Lord’s looms as crossroads Test with Ashes contest taking a strange turn

Episode two. Lord’s. After my initial indifference to the start of an overkill of Ashes collision, England’s surprise success at Cardiff has got me anticipating the follow-up event like a better-than-usual Doctor Who series. I really didn’t see the England landslide win coming. It was as overwhelming as David Cameron’s Conservatives majority verdict at the last UK election just a few months ago. Except a bit more welcome. Now that the unexpected has happened what can we expect next? The Aussies surely can’t play as badly. And everything that can go right for England, surely can’t just fall into place again. Or can it? If Australia do decide to jettison the much maligned Shane Watson, it will mean they will be without him, Brad Haddin and Ryan Harris after just one Test since they chose their touring party back in Oz. It suddenly leaves a lower order batting line-up of Adam Voges, Mitch Marsh and out-and-out new keeper Peter Nevill. If the upper order continues their recent uncertain traits, that could suddenly be viewed as a potential soft underbelly. For all the feisty rhetoric that Michael Clarke is naturally coming out with, Cardiff must have been a stunner to the usually swaggering Aussies. Their supposed speed attack that was meant have England running scared served up total drivel on day one at Cardiff. It seemed only England’s rush of over-enthusiasm was getting them out. And a repeat at Lord’s would really hurt Aussie spirits. Remember this is the ground where Mitchell Johnson totally unravelled in the 2009 series and became a figure of fun for the English fans. He wasn’t even around last time here. That memory must be bouncing around in his head somewhere as he approaches the scene of his humiliation once more. The fans may be a bit more genteel at Lord’s than elsewhere on the UK circuit, but they will surely be swift to doll out the stick if ol’ Mitch reverts to his bad old days and starts spraying the ball around again. And the strange slope at the home of cricket could provide a few headaches for the new wicketkeeper Nevill. Haddin may have spilled the catch that no-one is letting him forget at Cardiff but he does know his way around this quirky acre of green in St John’s Wood. He isn’t playing due to unforeseen circumstances but if things go awry, the Aussies will be wishing he was still there. This Test could be the crossroads. England could inflict further pain on a suddenly frail-looking Aussie outfit. Or normal service could be resumed with Clarke’s colonials rediscovering the mental muscle that made them Ashes favourites in the first place. It promises to be compulsive viewing.

Australia can be hailed as world-beaters despite fresh bad-boy behaviour

Australia deserve to lay claim to being the best Test cricketing team in the world.  The red tape of the current standings mean that they are not allowed to officially do so. But having beaten top dogs South Africa on their own turf, it is plain to see where the reality lies.  With perennial bad travellers India arriving on Australian shores for a four-Test series next summer, it seems only a matter of time before things are put in true perspective.  As an Englishman, it hurts me to say that but the Aussies deserve all the accolades that may come their way after a gripping series.  They left it late on the final day in Cape Town to seal a 2-1 series verdict as South Africa looked like doing a repeat of their “great escape” in Adelaide in November 2012. However, in the end,  Ryan Harris’s last-gasp heroics did the trick. If the Proteas had held out, skipper Michael Clarke would have had only himself to blame.  For once his tactics seemed out of sync on the fourth day when he appeared to delay his declaration needlessly.  Fair enough,  the  Aussies were scoring runs at a phenomenal rate and South Africa were backpedalling to such an extent that they had every fielder located on the boundary.  Yet Clarke’s dilly-dallying indicated a rare lack of perspective.  He must have been a relieved man when things worked out after a long, hot final day of South African resistance.  Graeme Smith’s men deserve much applause for the way they kept going in the face of an apparent hopeless task. The plucky resistance put England’s recent feeble efforts in Australia in an even more embarrassing light.  At the end of sparkling summer, Australia have turned their fortunes round completely.  After the 4-0 rout in India, then arriving in England looking like a rabble for the Northern Ashes series and suffering another beating,  such an outcome would have appeared fanciful, if not ridiculous. It’s been a  phenomenal  team  effort with spectacular individual performances from Mitchell Johnson and Dave Warner.  Pocket rocket Warner has been described by Proteas’ coach Allan Donald as the most dangerous batsman since Brian Lara.  Quite an accolade. And well merited.  Indeed, Warner has progressed from being a Big Bash novelty act to a bona fide Test great. What a shame he appears to be such a prat.  Every time he opens his mouth, he seems to spout some new drivel.  Still, he’s a sportsman not an orator.  Sadly that image seems to live with the Aussies. Even Clarke let himself down with his foul-mouthed rant at Dale Steyn as things got heated in the final stages of the Test. With umpires and players having to intervene,  Clarke displayed boorish behaviour that was straight from the Roy Keane school of footballing diplomacy when the Irish midfielder was at his spiteful best for Manchester United.  It’s all very well coming out with profuse apologies after the event, but it’s not a good look.  Is this what the Aussies call “playing good, hard cricket” or a stressed captain sparking an outbreak of childish bullying tactics towards opponents and umpires?  In the end, such playground tantrums could not take anything from an absorbing series. Michael Holding spoke for many of us from the TV commentary box as the last day unfolded.  He jokingly said:  “Breaking news – the three Twenty20 games have been cancelled and we are going to have an extra Test.”  If only, Mikey, if only… Wonderful  wishful  thinking on his part.

 

Australia’s abrupt fall from grace sets up perfect script for Test decider

Australia’s captivating tour of South Africa heads to Cape Town for the final instalment of the three-Test series starting on Saturday.  The hosts rewrote the form book to give the Aussies a thumping in the second Test at Port Elizabeth.  After Michael Clarke’s men had enjoyed a seamless run of six consecutive Test victories (albeit five against a hopeless England), it must have been a shock to the system. It certainly surprised me. What happens from here is anybody’s guess. As I have said before, it’s just a shame that the series is not a five-Test contest.  It leaves a feeling of frustration that the plot has not been played out to its proper conclusion. I felt the same when South Africa were last touring in Australia in late 2012. The Proteas’ “great escape” in Adelaide set things up for an enthralling ride which was cut short with a mere three Tests.  It seems to be in vogue throughout world cricket to have shortened series – apart from the Ashes – to fit in with a permanently congested calendar. In England there appears to be a “minor” series happening from May each season. At that stage of the year, you can still have frostbite on your fingers fielding in the slip cordon and cricketing events always seem to be getting creakily underway before the sun finally makes an appearance (we hope) in the main summer months of June, July and August. Last year it was the New Zealanders who provided a warm-up exercise for  Alastair Cook’s men before the blockbuster first act of back-to-back Ashes confrontations took centre stage.  It is a real irritant for me, but with the global demands of 50-over cricket and the ever-growing razamataz of Twenty20, I suppose this is the harsh reality.  Anyway, from my neutral corner,  the Cape Town decider looks an appetising affair. The Port Elizabeth rout seems to indicate that the Aussies will be looking to rush Shane Watson back into their ranks. The injury-prone allrounder would bolster the bowling contingent, who looked strangely subdued as South Africa took firm control of the second Test.  Mitchell Johnson was back to being a mere mortal in his bowling stints and even got a whack on the helmet when he batted as the South Africans showed they were not going to be messed about. His erstwhile partners in crime Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle could almost have been diagnosed with having caught the Jimmy Anderson disease. Both seemed tired, listless and down on pace.  They have had a heavy workload. Maybe it is beginning to tell. I always reckoned that Harris would break down at some stage of the combined Ashes tours. He didn’t. Now here he is, still running in hardily, but showing signs of fatigue.  And the same seems true for Siddle.  Even his heavy intake of bananas can’t keep him going for ever. It was left to the unheralded spin of Nathan Lyon to snare a tidy haul of victims and keep the South Africans in some kind of check. Both captains – Graeme Smith and Clarke – are out of form and short of runs so at least that evens itself out ahead of the decider. But even if Shaun Marsh or Alex Doolan drops out to accommodate Watson, the Aussie batting line-up looks the one more likely to implode.  This was even evident in the Ashes Tests but here Brad Haddin has been unable to come to the crease and implement his renowned one-man rescue act. If only he had done this a couple of months ago, it would have lifted many Englishmen’s state of mind. It’s all to play for and the game should be a cracker. However, my appetite won’t be sated after three Tests.  It’s a real disappointment there isn’t going to be more to savour…