England have one last chance to keep the Ashes alive. It is pressure enough. Come Boxing Day, the magnificent Melbourne Cricket Ground will host more than 70,000 spectators. England can be rest assured that more than 90% of them will be vociferous supporters of Australia. Beers will keep flowing throughout the game and Australians are known to turn to abusive behaviour towards the opponents. Not to mention talks about 0-5 even from their own supporters. If England feels that they are under siege, they will not be mistaken. Under such intense pressure is England’s last chance to keep Ashes alive.
Frank discussion
At the end of the Adelaide test, the England team seems to have had brutal and harsh discussion about their performance. Joe Root had criticised and correctly so, the tactics of the bowlers. It was much needed afterall England opened the bowling with a couple of their most experienced bowlers. Broad and Anderson are touring Australia for the 4th time and they must know what length to bowl in each ground by now. They must have nurtured the other bowlers to bowl the right length. It was not really a surprise that Root lost his cool in the meeting. Mark Wood, who must have played at Adelaide but didn’t said,
‘We probably needed it, a brutally honest discussion at the end of the game in the dressing room,’ said Wood. ‘Chris Silverwood spoke and put some footage up. Stokesy and Rooty spoke honestly to the group about things we felt weren’t going well and what we’d do better. It was a conversation that isn’t usual for us.”
Wood continues,
‘It was a kick up the bum to say, look, we are 2–0 down now, and the same mistakes keep on happening. It was a good discussion.’
Changes to the playing eleven
England do not have a choice but to change their team combination. It is the least they are expected to do. Far too many have misfired. Someone like Haseeb Hameed will have lost all the confidence. It is better to remove such players from the firing line. Unfortunately for England, the players in the reserve have not had any sort of match practice over the last few months. On a pitch that is expected to provide plenty of pace and bounce, it will be difficult for the reserve players to come in and start to perform immediately.
Rory Burns must also feel the heat. He struggled to 32 at Adelaide but remains a suspect against Starc. I still stick to opening with Buttler for the test and handover the keeping gloves to Bairstow. Buttler cannot be in the team as a batsman who can keep. It is clear that keeping is not his forte. It is time he surrender the keeping gloves to Bairstow in this series. If he does not have the technique to open the innings, he should not play any further part in the series. He has had his chances and he hasn’t really made them count.
Ollie Pope must be retained
I will leave Ollie Pope at this position. He is young and talented with loads of potential. He is very much the future of English cricket and needs the backing of the team management. The struggle of Pope reminds me about the struggle of Kohli against the same opponent in 2011. Kohli struggled through the first three games and there was a clamour for him to be left out of the 4th test. However, Dhoni wisely did not drop him and Kohli scored a hundred and a fifty in the last test. Since then, Kohli has gone from strength to strength to become one of the best batsmen in the world. Pope needs the same kind of confidence instilled in him. I will have Buttler open with Crawley. I will bat Pope at number 5 instead of Stokes.
The bowling combination
It was a poor decision to drop Wood at Adelaide. He must be playing in all the games. Anderson will be the other new ball bowler. Robinson is not fit enough to play back to back games and must be replaced with Dom Bess. Bess may not be accurate but he does bowl wicket taking deliveries. It is downright pathetic to see Root become a full-time bowler.
Let us talk about Australia
The Australian camp is really a happy one. Not just the wins but the margin of the wins have made the Australians invincible. It is a nice place to be. They believe that they can seal the Ashes at Melbourne. They will be strengthened by the return of Cummins, the world’s best bowler. The fact that England didn’t offer a semblance of resemblance, the late rearguard by Buttler notwithstanding, must have given great deal of confidence to Australia. Smith hasn’t scored a hundred yet in the series. This is unheard of. He must be raring to make a big one at Melbourne.
The only worry for Australia is the form of Harris. With Warner, Marnus, Head and Smith scoring runs and the Australian bowlers not giving away anything to the English batsmen, he will probably play in all the games and even if he does not score runs, it may not have much impact on the series.
Conclusion to England’s last chance to keep Ashes alive
I will still stick to what I had written before the series. England are so far behind that it is difficult to see them comeback into the series. With the return of Cummins, Australia will be much stronger and the pace and bounce of the Melbourne strip is clearly, advantage Australia.