Before you being reading the first Ashes Test Australia, please read England’s perspective.
Let me jump to Australia
First, they will be thrilled that they managed to win the Test without a major contribution from either Smith or Labuschagne. That is a huge positive for Australia. It must have given them a huge belief that they do not always need both of them to score to be able to win. It will also keep England guessing knowing that these two cannot be kept silent for too long. What must rankle England is the fact that they managed to lose a Test in which neither of them scored.
“It’s very rare that Marn and Smudge miss out in the same Test match,” head coach Andrew McDonald said. “It’s an appetising thought.
“They will be no doubt a craving for more net sessions from Marn and Smudge. They’re disappointed they missed out in this game, but I think any time the Australian cricket team can win without those two performing at high level is always a positive. We’ve got some areas we can improve, there’s some growth within the team and there’s two obvious ones.”
Smith is coming off of a brilliant hundred in the WTC finals. He is in form and there is no doubt about that. It was just one of those games which didn’t go according to plan but before the end of the series, he will definitely score a couple of hundreds to establish his credentials once again. Afterall, he is the best Test batsman in the world by a long distance.
What else must Lyon do?
Nathan Lyon has been a much maligned character in his career. He is not rated highly but time and again, he has proved that he is the best spinner in the world at the moment. Not Ashwin, not Jadeja or anyone else. Having bowled on the pitches of Australia for much of his career, he is averaging more than 4 wickets per Test. That is a return even the great Shane Warne will be proud of.
Here he showcased his credentials once again with 8 wickets in the game on not-so-friendly pitches. The delivery to dismiss Bairstow in the 1st innings was a beauty. It was a classical off-spinner’s wicket. Well-flighted, the ball dipped at the opportune moment. Bairstow completely misjudged the line and was comprehensively beaten. Carey behind the stumps did the rest. Lyon was taken apart in the 1st innings but his 4 wickets, including 3 proper batsmen, more than justified the runs given away.
In the 2nd however, he went one better with just above 3.3 runs an over and again picked up 3 top-order wickets. Lyon does not often strive to bowl something different every delivery. He thinks and relies more on over-spin and bounce. He has been marked as a Test specialist. With his consistency and wicket taking ability, it really was a surprise when a few years ago, there were talks about replacing Lyon with O’Keefe or some other spinner. Lyon is known as GOAT by his teammates. It is time he is recognised as the GOAT by the rest of the world.
Khawaja’s brilliant performance and Carey’s good support
I must admit that I did not foresee Khawaja as a threat at all. With Warner as his partner whose inability in England is known, I thought Australia will not be getting good starts. Warner was defiant in both innings though he did not go onto score a big one, whereas Khawaja was a revelation. He was patient personified. He was rightly adjudged the man of the match. Ofcourse, this pitch did not have anything for the bowlers but it called for sound temperament on the part of the batsmen.
Khawaja displayed that admirably. He is towards the end of his career and if he keeps his run-scoring, he may end up with an average in excess of 50. A brilliant end to a career for someone who was a forgotten man. He had a fallout with the previous coach, Justin Langer for his outspokenness but the current management seems to have realised his value to the team.
As for Carey, he is going from strength to strength. He has talent and there is no doubt about it. This was par for the course. He is in the mould of his illustrious predecessor, Adam Gilchrist. His shoes are hard to fill but Carey is the closest to him. Carey can be devastating and at the sametime, if patience is required, he can display that in ample amount. Towards the end, he got somewhat nervous as his twin shots at Root showed but he will learn.
The struggle of Warner
Not everything was roses for Australia. Warner’s continued struggle though he got starts in both innings will worry them. The fact that he didn’t get out to Broad will improve his confidence but sooner rather than later, he will have to become the typical Warner because if England gets the better of both Labuschagne and Smith throughout the series, they will need someone else to lead from the front. That must be Warner, being an experienced cricketer.
Michael Vaughan before the start said that England will treat Scott Boland like a spinner. They did just that. He was easily the most expensive bowler. A lot of eyebrows were raised when he replaced Starc but it wasn’t a surprise because Starc is never in the scheme of things in England. Last time around, Starc played in only one Test. Even the Indians treated him with disdain in the WTC finals.