3 minute read
Cricket’s holiest of grails awaits as Australia and England battle once again for the most treasured prize in all of the sport – ok then cricket.
Racing and Sports will cover all five tests which are hoped to be played in varying cities across the wide brown land although these days, flux is the default position in sports timetabling. We'll also put in a few gambles which might add to the viewing pleasure.
AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND
Fourth Test
5-9 January @ SCG
A disaster can be defined as an event or fact that has unfortunate consequences. I think we can safely say that that sums up England's Ashes series.
There is literally not one thing that has been positive to come from the three Tests so far. Actually after the happenings pre-Day 2 in Melbourne that is not quite so accurate. That is the world we live in at present and things keep escalating.
But on the green stuff, even if you were to cast a wide net and be optimistic, observing Joe Root's batting as a highlight, there has not been much else.
Root has been getting to 50 and then succumbing. 12 Tests Down Under sees him average almost 40 and yet NOT ONCE has he reached triple figures. That does nothing for a team that needs big, BIG hundreds as he has to impose himself. 9 x 50s is almost an indictable offence.
Great players, elite players, even good players (and captains to boot) must become enforcers on sessions, days, tests and series. Root hasn't been able to do that in Australia. That is not to say he's not up to it as he clearly is but he has to command the situation.
So why has this whole affair masquerading as a tour become a debacle?
There is no doubting that this has been a series born more of financial necessity than history. England had no first class preparation and similarly the vast majority of the Australian team jetted into the first test via Dubai and the T20 success (and a bit of quarantine for good measure).
So both teams have basically been off parallel preps. But when you live and breathe bouncier pitches, it's easier to adjust. In England, the ball moves east or west. In Australia it moves up north or south.
When the Poms arrive here, so many struggle with the bounce and then their bowlers get excited so bowl too short. When we head to the motherland, those that kiss the surface are so dangerous – Aussies grapple with the seaming/swinging movement.
All this doesn't obfuscate responsibility for putting a price on your wicket. Jos Buttler's dismissal on Boxing Day is a classic example. Close to an interval, with your side in a perilous enough position, to see you play such an expansive shot to an offie who wasn't spinning a web was unthinkably poor.
Games can turn very quickly these days. Techniques are weakened and T20 thought processes envelope both batsman and captain's minds. You must give yourself some chance.
There is always a chance of a team losing 7 or 8 wickets in a session with momentum. As well, your opening partnerships so far have been 0, 23, 7, 4, 4 & 7 and therefore questions are never asked of the opponent's bowlers. Joe Root regularly appears before 20 is on the board.
Australia's record is not that much better but Labuschagne's series to date has been able to overcome those inadequacies.
Then there are game situations which nobody can endure. A tsunami of fast leg-cutters and inswingers near impossible.
Even allowing for those poor starts, it is hard to believe Gavaskar, Hutton, Richards and Pollock could have withstood that barrage late on Day 2. It was the highest of quality test match rockets you could imagine.
Starc (for all his criticisms), Boland on debut and of course the genius of Cummins had England ducking and diving like a prize fighter in the second round.
Was it any wonder Ben Stokes was almost timed out as the scramble for pads, gloves and boxes became a frenzy. Kids under 6 on Christmas Day only throw things about more when opening their presents. More the fever of wrapping of pads than wrapping paper.
If England batsman weren't knicking them or letting them thunder into pads, they were shouldering arms and seeing the bails end up in Jolimont.
An innings was the result and in many ways deservedly so. Psychologically everything around them had to catch up and it may well have.
The home team isn't exactly firing on all cylinders though. Those bowling salvos have given Lyon the chance to settle in rather than needing to be 'the man' to win them games.
Head and Carey in the middle order have provided both stability but also transitioned the flow of an innings to take the game away from their rivals. Of course now Head has been Covided.
Smith and Warner have played some good innings but had luck in others. It's really only Marnus that has shown a consistency of performance. His ability to not hit the ball is better than many of the others decisions to do the opposite.
An all-round team effort would be a positive thing over the final two tests. They will need that given they are heading overseas for Tests for the first time in ages.
Pakistan awaits in first series against Australia in forever. Sri Lanka does too then India for good measure. Subcontinental cricket has a much different tune to it. Team balance and selection will be up for grabs. Changes will occur with regularity.
Two spinners and the allrounder are necessary. George Bailey and his team will have some fascinating decisions and influence over the next 12 months. And that begins as soon as this week.
So to that SCG we go (hopefully) and it's probably no surprise that results between these two have been the go there of late. What is more interesting is that they have been very one-sided Tests.
98 runs is the closest result with Australia 4 and England 2 victories. Innings defeats and 10 wicket wins are also in the frame.
The way this series has tended, it's not hard to fathom a similar direction. Hoping some friends with tickets for Day 4 get to use them.
Many of us are still pining for the SCG pitch to find its glory days whereby 'spin and win' is the clear philosophy. Australian surfaces have become far too generic – many drop-in by nature and austere in output.
There were many superb differentials in how our pitches were from the seam in Brisbane to the bounce of Perth and the flatter Adelaide and Melbourne versions. Sydney was the polar opposite.
From Holland, Bennett and Matthews all the way through to Warne and MacGill, seeing the ball spin was as exciting as quickies at 150+ clicks. You can hear Tiger O'Reilly or Richie just murmuring about the bland nature of the current circumstances.
It would be a pleasure again for the groundsman to have it drier and turning from Day 1. Sadly CEO curating around the nation has become more of the norm. Getting the 22 yards to last five days, and the dollars which are generated by that, seem more important than the actual sport.
Couple that with broadcast rights and the old flipper, wrongun' and arm ball get lost in that financial pressure.
Were the SCG to look more spin-friendly you wouldn't mind Swepson getting a game. It would appear a great discouragement to Scott Boland were he to be omitted off figures of 6 for 7 but we aren't here to play fiddlesticks.
That is where Cameron Green's place in the team is crucial. Of course he needs to making more runs at six. That cannot be denied.
But chipping in with pressure-building overs, focusing on that outside edge and jagging the ball to the slips at around 140kph makes you well worthy of selection.
Seven wickets so far @ 11 is tasty. Throw in his sharp work in the gully, pouching almost every snare there with his rather large frame and the rivals will need to be sure when driving and cutting.
He then allows management to play two genuine quicks and two spinners. Again that has significant subcontinental overtures.
England is a mentally disintegrated group and physically unable to perform to Test standard so far. You can see a one-off turn around but to be fair they have probably put the cue in the rack and have their minds on boarding a big jet home. Although remember you're heading back to a cold winter and sadly an almost worse virus circumstance.
If there are any cricketing Gods, Joe Root will finally get his deserved century in Australia. He has played well enough to do that. Can his fellow teammates stick around long enough to provide him the support and the time needed? Have something small on that.
One person who loves the SCG, his home deck, is David Warner. He's made four hundreds, averages 57 and famously made that triple figures prior to lunch on Day 1 against Pakistan some four years ago.
Not that we're predicting that again but you can bet attack will be his primary focus with the Ashes already in the can.
Suggested Bets: Joe Root Top England Runscorer @ $2.50
Suggested Bets: Joe Root 100+ runs @ $7.00
Suggested Bets: David Warner 50+ runs @ $2.50