Cricket Special Report: Ashes – second Test preview
Despite the first innings woes for England, they fought back in spectacular fashion to stun the bewildered Aussies who had not foreseen such an onslaught from the Englishmen. Momentum as most people have been noting will be the key and the Poms must work
this to their own advantage. Allastair Cook managed to score a double century to greatly demoralize the Australian bowling attack who were being made to work exceptionally hard to pick up the crumbs. The few chances that the bowlers did manage to create were
lost by poor fielding. Despite the first match being drawn, the Australian nerves have taken a good battering.
Andrew Strauss and his men already hold the urn which means that the Barmy army has a certain advantage over the Kangaroo’s in the four test shootout. The equation is now a simple one: Australia must win more matches than the Englishmen to reclaim the lost
urn. Whereas England must only draw the series to claim the Ashes.
Graeme Swann will play a pivotal role at Adelaide and can most certainly prove to be an itch for the Australian batsmen. The “David Hasselhoff of cricket” as dubbed by the Australian spin legend Shane Warne, can be key to a possible win for his side. On
the whole, however, it must be said that despite the gazillion runs scored by the English batsmen, they cannot afford to get complacent about it. For the pitch had deteriorated and did not aid the bowlers in any way whatsoever. If we take a look at the stats,
ignoring the three tons scored by the English batsmen, it will be seen that both the teams managed to take only 11 wickets. That Ricky Ponting gave Graeme Swann a bashing during his breezy half century.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 on the contrary have a point to prove. They also have magical memories from Adelaide where the Leg spinning genius Shane Warne pilloried the batting line up of the Barmy Army from down under. On the final day of the test, England was playing at
1 for 59, however they were bowled out for 129 and Australia sped to a steamy six wicket victory. The Poms never managed to recover and the result in effect changed the entire series.
Ricky Ponting will be the man to watch out for at Adelaide since he remains to be the leading run scorer at the venue with 1433 runs, that boast five centuries and a double hundred in only 14 test matches.
Kevin Pietersen’s form will be absolutely crucial for the Englishmen. He managed to purr in the first innings of the Brisbane test however could not capitalise on his start of 43 as he pushed at Peter Siddle for an edge to second slip. Kevin Pietersen will
be heading for Adelaide sans the moustache which further hints at his lust for runs rather than some 1970’s fun.
The Australian bowling department have to be the most nervous group of players down under as they will be seeking vengeance against the English batsmen who tortured their fellow colleague for hours, to have his card marked unfavourably by the selectors.
Ryan Harris and Doug Bollinger are vying for Johnsons spot as both were called in for the 13 men squad. The fresh men could provide a boost to a weary Australian side.
Australia (probable) 1 Simon Katich, 2 Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Marcus North, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Xavier Doherty, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Doug Bollinger.
The English bowling attack also faced problems at Gabba however, their side seems well set and it will be unlikely that they will make any changes to the squad. Steven Finn showed that he could produce bounce off a lifeless pitch at Gabba and he will be
expected to shine at Adelaide.
England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn.
"The bottom line is we've got to find 20 wickets in the game and we've got to pick the bowlers who we think are best equipped, skill-based wise and physically, to get that job done," said Ricky Ponting.
Andy Flower stated, “We played a really good three-day game here a little while ago, and it was really valuable to play on the Test square. Our guys enjoyed playing on that surface."
Tags: