Australian first test ratings

So what of the Aussies? Arriving on these shores, they were strong favourites to clinch a second consecutive series win, and their first away win since 2001. Ever since the arrival at the crease of Joe Root, Australia have been on the back foot, falling further and further behind in the game until the same man took the catch which wrapped up the increasingly inevitable result. So where did it go wrong for the green and gold? Where are their weak points and who do England have to keep an eye on?

Chris Rogers - 95 & 10: Rogers had a great game, setting Australia off to a solid start and making big inroads into England's first innings score. Came up against Broad & Anderson on top form at the start of the second innings. Will no doubt continue to be reliable, determined and hard to dislodge all series long. 8/10

David Warner - 17 & 52: The explosive opener hasn't really got going yet but still has the potential for a game-changing innings. England did a good job of stifling his desire for rapid scoring and this will definitely be the best way forward to keep him quiet 6/10

England will be hoping for more of this

Steve Smith - 33 & 33: The 2nd best batsman in the world certainly didn't look like it in the first match of the series. With so many similarities to Joe Root (matches played, incredible last 12 months, current average, part-time spin), it was the Englishman who won the first battle. Perhaps suffering from over-confidence and an impatience to dominate the bowlers so far, Smith will prove his class soon enough. 6/10

Michael Clarke - 38 & 4: Australia's captain faces a difficult task to get his guys up to scratch for the second test, both mentally and performance-wise. How he achieves that might be a reflection of how he can manage it for himself as well. He underperformed as both captain and senior batsman in Cardiff so will need to up all aspects if Australia are to get back into the series. 4/10 batting 4/10 captain.

Adam Voges - 31 & 1: Like Chris Rogers at the top a couple of years ago, Voges has been brought in as a reliable and consistent batsman with experience of English conditions, to add some solidity to the middle order. On current evidence, he's done anything but. Australia appear to need someone more in the Mike Hussey/Simon Katich mould to frustrate and resist, braking the momentum and atmosphere generated mid-collapse. Bowlers like Broad thrive on momentum (as seen in each of the last 4 Ashes series) so a gritty 60 off 150 balls or similar would be perfect to counteract. Voges just isn't that man. 4/10

Poor old LBWatto

Shane Watson - 30 & 19, 24-0 & 23-0: Watson is a curious case. Utterly brutal aggressive and dominant batting, relentlessly accurate and miserly bowling at his best, he so often seems to be lacking confidence or interest in the game. For someone with such indifferent body language he appears to have allowed the LBW thing to really get to him. What should be an outstanding number 6, offering a very useful bowling option, he's more of a burden than a blessing currently. Australia would take Stokes at 6 in a flash right now, but might have to make do with Mitchell Marsh instead. 4/10

Brad Haddin - 22 & 7, 5 catches: Age catches up with us all and the counter-attacking wicketkeeper-batsman role is not one that can be sustained forever. When Matt Prior realised that his time had come, we had Jos Buttler ready to come in immediately; it does not appear that there's a natural successor just yet. Haddin may well have a couple of decent knocks and I'm sure the infamous Joe Root drop was just one of those things, rather than a sign of things to come, but the reality is that Brad isn't the force he once was. 3/10

Mitchell Johnson - 14 & 77, 111-0 & 69-2: One of the central figures of attention prior to and during the game, Johnson had an evidently mixed game. On a pitch that didn't suit his natural bowling style he failed to adjust and as a result ended up with his worst ever figures in what wasn't that high a total from England. The ball that got Bell in the second innings gave England due warning against complacency and dismissed any thought this might be 2010-11 Mitchell. Similarly, his futile but impressive 77 demonstrated the damage he could do in a closer situation. 6/10

Mitchell Starc - 0 & 17, 114-5 & 60-2: The world's best ODI bowler will be quite pleased to look back and see 7 wickets against his name for what was a pretty mediocre performance by his standards. At this stage it looks like he'll be fit enough for Thursday and will continue to be a serious threat when he gets it right. Waiting for the odd bad ball works against most bowlers but Starc is as likely to rip your off stump out as throw in a half-tracker. 6/10

Josh Hazlewood - 2* & 14, 83-3 & 49-2: Could very well emerge as Australia's premier test match bowler by the end of the series. Everything we'd heard about his control of line and length was true and was easily the biggest consistent threat to the English batsmen. Would be surprised if he doesn't pick up 25 wickets in the series. 8/10

Nathan Lyon - 6 & 0*, 69-2 & 75-4: Lyon has made a solid place for himself in this Aussie attack. He is consistent and gets slightly surprising levels of turn and bounce, particularly with his overspin. He's no Shane Warne but he's certainly the more complete and
accomplished spinner between himself and Moeen. Both sides should be able to get on top of the respective spinners but with measured rather than pre-determined aggression. 7/10

Australia have more areas to work on than England but that just means more areas of potential improvement for the next game, which I would imagine most are expecting to be a lot closer and more competitive.

One up and four to go

In a week of white-clad sportsmen vying for the attention of the British public, it was to Wales that our eyes turned as Scottish hope was eliminated from dreams of glory. A combination of Murray falling at the penultimate hurdle and England's relentlessly strong performance meant that success was to be found in the Welsh rather than English capital. It's hard to imagine how things could have gone much better for Alastair Cook and his team kicking the Ashes off, especially given the low expectations prior to the series. Those few glimmers of hope and encouraging signs against New Zealand came to fruition in four surprising and immensely enjoyable days.

With universal agreement that England as a team outplayed their Australian counterparts, how did the individuals on each side perform, and what does that mean for the rest of the series?

Adam Lyth - 6 & 37: Relatively mediocre performance and a significant part of England's top order issues. Took a couple of catches as the Aussies fell apart at the end but needs a big knock to put questions over his place in the team to bed. Performing when the chips are down, that will be the real challenge. 4/10

England's main area of vulnerability

Alastair Cook - 20 & 12: Actually seemed reasonably comfortable in both innings but evidently still not recaptured his best form or indeed confidence. A brilliant and critic-defying display of captaincy played a big part in the match win but to secure the series it's hard to imagine England not needing some runs from their senior opener. 4/10 batting 9/10 captain

Gary Ballance - 61 & 0: Like Cook, is still lacking the form which has seen him such a relentless run accumulator in the past. An impressive and gritty 61 in the first innings was exactly what England needed, especially as a foil to the more aggressive Root. A big innings may not be far off. 6/10

Ian Bell - 1 & 60: England's 2013 hero has been on such a dismal run of form that even a pressure-off 60 will be seen as a significant positive step. Hopefully more to come from the classy number 4. 6/10

Joe Root - 134 & 60, 28-2: The new 4th ranked test batsman is by far and away England's best, and most inspirational player. Digging England out of a hole in the first innings then piling on the pressure in the second, as well as chipping in with two wickets to finish it all off. Now has the 11th highest batting average in history (min 50 wickets) and will surely be an England great for years to come. 9/10

Ben Stokes - 52 & 42, 51-1 & 23-0: Went somewhat under the radar but played two very important innings without which England's totals would have been much less dominant. Is a solid rather than inspired bowler still at this stage but has such potential and I would expect there'll be at least one point in the series where he has a Flintoff-esque impact on a match. 7/10

Jos Buttler - 27 & 7, 3 catches: Bit of a nothing performance from Buttler really, decent enough with the gloves, never got going with the bat. England's need will be greater another day so it remains to be seen how he produces when that day comes. 5/10

Moeen Ali - 77 & 15, 71-2 & 59-3: A great all-round performance from Moeen who continues to improve in both aspects of his game. Australia had obviously decided to go after him so he'll need to tighten up when his role is just to contain but for now he functions well when Cook basically needs to buy wickets. Classy, occasionally explosive and brimming with potential batting-wise, this could be a defining series for the bearded spinner. 8/10

Stuart Broad - 18 & 4, 60-2 & 39-3: Broad appears to be back to his best with the ball, having great control and discipline, as well as intelligence and threat. Having plans for batsmen and then executing well, particularly with fuller-than-natural lengths. Still underperforming with the bat which could yet prove significant given how much of a contribution tailenders often make these days. 8/10

Mark Wood - 7* & 32*, 66-2 & 53-2: What a brilliant addition to the squad he's been. A genuine character and another who seems to genuinely enjoy his cricket and bring a bit of life to the team. A good back-up to Broad & Anderson, as well as apparently some skill with the willow as well. I hope Steven Finn enjoys county cricket because he won't be playing test matches any time soon. 7/10

James Anderson - 1 & 1, 43-3 & 33-0: Much like Broad, Jimmy appears to be right at the top of his game. The second best test bowler in the world has such control over the ball it's amazing he didn't take more wickets. On what was supposed to be a doddle to bat on, Anderson still had the Aussies guessing. 7/10

With England naming an unchanged squad and surely an unchanged starting 11, the signs are positive but the question will be how strongly Australia bounce back at Lords.

PS Australian team ratings to follow

What Hope for an Ashes Upset?

Let the captain battle commence

So here we are again. The Ashes start again this Wednesday, with England looking for their fourth consecutive home series victory for the first time in 120 years (when they won the first 6 home series). Australia go in as firm favourites, clearly ahead of England in the rankings and having won 4 of 5 series since they last visited England (we've won 1 of 5 in the same time). Perhaps one of the most telling indicators is Australia's convincing 2-0 victory in the West Indies, so soon after England battled to a 1-1 draw against the same mediocre opponents. 

How different from two years ago, when England almost underachieved in winning the series 3-0. This time around it's the hosts who enter with an inexperienced and potentially fragile line up, couple with decent but not spectacular bowling attack. The concern at having no stand-out spinner the main point, but we've also had trouble restricting heavy scoring, maintaining discipline against tailenders and finishing off collapsing opponents. This was such a feature of the 2013 series, with Haddin / Agar standing out in particular. 

Perhaps a smaller trophy
in a couple of months?

Both sides are now without their best bowlers from 2013 - both Swann and Harris retiring and each team needing to find 25 wickets from elsewhere. Whether Moeen and/or Rashid can step into that breach remains to be seen and I must say I'm not convinced either is the full package. In contrast, Australia have a good range of pace bowlers vying for a place, with Josh Hazelwood and the left-armed Mitchells likely starting ahead of Peter Siddle. The fact that Nathan Lyon is a solid rather than world-class spinner may not matter too much if England don't survive until the 5th day. Their bowling averages against West Indies don't make fun reading for an English battling line up who had more than one shaky moment against the Aussies' neighbours.

There are signs that things might not be all baggy green, with England experiencing a new lease of life and optimism after some of the performances against New Zealand. If players like Broad, Anderson, Bell and of course, Cook, can find anywhere near top form to provide the backbone to exciting talent of Root, Buttler and Stokes, it could yet prove to be a closer series than anticipated. 

But why can't we have 10 reviews
an innings?

One thing which doesn't seem too likely at the moment but that we could seriously do with is a bit of weather like two years ago. Things we can do without this time - DRS controversy, England failing to reach 400, England batting at about 2.5 runs per over for the entire series, Mitchell Johnson actually bowling well and straight. Oh and Australia winning, I could definitely live without that.

Ashes Preview, stat-attack and pun-athon

After the shortest wait in Ashes history, this week sees the return to the England-Australia cricketing battlefield. After England's successful summer, the record stands at 31 series victories each (5 drawn), only adding to the significance of already something of a meaningful set of matches. With England marginal favourites to repeat their triumph of 2010-11, all of the talk, predictions and injury-waiting will soon be at an end. Few would argue that the 3-0 victory in the summer was perhaps not as convincing as the scoreline would suggest, and it'll take a marked improvement from Cook's men to repeat the trick down under. That being said, you could say there is a lot more to come from the likes of Cook, Trott and Pietersen - leaving the Aussies quaking at the prospect of absurd run-scoring like the last time in Oz. 

It is interesting to compare the two squads in relation to the last time we were here, namely November 2010. Believe it or not, I like a stat. Especially when I have a hunch then do the research and the genuine stats reflect what I wanted to say (I don't like having to Cook them up)

Looking at the top 5 ranked batsmen from each team now and from the 18th November 2010 tells an interesting story:

England top 5 batsmen
2010	Ranking	2013	Ranking
Trott	16	Bell	10
Pietersen	23	Cook	11
Strauss	25	Pietersen	13
Bell	26	Trott	15
Cook	29	Prior	17
Total:	119	Total:	66
Australia top 5 batsmen
2010	Ranking	2013	Ranking
Clarke	14	Clarke	5
Katich	15	Watson	32
Ponting	18	Warner	36
Watson	24	Smith	43
Hussey	30	Rogers	46
Total:	101	Total:	162

Prior (pun intended) to last time here, the Aussies had theoretically the marginally stronger batting line up, yet there is little question as to whose batsmen dominated the series. This time, the difference in Rankin places between the top 5 is simply astonishing. Joe Root is England 6th highest ranked batsmen, and at 33, would be in Australia's top 3. 

Don't pretend you don't want to know how the bowlers line up as well. Here you go... (you won't be disappointed)

England top 5 bowlers
2010	Ranking	2013	Ranking
Swann	2	Swann	7
Anderson	5	Anderson	10
Broad	9	Broad	11
Finn	24	Finn	20
Panesar	26	Bresnan	24
Total:	66	Total:	72
Australia top 5 bowlers
2010	Ranking	2013	Ranking
Johnson	6	Harris	6
Bollinger	7	Siddle	7
Siddle	15	Hilfenhaus	15
Hilfenhaus	16	Lyon	21
Watson	29	Johnson	23
Total:	73	Total:	72

Never again can the word 'statto' ever have negative connotations (I never understood the Root of that criticism anyway). England's bowlers were ranked slightly better last time out, but ahead of this week's clash, they are tied dead even. I appreciate that these won't be the 5 bowlers each team play (especially as England only play 4) but there's no denying the similarities. Something else that is striking, and which may be a huge factor as the winter develops, is the consistency of England's squad, both in batting and bowling - 4 of the top 5 have remained the same in each category. Consistency doesn't equal success but it could go a long way. This may ring a Bell from this summer, given that there's little doubt that inexperience cost Australia in the summer, failing to convert promising positions and being unable to dig themselves out of tricky situations. It's not to say that we'll Swann our way through the first couple of days, but there will be a lot less fear and "rabbit in headlights" than last time we were here.

Will England make history in winning 4 series in a row, for the first time since it all began, when they won 8 on the Trott? I've made a fool of myself with Broad predictions too many times to repeat the trick here so I'll just say that I would love to hear Warne embarrass himself further by saying we're too defensive yet again. It seems he'll only be satisfied if we beat them 5-0.

PS I apologise if you've Haddin-uff of the puns. Clarke my words, I'd be Lyon if I said it was easy to Ballance writing a real post with one that just Stokes the reader's fury. I was glad to Finnish though

English lambs before the Aussie slaughter

You don't have to be Glenn McGrath to know that England have very little chance in the remainder of this series. The dominant Australia batsmen, coupled with their prolific wicket-taking attack will surely be too much for the meagre poor English lambs. Putting aside all emotion and subjectivity, the positive thinking for which us Brits are famed, is there any hope for us?

Yes we have scraped through two matches thus far, reliant on a potent and controversial combination of dubious umpiring decisions, dodgy technology and being better than Australia. There's only so long though that we can rely on greater skill and application, and surely this Thursday will be the time for Australia's brilliance to become apparent. The question must be whether there is anything we can do to stop the surely inevitable demolition?

Let's look at the facts:

- England only have 3 batsmen averaging over 40 in the series. I appreciate that Australia only have 3 over 30, and one of those (Pattinson) is out injured for the rest of the series and the other is a teenage spin bowler, but that won't matter.

- England have no replacement for the likely absent Pietersen. Of course, James Taylor will play but I don't see him scoring any runs against the Australians.

Waterboy or run-machine?

- David Warner is back. Guaranteed to knock get Joe Root out, and fresh from a massive 193 against the mighty South Africa A, he's sure to be a threat. After all, prior to that innings he had scores of 6, 11, 9, 0, 0, 2, 0, 44, 4 and 13. Devastating stuff for England to fear.

- Australia have the series record for the opening, 9th and 10th wicket partnerships. England may have the highest partnership for all the other wickets, but it's how you start and end that matters isn't it?

I think we can all agree that we're in serious trouble. Just because we've won the first two matches, have the better batting line-up, bowling attack, experience and confidence, surely nothing can stop the organised and professional Aussies. 

Not Bad for a Dying Format

Unquestionably man of the hour

Short of writing some kind of dissertation-length post, there is really going to be no way of describing what has taken place in Nottingham over the last five days. Generally with major sporting events you can't wait for the next match and struggle to imagine how you'll survive a few days' gap but in this instance I think we'll all be grateful for a bit of a rest so we can let our heart-rates stabilise. I imagine plant life across the UK suffered from all the lack of carbon dioxide in the air as most of the country has been holding its breath since Wednesday. Needless to say, it's was pretty dramatic right to the death.

From Starc's wayward first ball to the inevitable DRS-induced conclusion, this game had the lot. Batting collapses, spin, swing, reverse swing, a century, three 5 wicket hauls, a record partnership and record debut innings, a whole host of controversy and a desperately tight finish. If this match is setting the tone for the rest of the series then 2005 might have to rethink its title of "The Greatest Series". 

A somewhat enjoyable moment

I've scarcely seen a game with the team in the ascendancy changing so often. England started reasonably well, before collapsing to a meagre 215. Australia failed to capitalise, being skittled to 117-9 before debutant Agar (alongside Phillip Hughes) wrestled back the initiative. The Aussies were seemingly on top until Cook, Pietersen, Bell and Broad batted England into the lead again. What had appeared a total beyond the brittle Australian top order then seemed possible at 84-0, 111-1 and 161-3. A brilliant burst last night and consistent wickets this morning left an England win a near-certainty, before Haddin and Pattinson kept hearts in mouths until the last.

There's so much to choose from but here are my particular highlights:

1) Agar: not that he batted so well and isn't it great to see a young man doing so well etc. No, what I liked is that he got out 2 runs short of his century. Come on people, he's Australian (half at least), we have to be ruthless with them. If you don't think 2 runs can make a difference, just ask Michael Kasprowicz.

Unexpectedly gritty

2) Ian Bell: One of the most elegant, stylish batters who has long been seen as fair-weather, only scoring hundreds when conditions are good or England are on top. And yet, he's now joint 10th on the list of English test-centurions, level with Vaughan and Gower, ahead of Atherton, Hobbs, Sutcliffe.
3) This Aussie article which says that cricket won, not England, that pays a decidedly backhanded compliment to Bell, talks about the "inner grubbiness of the soul" in relation to Broad, the vulnerability of Finn, and suggests that no-one can really be sure if Haddin edged it or not. Ah Australia, this is what makes beating you so enjoyable. Hopefully you are going to have a full 6 months of learning how to be better losers.

Anything but an Ashes whitewash?

Unquestionably, England are overwhelming favourites to take the Ashes over the coming weeks, and convincingly so. Apart from the odd Aussie pundit or ex-player, almost all of the cricketing world is predicting a relatively comfortable victory for Cook and his men. 

So is there any realistic danger of Michael Clarke getting his hands on the urn come the end of August? There are obviously a lot more thorough and expert previews of the series available but here's a quick run down of the factors that can/will make the difference:

1) The squads - looking at the respective records, it is hard to see how the inexperienced Aussies can compete with a English team that is extremely well settled and have dealt with a range of opponents and conditions. Although the bowling units are relatively well matched, it is with willow in hand that England will surely dominate. The below table shows the comparison of averages (not too dissimilar in fairness) but also the number of test matches played by each team's potential top 9. The contrast is startling and could be crucial over the course of the toughest series in test cricket.

Root - 42.4 (6 tests)	Rogers - 9.5 (1)
Cook - 49.2 (92)	Warner - 39.5 (19)
Trott - 50 (43)	Watson - 35.3 (31)
Pietersen - 49.1 (94)	Clarke - 52.3 (92)
Bell - 45.6 (88)	Khawaja - 29.2 (6)
Bairstow - 31 (8)	Hughes - 33 (24)
Prior - 44.3 (67)	Haddin - 35.5 (42)
Bresnan - 31.3 (18)	Starc - 32.7 (9)
Broad - 24.6 (57)	Pattinson - 28.8 (10)
Swann - 23.2 (52)	Harris – 17.7 (12)
Total = 390.7 (525)	Total = 313.5 (246)

*I appreciate that this won't likely be the order of the Oz batting line up but given that they've selected 19 openers, it's quite hard to predict 

2) The pressure - there has been a lot of talk about how England will cope (or not cope) with being favourites. As the top ranked test team they won just 1 of 4 series and seemed unable to live up to the top billing. Just look at the series in New Zealand back in the spring.
That being said, the vast experience of the English squad, established team spirit and familiarity with being both ahead and behind in games may well make all the difference. There appears to be a good positive vibe and enthusiasm about the Aussies under Lehmann and no doubt they will be pumped up and raring to go on Wednesday morning, but when they're up against it, Clarke and Watson back in the hutch, who will stand up to fight? No amount of Aussie fighting spirit is going to save you from Anderson, Broad, Finn and Swann when you're 40-4 and the ball is swinging and spinning. I'd be surprised if we don't bowl them out for under 150 at least 2 or 3 times.

3) The weather - Perhaps the only thing that can stop a whitewash. A few lost days and even England's dominance could be thwarted, at least in a couple of matches. If the weather holds as it is currently then it will help the Aussies feel at home but will also enhance the effect of Swann. Given our respective recent results away in India (Eng won 2-1, Aus lost 4-0) and their lack of a quality spinner, the weather really is a no-win situation for the men from Down Under. 

So in answer to my question earlier, no, there is no danger of Clarke getting his hands on the little urn.