So after four of the five Tests, England have taken an unassailable 3-0 lead, the Ashes well and truly won and their opponents totally demoralised. Or are they? I don’t feel they ought to be. Cricket Australia has done more to undermine confidence than anything Andy Flower or Alastair Cook’s squad have done. My evidence being the Mickey Arthur dismissal mid-tour, the constant team alterations and the David Warner disciplinary case, although the batsman’s behaviour was clearly to blame for the latter.
Player for player, the team averages look pretty close. On either side, only three front line batsmen have averaged 30 or more, while on the positive side five bowlers average around 30 or below. Where they diverge is by Ian Bell’s three centuries and 500 runs and the main English attack of Anderson, Broad, Bresnan and Swann claiming 67 wickets between them. For the Aussies, only Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle are in double-figures in the Wickets column, with the rest contributing a few here and there before and after being dropped or injured.
Clarke’s class was underlined by his performances at Old Trafford, which unfortunately didn’t result in the victory they deserved. At Chester-le-Street, Chris Rogers showed what they had been missing at the top of the order, alongside a few tantalising glimpses of David Warner’s strokeplay. Steve Smith and Brad Haddin have produced two half-centuries each, but mixed with an unhealthy glut of single-figure scores. Cowan, Khawaja, Watson and Hughes have been outshone even by their own tailenders Agar, Starc and Pattinson although maybe Ed, Phil and Usman should have been given the chance to bowl instead!
England have won because they seem to have more of a winning mentality, believing in themselves even when under the cosh. For years they were prone to batting collapses under pressure but now it’s the turn of Australia, whose lack of depth and consistency has perhaps covered up England’s own deficiencies. Anderson and Broad have won two of the three games, if not single-handedly then largely through some inspired spells when they were most needed. Graeme Swann has claimed 23 wickets already, with Joe Root’s part-time spin making the occasional vital breakthrough, while bustling Tim Bresnan perseveres as ever. The normally reliable Cook and Trott have failed miserably this summer, leaving it up to Bell, KP and some lower-order fortitude to drag them back into positions from which victories were fashioned.
Apart from at Lord’s, England may easily have lost the games. They can breathe a sigh of relief that the men in the green baggies haven’t held their nerve to the bitter end, many chucking away the wickets with poor strokes. A regular, injury-free Aussie bowling attack of Harris, Starc, Siddle, Lyon and Bird or Pattinson would be pretty good, I reckon, but for England to be 3-0 up despite so many batting failures there has to be something for Clarke and the support team to work on, mentally as well as physically, if they are to reclaim the Ashes next winter. Keeping the same side for The Oval might be a start. They’ve nothing to lose and plenty to gain.
