Australia have learned their lesson
on December 17th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
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.
Happy New Year Wasim. InshaAllah this year will be a turning point. I wouldn’t even mind if we just stayed out of the news and turned all boring …kinda like New Zealand!
We’re seeing cracks in the coalition government, hopefully it will disband and we’ll get a new government, and then a new PCB.
HAPPY NEW YEAR to all the cricket fans and all the readers of Cricketfiles.
I hope and pray 2011 will bring stability and success for Pakistan cricket team and will bring an end to the corrupt Butt administration.
Mohsin
If it was BS then why did England lost so easily in the third test. Being self confident is an asset and not a handicap. Every team goes through a rough time while going through rebuilding phase, Australia is going through a rebuilding phase they won’t be as dominant as they were in the last decade but to completely write them off is foolish, they have a good think tank and a good domestic system, some of their senior players are out of form right now, I think they will have rough time in test matches but in Odi’s and T20 they are still in the top three teams.
B.S !! Australia is just not a threat anymore their bowlers are very ordinary and they dont have that batting depth.
I think where they went wrong was being very self confident and letting go off players like brett lee the haydens , Symonds and other quality match winners. I still think they had a lot of cricket in them left but Australians thought they could replace the batch with new lot…Well the result is in front of you.
Its safe to assume that England is going to be the dominating new champions in T20, Test and One dayers!!
Stani / Maaz
If NJ kept on bowling the way he bowled in the last match then the series will belong to Australia.
Given the fragility of Australia’s batting they can only win it through their bowlers.
Wasim,
Even I was surprised at the manner in which they had prepared the first two pitches. It was very strange. Add that to their selection disarray, then they were on a hiding to nothing. Now that they have things sorted out, I wouldnt be surprised if they won it. Expect England to wet themselves and begin playing for draws.
Maz, stop speaking commercially or I’ll start calling you Lalit!
Class performance from MJ. Bowled with intent, aggression and utilised the conditions with a great deal of effectiveness. An excellent contribution from him in this match in all departments.
Australia are on the brink of levelling the series at 1-1 in Perth. The Ashes Series is now wide open. Commercially speaking this was needed. It’s been an eventful fast paced Test Match, this is cricket at its best.