batting. 215 was not a good score for a first innings. The Australians had warned that they brought swing bowlers and they certainly stuck to their task well. 

In fact this match reminds me of the 1st test in 2005. We gave the Aussies a pasting in the first innings only to let them get away in the second and then rolled over. Today Australia did all that except for the last bit.

Cook, Bell and Peterson all performed eventually but we have to do it first time around. Last winter we were pulling it out of the hat in the second innings but if we had got it right in the first place we wouldn't have needed to. Overall the line up is solid. A line up that includes proven run makers like Cook, Trott, Peterson and Bell should fill you with a sense of security. Unfortunately England history suggests they all need to contribute. We only picked 4 bowlers for this test and it nearly scuppered us. If our batting filled us with more confidence then we could add another bowler  or at least an all rounder. Broad isn't quite there as  true all rounder and certainly more valuable as a strike bowler. 

True all rounders are hard to come by. Ian Botham and Freddie Flintoff are hard acts to follow. Most all rounders fall into the category of jack of all trades and masters of none.

England beware!

Lords is a happy hunting ground for Australia. 2009 was the first time we beat them at Lord's since the 1930's. This team will be sore from this defeat and up for revenge. 

Victory will ask more of the victors than the defeated.