England Has the Bowling to test Australia in Ashes
England's side has been in good form recently and will be full of confidence ahead of the Ashes beginning at the end of this year. However, they will also be aware of their dismal record down under since the 1986-87 series which they won 2-1 under the captaincy of Mike Gatting. Ever since that historic triumph, England of managed to win only three Test matches in four series and they were thrashed 5-0 in the second to last Ashes series, perhaps allowing doubts to be planted in the mind of the confident English side.
The good thing for England is that they are evenly matched with Australia this year, something that has not been the case in recent years. The Australian batting is not formidable as it once was and the consistent improvement in England’s bowling attack means that there is an exciting series in prospect. The fact was also acknowledged by Shane Warne, who believes that the series will be a tight one. He also said that England were in the strongest shape possible in 25 years.
Spinner Swann might be key
This is high praise indeed. Warne had special praise for the off spinner Graeme Swann, who he had called as the most improved cricketer in the last year or so and that he would be the trump card against Australia. Swann has had a wonderful year so far, picking up 53 wickets in 11 Test matches.
His contributions have been so vital that for the first time in many years, a spinner is being used as an attacking option by England. He bowls with guile and variety and will be more than useful in Australia. The last time the English would have done that would probably have been during the times of Derek Underwood.
Michael Vaughan, the man who had led England in their historic Ashes triumph in 2005, recently spoke about the need to have a five-man bowling attack if England were to have a chance of beating http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746.
The new ball will be shared by James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Swann would be the spinning option and if England were to go with a five man attack, the remaining two spots will be coveted by Tim Bresnan, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ajmal-Shahzad-c42489, Ryan Sidebottom and Steven Finn. Graeme Onions is currently out injured and it looks like he will not have enough time to prove his fitness. But, he is also an option that England will keep an eye on.
The two who are likely to play are Finn and Bresnan, whose batting talents will be useful at number seven. Finn, tall and lanky, has had an excellent summer so far, picking up 19 wickets in his first four games, albeit against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747. A four-man attack will mean that it is Finn who is likely to play, considering the fact that he is relatively unknown to the Australian batsmen and will be a surprise package.
On their recent tour of England, Australia played five ODIs but there was no sign of Finn, as a strategy used by the English to not let Aussies read him.
The English attack does look versatile, with bowlers who can swing the ball either way. Both Broad and Finn are tall and can extract bounce on the hard and bouncy Australian pitches.
However, they do not have someone who is quick and can trouble the batsmen using sheer pace like a http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Steve-Harmison-c2576 in full throttle. They also do not have an all rounder who can be equally good with both bat and pad like an Andrew Flintoff. There had been talks of bringing Flintoff for the Tests but it looks unlikely again, give his injury issues and lack of international cricket.
So, it looks like Swann, Broad, Anderson, Finn, Bresnan, Sidebottom and Onions could make it to the squad if they are all fit. Shahzad’s selection is an outside possibility, but England will look to include a second spinner in the squad – not the playing 11 – to back Swann up and the place could go to Michael Yardy.
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