Or, has it already? Not since the days of Ponting and Steve Waugh, have Australia wrested the Ashes in the space of three Tests. It was understandable then because Australia boasted of some extraordinary cricketers with a couple of all-time great bowlers in Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. However, if the samething happens now and that too in England, Australia will be thrilled and England will be gutted. It will be safe to assume that the Ashes will be with Australia for another 4 years because I do not see any chance for England in Australia. Going by the performance of England over the last couple of Tests, the Ashes is slipping from England.
A serious problem with the bowling
Notwithstanding Stokes’s extraordinary strokeplay on the final day, England was never really in the game. The first day was a disaster for England whichever way one looks at it. Having won the toss and electing to bowl under utterly favourable bowling conditions, especially, for the English bowlers who were brought up under such conditions, the first day performance was appalling. James Anderson is half the bowler he was.
The younger version of Anderson would have absolutely scythed through Australia but the older version did not create any impact. It was really sad to see how the mighty has fallen. It probably is time to talk to Anderson and understand what he wants to accomplish. Truth be told, England is one bowler, infact, a couple of bowlers short. Anderson may still prove effective under such conditions against lesser teams like India, Pakistan or perhaps even South Africa, but against the mighty Australians, he is clearly not so effective.
Another ineffective bowler is Ollie Robinson. Yes, he is the 2nd highest wicket-taker so far and with a better strike rate than the leader, Stuart Broad. Having said that, he does not look threatening at all. Australians will not lose sleep over thinking what Robinson is capable of or how to tackle him. A bowler who does not make the opposition think, is not good enough to be in the playing eleven.
England simply cannot have 4 trundlers, all bowling at 135KMPH. All of them are similar. Robinson, as the day moves on, is hardly able to bowl at 135KMPH. Instead, his pace is in the lower 120s. Even if the batsmen miss the delivery from the hand, they can still manage because of the lack of pace. Tongue was a slight improvement but it is not enough.
Pace is very much needed
England’s dire need is someone with pace. Mark Wood fits into that category but England are unwilling to risk him. Ben Stokes stated before the game,
“We felt that he could definitely start the game but with conversations, we felt the extra week with build-up and getting his loads up would give him a better chance and an opportunity to play a full part from Leeds onwards. We brought Tonguey into the team as a like-for-like with Woody.”
Now that England is 0-2 down, would they have been better served with Wood on the side? England and Stokes were thinking about the long haul when the current itself was in trouble. I mean, they were behind in the series having lost the first Test and one would have expected them to go into the Test at Lord’s with their best attack but Stokes didn’t think that Wood would have served the purpose.
Also, the pitches in both the Tests, were flat. They weren’t the traditional English seaming pitches, perhaps, not wanting to help Australia. Pace on such pitches is very much a necessity. Jofra Archer’s loss is a major factor but it is hard to believe that England does not possess any other fast bowler apart from Wood and Stone.
Stokes about winning the series
Immediately after the game, Stokes mentioned that England can still comeback to win the series. It essentially means that England will have to win the next 3 Tests. He also said that his side won three straight games against New Zealand and Pakistan. Both of those wins were commendable. No doubt about that but was Stokes really serious when he said that? He is the captain and he could not have said anything else but does he even believe that? Australia have got a brilliant bowling attack. Their batsmen are resolute enough. With Stokes’s rash decisions like the declaration, England will be lucky enough to deny Australia one Test.
I do not remember any instance, except for one, of a team winning the series after being 2 Tests down. In 1979, Australia did that to India. They were down 0-2 and won the last 3 Tests to take the series. Bobby Simpson, who was pulled out of retirement, was the captain of that series. However, it is next to impossible to do that against Australia. For that to happen, England will have to play extraordinary cricket. Going by the evidence so far, I do not see that happening.
Short ball tactic
The game stalled during the Australian and England innings because of the short-ball tactic used by both teams. It made for boring viewing. However, it was an effective ploy not only to deny runs but to get the batsmen out. International sport is hard and teams play to win. Now, bowling short all the time takes a lot out of the body. This is where the batsmen’s patience is tested to the core. Both sets of batsmen succumbed to it proving the tactic’s effectiveness. If we are going to see more of this in the remaining games, the games will be boring but it cannot be criticised.
Wrapping up The Ashes is slipping from England
How does Ben Stokes wish that he hadn’t declared at Edgbaston? Another 50-60 runs and it would have resulted in an England win or a draw. A result which means that when the teams travel to Leeds, the score could have been 1-1 or 0-1 with a chance for England to still win the series.
Other articles related to The Ashes can be read here and here