Posted by England fans appear to be making the most of Australia’s eight wicket defeat to India, drawing all sorts of conclusions based on this one Test match. This shows a certain lack of awareness when their own team recently lost the first Test in a series in India by nine wickets.
There are plenty of similarities as well. With the bat, England had little to show for their defeat beyond a hundred from their captain and a feisty display from their number seven. Ditto Australia. In terms of the bowling, Graeme Swann took five wickets, giving some cause for optimism and while Australia’s spinner didn’t do a right lot, James Pattinson took 5-96.
Some people seem to think that just because England happened to win a series by using two spinners, that that’s the way you should do things in India. But cricket isn’t a tightly plotted videogame where you have to locate the sole route to completion. England themselves opted to leave out Monty Panesar for that first match in large part because South Africa had managed to draw their 2010 series thanks to Dale Steyn.
England thought they were playing to their strengths, not recognising that their spin attack was actually as good as their pace attack. In contrast, Australia’s self-assessment is probably accurate. This doesn’t mean that they can’t win, however – but they do need to find their own approach.
Maybe they could bring back Mitchell Johnson.
Australia won’t win tests in India with this side.
They’ll do well to draw one or two of them.
When you’re playing badminton and you find yourself caught out of position and having to scramble to the deep backhand corner, knowing that one of your opponents has covered the net and is waiting to attack anything straight, you play a blind cross-court drop shot and hope. It’s not because you think it might work. It’s because you know for certain everything else won’t.
I’d go with Mitchell Johnson.
Tempting to use Mitch as a wild card play but I wouldn’t change anything. Siddle’s their second-best bowler and Starc is the better lefthander. Henriques deserves a run based on a gritty performance and Lyon is miles ahead of the other spin options.
They were undone by a once-in-a-lifetime knock from Dhoni; if Dhoni makes a quick 50 and flashes at something inadvisable and the catch is held, it’s much closer to a 50/50 proposition.
Warne was commenting on air that Australia would do well to rest Siddle, given Moises is filling a bowler option. It was the highlights, so I didn’t catch who he said they should bring in.
Shane Warne?
Yes.
He bowls to the left…
He bowls to the right…
That Mitchell Johnson…
His bowling is not quite up to the standard you might expect of an international cricketer.
His bowling is fortunately up to the standard you might expect of an international cricketer just often enough to keep him in the team…. or would that spoil the metre somewhat?
Alas for Aussies, it isn’t their bowlers who are the failures, it is the batsmen. The second innings was like watching a succession of dead men walking, few could handle the pressure of tight spin bowling on a friendly pitch.
Our problems in India are political. If our useless immigration minister got off his arse and issued a passport to Fawad Ahmed we could parachute him in for the second test:
http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/refugee-spinner-fawad-ahmed-on-fast-track-to-baggy-green/story-fndpt0dy-1226586339863
He’s the next Imran Tahir!
starc can stop bowling round the wicket for a change
How do Australia win in India? Well, they don’t win in India. Not in this series.
They better concede this series mentally and go through the motions – and secretly prepare for Ashes, instead 🙂