The slender victory margin of 14 runs by England over Australia today tells rather less than the full story. This match did little to promote the position of cricket as a whiter than white sport. The history books will doubtless record the England win as is their duty, but I will remember this match for most of the wrong reasons.
Before a bowl was bowled, the jingoism had started with large sections of the British Press proclaiming this to be the weakest Australian team to tour England. If that assertion holds any weight, this match has only served to highlight the very obvious deficiencies in the English game. In any Ashes series, all teams want to draw first blood and seize the early initiative. That much is understandable.
In a recent post, I pondered on the possibility of another Bob Massie being unearthed from the largely unknown Australian tour party. In the young spinner Ashton Agar, they might have unearthed a little gem of whom the English players need to be cautious. For one so young, his performance in this match will linger long in the memory and I hope he continues to impress at this level. In addition, Peter Siddle performed admirably and James Pattinson looks like a real find who also looks more than able with a bat in his hand. More than anything, the Australian bowlers possessed more menace than their English counterparts and this may prove telling in the next matches.
The England bowling without Anderson looked mediocre at best. Finn was disappointing as was Swann which is a real worry. Much depends on Swann if England are to continue their progress in this series but the Australian batsmen looked very comfortable against him. I predicted the folly of promoting Joe Root to the top of the order and remain convinced. I predicted the flattery to deceive of Kevin Pieterson and still regard him as a luxury. In his second innings, he ought to have finished the job off properly and dug deep. As is too often the case, he seemed content with another half century. Good for his batting average but little use to the team in the circumstances. Bell proved me wrong. His was an innings of great maturity and, in the end, his century proved priceless. Cook will come good as a batsmen and is entitled to a blip given his recent run of form. Bairstow still has plenty to prove and I wonder if he has done enough. Being a great fielder is not enough and he needs to graft more for his runs and start to make some big scores soon. I still think Compton needs a recall to the top order with Root returning to provide much needed strength to the middle order. Broad has had an awful match. If he is to persist with injury problems, he becomes a liability in the five day format. We need a bowler who can bowl come rain or shine. His decision not to walk does him or his team no credit and they need to take a good look at themselves.
In a way, the last wicket summed up much of what was wrong with this match. It left an unsavoury taste in the mouth. A sweet victory it most certainly wasn't. The recall of Haddin as wicket-keeper and vice captain has been an inspired selection by the Australians and he can consider himself extremely unlucky to lose his wicket in such spurious circumstances. His presence will assume greater significance as this series progresses. On a final point, England should refrain from getting too carried away with this result becasue the next match moves to HQ where their record against the old enemy is lamentable. There si nothing the Australians like more than proving a point at the home of cricket and they have excelled at Lord's in recent years. I don't see them making any changes because on balance, they were the better team at Trent Bridge and Darren Lehmann, their new coach, will be all too aware of this. England need to think long and hard about Bairstow, Broad and Finn. Hardly the best circumstances in which to head for HQ! There is no doubt that England have an extremely lucky escape here and used up several of their nine lives in the process.
