During the second test while commenting on Australian strategy I wrote “ <em><strong>the biggest mistake they have made in this series is the preperation of flat tracks their bowling is weak and struggles even more on flat tracks, they can only win a match in this series if they prepare tracks where their bowlers can take 20 wickets. On the batting front they won’t be able change much except Marcus North.
I think their strategy has been very defensive so far in this series, they tried to neutralize Anderson and Broad but ended up neutralizing their own bowlers, they worried too much about the fragility of their own batting line up but ignored how England’s top order struggled against Pakistan”.</strong></em>
Australia after scoring just 268 in the first innings have a lead of 200 with 7 wickets remaining. Their batting has remained constant with only the inform batsmen Hussey and Haddin doing the bulk of the scoring but a helpful pitch has made their average looking pace attack dangerous and now they are in a good position to win this match and level the series.
Mitchell Johnson looked extremely dangerous when he got some help from the pitch a luxury which wasn’t available to him in the first test, he did had some problem with his action where his arm was dropping too early due to which he wasn’t extracting any movement and was also struggling with the length and direction.
He did had some problem with his bowling action, his arm was dropping to early which reduced the length of the ball and eventually the targeted line was also lost, apparently in this match he fixed that problem which enabled him to bowl with more control and with a high release he got more air time and as a result more swing.
Ofcourse the conditions gave him the confidence to bowl up and straight without the fear of getting driven straight, the lefties all over the world are most lethal when they bring the ball back at right handers, the first three wickets Johnson took were a treat to watch.
Hillffenhaus and Harris were quite accurate and kept their line and length in check and made sure that they don’t bowl too many loose balls and relieve pressure on the English team.
England are not completely out of the match they just need two quick wickets today and they will be back in the game.
Win or loose, Australia is at it’s best when they play aggressive cricket the defensive game doesn’t suit them, their current lot of bowlers is not an all conditions attack so at least at home they should not prepare flat tracks. I hope Australia has learned their lesson, chopping and changing in Pakistani style won’t help them they just need to remain positive.
Recent Comments