After the disappointment of the Ashes and, for fans at least, the Headingley washout, Australia must take great heart from today's ODI victory at Old Trafford. They absolutely dominated once Shane Watson joined Aaron Finch for the fifth ball of the innings. For all of England's insistence that this is a potential genuine World Cup outfit, it really didn't look like it today.
True, Kevin Pietersen was his usual aggressive self as England set out in pursuit of a formidable total, Eoin Morgan notched a steady 54 and Joss Buttler struck a maiden ODI half-century. Boyd Rankin conceded fewer than five an over while picking up the wickets of Clarke and Wade. The rest were pretty poor as the Aussies frequently reduced the crowd to silence, perhaps apart from the sound of crying into their beer.
Michael Clarke's eighth ODI century was a gem. No wild slogs, just splendid cricket strokes and clever placement, and his 155-run partnership with the quicker-scoring George Bailey put the game out of England's reach. The paucity of their attack was hugely exposed. While Rankin did OK, Finn failed to ignite, James Tredwell was off his game, and the three makeweights Bopara, Stokes and Root simply aren't up to carrying an international bowling line-up. Root should stay for his batting and Bopara has proved this summer already that his medium pacers can be a thorn in the side mid-innings. However, I have less faith in Stokes. He has bags of talent, albeit maybe a bit too much attitude, and his time will surely come. Nice to see Buttler make a decent score, even if the game was already lost. As a Somerset fan of course I am on his side but I'm not convinced he's a better bet as 'keeper-batsman than Bairstow or Kieswetter.
Compared with McKay, Faulkner and a rejuventaed Mitchell Johnson, English seamers are a distant second-best. Barring injuries, surely England won't go to the next World Cup without Anderson, Broad, Bresnan and Swann? As for the batsmen, Bell and probably Cook must be certainties on recent form, which means that there's a fair chance that none of today's bowlers will line up in the big competition.
As for the Aussies, it remains to be seen whether they go on to bigger and better things not only in this series but in others. Michael Clarke is the lynchpin and there are still some batting places to firm up. There are so many bowlers who can do a job for them in ODIs and Tests and the selectors need to give them a go instead of dropping them every time they have a poor match. If England did that, Anderson and Broad would have only half the wickets to their names that they do.
