Should Australia play http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 ahead of the Ashes?
These days, it seems that every ball that Australia plays reflects in their preparations for the Ashes. Invariably, Ashes has become the most talked-about cricket series in the entire season, every year. As England and Australia sweat it out for keeping the prestigious Ashes trophy with them for an entire year, the build up to much-awaited 2010 edition has already begun.
Australia is currently playing two Test matches against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in England. Following this, they would be travelling back home for Bangladesh’s tour and then to India before going back home to face England for the Ashes. England, on the other hand, is due to play only Pakistan in four test matches and five ODI matches tournament spread out over August – September.
This means that England gets almost two entire months to prepare for the Ashes whereas Australia has just one month after a gruelling tour of India.
Australian captain, Ricky Ponting has stated this schedule is not an ideal way of preparing for the Ashes. With two tours coming up, the Australian captain fears that his team could be drained out by the time its 25th November 2010. Also, playing against India just before the Ashes will add tremendous pressure on the Australian players to perform as they would like to go into the Ashes on a positive note.
Australia is expected to play in two test matches and three ODIs in India before flying back home for the Ashes. And India will be waiting for them like a hungry lion in his den. With over a month’s time to relax, regroup and prepare for the tournament, India is likely to make things very difficult for the Australians. Under such circumstances, it is understandable why Ponting is worried.
Difference in grounds
And then again, there is a small matter of the pitches. The Indian pitches are slow in nature and aid good spin bowling, something that there will be aplenty during the series. For the Ashes, which will be held in Australia, the grounds are hard and will afford assistance to the pace bowlers. Will the Aussies be able to adapt?
In the period from 1989 to 2002, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 has dominated the Ashes tournament, retaining the trophy on most occasions. But is the current Australian side capable of establishing such dominance?
Australia is considered to be one of the strongest sides in world cricket. They possess tremendous talent and skills. All the players are extremely fit, physically and mentally, and are trained to perform consistently at the highest level. Then should they really be worried about playing India ahead of the Ashes? Can they take it as just another tournament?
Signs of trouble for Australia?
Unfortunately, things are not so simple. The recent results against England have been haunting the Australians for quite some time now and will continue to do so over the next four months before the Ashes finally get rolling. England has had a terrific season so far which started off with them being crowned the ICC World Twenty20 Champions in May.
Following this, they defeated http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Scotland-c756, Australia and Bangladesh.
More importantly, England has been the winners of two of the last three Ashes series played between the two countries. Australia is becoming increasingly desperate to retain the trophy with them. After all, such is the pride and honour associated with the trophy.
Ponting is worried about the amount of travelling his team would do during the period before the Ashes.
Flying to the sub-continent and playing against two teams will require a lot of internal traveling as well. At the same time, the tour against India finishes so late that the players will have minimal time to mentally prepare themselves for the Ashes. Eventually, it will all come on to the players too suddenly.
But isn’t it how international sports are becoming these days? Isn’t a professional sportsperson expected to be ready to play for his country at all times?
Of course the body needs rest before it can prepare itself for an exhausting competition. Let us just hope that when the English arrive for the Ashes, Australia would be ready to take them on in their best shape. For the Ashes, nothing less will suffice.
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