Never in their wildest imagination, would Australia must have thought that come Leeds, they will be 2-0 up in the series with an outstanding chance of winning the Ashes outright at the first opportunity. They would have been happy to reach the halfway stage if England were leading by just a solitary Test. They would have been even more happier to get to Leeds with a one-Test advantage. On the contrary, it is the Australians who are calling the shots. Australia has not won a series in England in more than 20 years. They have come close but never managed to cross the line. With England in disarray following consecutive losses and the acrimonious scenes on the last day at Lords, Australia is well placed to win the series in England after 20 years. It is a mild statement to state that Australia is sitting pretty. They are solid.
The acrimonious last day
Johnny Bairstow’s dismissal has sparked throughout the cricketing world. Some are for and some are against but that is in the past. England just cannot afford to let that affect them any longer because they do not have that luxury. England are in a must-win situation. They need to win all the remaining Tests to regain the Ashes. Australia only needs to draw one Test to retain the Ashes though, having come so close, they will not be satisfied with anything than a series win. It will be difficult but not impossible for any team to come back from a 0-2 deficit to win the series. I cannot relocate too many instances of it except for one in 1979 between India and Australia.
Bairstow’s dismissal, sought of awakened the beast in Stokes. It was a mindboggling innings but I doubt whether Stokes would have played any differently even if Bairstow was out in the conventional way. There was a very short gap inbetween the Tests and England are really seething from the perceived injustice. They are likely to come out all guns blazing but that may directly benefit Australia.
All that Australia will have to do is maintain balance and see England self-destruct as they did at Edgbaston and Lords.
Excellent opening combination
The form of Khawaja and the good partnership at the top between him and Warner at the top has given Australia decent starts in almost all the innings. The case of Warner is especially curious. This is his last tour of England, as well as for Khawaja, and he would dearly want to make it count. He was Broad’s bunny in 2019 but this time around, though he hasn’t got the better of Broad, hasn’t got out to him either. He will count that as a small victory. This partnership has eased the pressure on the remaining batsmen. The first morning, with the sky overcast and the ball expected to swing, Warner and Khawaja resisted for the most part and took the sting away from the English bowlers. That allowed the likes of Smith, Head and to a certain extent, Carey and Head to prosper.
Smith’s hundredth Test
The modern-day great, Steve Smith will appear in the 100th Test of his career at Headingley. He is an extraordinary batsman who has his own technique. He somehow finds a way to score runs in all the conditions. Pace, spin or seam does not bother him a wee bit. None of his peers, Root, Kohli, Williamson can even come close to matching Smith’s consistency and hunger for runs in Test cricket. There is nothing that Smith hasn’t accomplished in his illustrious career. However, he still has one unfinished business. Winning The Ashes in England. He will want that drought to end in this series. Australia came quite close in 2019 on the back of quite a few exceptional Smith innings but one decision, one review, they could have won the series. They are brilliantly placed in this series and Smith will want to end the drought at Leeds.
The Australian bowling
On a couple of lifeless pitches, they somehow managed to find life. The deliveries to get rid of Root, Pope and Brooks at Lords were all peach of a delivery. Only Cummins could have produced deliveries of the highest quality. At Edgbaston, Boland looked pretty much ordinary but with the return of Mitchell Starc, they have become a much more potent force. The absence of Lyon will surely be felt. In Todd Murphy, they have a good understudy but how far will he be able to keep the English batsmen in check remains to be seen. This will be his first Ashes Test and he will want to impress.
However, there are still 2 more Tests to go. The load on Cummins has so far been tremendous. Since he is the captain, he does not have a choice but to continue. However, Australia must find a way to rotate their bowlers. I suspect Boland will again come into the equation from the 4th game onwards.
Wrapping up Australia is sitting pretty
I suspected that Australia will be extremely well prepared before the start of the WTC finals. It was the one trophy that didn’t adore their cabinet. Now that that is out of the way, their focus has shifted to the one series every Australian wants to win dearly. They are beautifully placed going into the Headingley Test. Will they be able to wrap up the Ashes and thereby make the rest of the games redundant? We will know the answer in 5 days.
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