Going into Leeds, Australia will be the hot favourites to not only win the series but to win The Ashes as well. The most coveted trophy between the teams. England is under serious pressure to win the remaining 3 Tests and thereby the Ashes. A tall order in any way one looks at it. Especially, against an Australian side that has just won 4 of their last 5 Tests. All of them, away from home. England is actually caught in 2 minds. Whether to play the situation or continue with Bazball. Australia’s only worry will be how will Todd Murphy respond to the pressure of an Ashes Test. Based on the evidence against India, he will perhaps hold himself well. He may not pick up wickets by the bucketful but will be quite tight. This is the Leeds Test preview.
The Bairstow incident may not help England
The Johnny Bairstow incident is fresh in the minds of every English supporter. They are all primed to give hell to the Aussies. Alex Carey, who affected the stumping will be under tremendous pressure. The English supporters will leave no stone unturned in an effort to completely demoralise him. Cummins is not far behind either but it will be Carey who will bear the brunt. After Lords, Carey has suddenly become the most hated Australian in England.
The situation of Stokes is precarious. How he wishes that he hadn’t declared at Edgbaston which would have most certainly meant either a 1-1 scoreline or a 0-1 scoreline in favour of Australia. Does he want to continue with Bazball and risk getting bowled out cheaply with The Ashes on the line? Does he want to dial down Bazball a bit and minimise that risk? If Stokes’s past comments are anything to go by, mainly his comment about the England team being entertainers, he will continue with the aggressive approach but it remains to be seen whether it will comeback to bite them in the back.
News from the Australian camp
Australia’s bowling attack is set to undergo a massive change. Nathan Lyon is ruled out of the entire series with Todd Murphy replacing him. A more than able replacement I must say. Scott Boland will replace Hazlewood who has been rested. I would have resisted this change because until the Ashes is secured, I will need the best bowlers in the side. I will never want to give even a semblance of a way for England to come back into the series. If he was injured, it is a different story altogether but if he is not, I will want him to play.
Next is another forced change with Cameroon Green replaced with Mitchell Marsh. Marsh has been given a lot of chances but never really managed to make a spot his own, whereas Green came out of nowhere and has commanded a spot ever since. Nothing short of a hundred from Marsh will make the selectors think of retaining him in the future.
News from the England camp
James Anderson has been dropped and rightly so. He did not have any role at Edgbaston and Lords and if the pitches are going to continue in the same fashion, he will not have any role to play at all. His replacement is interesting. Chris Woakes. Stokes has opined that because of his troubled knee, he wants to have an extra bowling option. Josh Tongue who was reasonably quick when compared to other bowlers makes way for Moeen Ali. Now, this is interesting. Moeen definitely walks in after his injury healed but only because a spinner is needed to be able to take a major part of the workload. Mark Wood will finally play a part in the series. He must have played at Lords. With these changes, Harry Brook moves up the order to number 3.
I would have still preferred England to pick Foakes. They need a keeper. Bairstow is hopeless behind the wickets. He was one of the major reasons England lost at Edgbaston. Foakes is not in the squad but that doesn’t matter because in a bilateral series, every team is allowed to add anyone to the squad. England would have been served better with Foakes behind the wickets. If Pope wasn’t injured, perhaps, Bairstow would have to continue keeping because neither Brook nor Bairstow can be dropped on form. In Pope’s absence, England must have selected Foakes. He is also a decent batsman and would have more than made it up with his keeping.
Smith’s 100th Test
What a player he has been! Extraordinarily consistent and with an average above or just below 60, he is once in a generation batsman.
Wrapping up the Leeds Test Preview
The road ahead is tough for England but they somehow must win at Headingley. As for Australia, they must have selected the best possible 11 with an aim to win the series. Will Hazlewood’s absence come back to haunt them?
Other articles related to The Ashes can be read here, here and here