As England prepare to face up to being one down going in to the Adelaide test, there is much to be learned from the history books. By common consent, one of the finest sides to tour Australia left our shores in 1958. Captained by Peter May, the best England batsman since the war, the first eleven looked formidable on paper. The bowling was taken care of by the small matter of Trueman, Statham, Tyson, Laker, Lock and Bailey. With a career test haul of 1127 wickets, this sextet was more than capable of bowling any side out. The batting was featured Peter Richardson, Colin Cowdrey, Trevor Bailey, Peter May, Tome Graveney, Ted Dexter and Willie Watson. Godfrey Evans was on hand to guard the timbers. By any measure, this was a formidable team whichever eleven was selected. They were odds on favourites to retain the Ashes they had won so comprehensively in 1956. They lost 4-0.
That 1958/9 tour is beginning to look rather familiar. The current England crop were expected to romp home with this Ashes series but have thus far struggled all the way. In 1958, Peter May won the toss at Adelaide and invited the Australians to bat. They scored 476 and won by 10 wickets. Richie Benaud took 9 wickets and essentially won the match having rotated his bowlers very cleverly.
Seven years later in 1965, Bobby Simpson won the toss and decided to bat. He contributed the small matter of 225 runs to the Australian total of 516. With the pace of McKenzie and Hawke, Australia won by an innings and 9 runs as, Barrington apart, England offered no resistance.
On the victorious tour of 1970/71, England won the toss and thanks to an Edrich hundred, scored 470. They declared their second innings after Boycott had added another hundred and the match petered out to a lame draw. As in 1965, England played two spinners in Underwood and Illingworth and as in 1965, the spinners failed to make much impression.
Roll forwards to the ill fated 1974/5 series and the Adelaide test once more resulted in Australian victory. Once again the England captain won the toss and invited the Australians to bat. This decision was made because the England batsmen were in fear of Dennis Lille and Jeff Thomson. This time Underwood took 11 wickets in the match but was let down by some poor England batting. This was the match in which the ageing Cowdrey took his Ashes tests to 42 to go past Hobbs and Rhodes. That he was playing at all reflected the paucity of batting resources available to the England selectors. This of course was the beginning of the Lillee and Thomson fast bowling partnership which would go on to motivate the West Indian captain to create a team which could do likewise but with four such bowlers. Cricket, in truth, was never the same again after that.
The England win in 1979 was more due to the missing Australian Packer players. England won this match due to the second innings batting of Geoff Miller and Bob Taylor - hardly the most reliable pair of batsmen in the side. Taylor fell three short of his ton and was ably supported by Miller. The pace bowling of Willis and the relentless nagging accuracy of Mike Hendrick finished the job off ably supported by the new boy Botham.
I end this review of Adelaide tests in 1982. Just before Christmas, the England captian won the toss and invited the Australians to bat. Greg Chappell scored 115 in their total of 438 and both England innings were poor except for the batting of David Gower who mustered a fifty and a century. This time, Australia won by 8 wickets and the customary two spinners of England yielded precious little.
My advice to Alistair Cook would be to bat if he wins the toss. I would also urge him to think long and hard about playing the second spinner. As a punt, I would go for the sucker punch and drop Swann for Panesar as the Australian batsmen appear to have worked Swann out. Panesar would be a shock selection much as Ashton Agar was last summer. Also, if the England top six continue to bat as they have been doing, they need to prepare for a pasting because the Australians go in to this test with their confidence sky high. Too many of the England top six appear uncertain as to where their next run is going to come from. Oh for a Ken Barrington now to just hold down one end with an "over my dead body" mentality!
The 1958 tourists were the shining example of the difference between a team on paper and a team on the pitch. The current crop bears many similarities and need to start performing again if those reputations are to mean anything. In one sense, their loss at the Gabba has been a long time coming and will hopefully have done them good. The latter will only be achieved if they have gone away from that match and had a good long look in the mirror. The senior batsmen in particular need to start scoring runs and prizing their wickets. This should be their starting point in seeking to come back from one down. To do so down under will be no mean feat.
No comments:
Post a Comment