Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

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Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby from_the_stands » Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:51 pm

In eighteen months time, the oldest surviving international rivalry will once again be played out, as a captivated audience from around the cricket world will watch two old foes slug it out once more for what they both regard as the ultimate prize in Test cricket, the Ashes.
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This next encounter, however, will be quite different compared to others that have taken place, in that following the conclusion of the series in England, both teams will then face off against one another in Australia, effectively providing 10 consecutive Ashes Tests in a row!

With England having comprehensively retained the Urn during the last encounter, which represented the lowest point for Australian cricket since the mid 80’s, time has moved on, allowing the Aussies time for a media circus to unfold and a national enquiry to take place. Accordingly, changes have been aplenty in the Oz set-up, and not before time. Thankfully, the tenure of Andrew Hilditch as chief selector is mercifully at an end. Time also came to an end for coach Tim Nielsen, replaced by Mickey Arthur, a South African! Michael Clarke has succeeded Ricky Ponting as captain, and a number of changes have already taken place on the selection front, with more sure to follow between now and 2013.

Following the two-Test series with New Zealand, the rebuilding Aussies have a four-Test series against an Indian side, who appear to be on the very edge of a transitional period themselves. Then comes a three Test-match series in the West Indies, where the Aussies will be expecting to do well. During the Oz summer next year, South Africa and Sri Lanka will be coming over for three Tests each, before Australia fly off to India for four Tests, and then hopefully participation in the inaugural Test play-off in England, before the battle for the Ashes kicks off.

In terms of player personnel, I’d expect both Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey to have retired, along with possibly Brad Haddin. The last of the old guard would effectively be all gone, as the next generation for the baggygreen dig themselves in for the long haul. The batting is likely to be built around Michael Clarke, who seems to have taken to his new role of captain like a duck to water.
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Hopefully, there won’t be too many ducks, with the likes of Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Nic Maddinson, and possibly Dave Warner make up the core of the Australian batting attack. Bowling wise is anyone’s guess, given the rate of injuries sustained by the Oz bowlers. In an ideal world, we would see the likes of Pat Cummins and James Pattinson lead the attack, with support from Josh Hazelwood and maybe Nathan Lyon, if he continues to perform as well as he has been so far. Behind the stumps will almost certainly be Tim Paine, although I wouldn’t lose too much sleep if it ends up being Matthew Wade.

Since England’s historic win down under, during which several records were broken, they have gone from strength to strength, and now currently sit as the number one ranked Test nation in the world. Gone are the days of England being a calamitous outfit, where selectors were often accused of “shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic” when they made changes. It would seem that the pendulum has swung, with the England Test squad as strong as it’s ever been during the modern era. It really is amazing to think how far England have come under the watchful eye of coach Andy Flower, given the shambolic state of affairs under Peter Moores.

England have quite a challenging road to the ashes themselves, starting with a three-test match series against an improving Pakistan in the UAE. This will be followed with two Tests against a rapidly declining Sri Lanka away. The English home season will then feature three Tests each against the West Indies and South Africa. A tough away series in India for four Tests follows, with a further three against New Zealand in the land of the long white cloud! The Kiwis then back up with two more Tests to kick start the English summer..
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England’s last appointment before the ashes will be its participation in the Test play-off, which could very well see them facing off against the Aussies!

Under the captaincy of Andrew Strauss, England has had a stability that was seen for a period under Michael Vaughan, but has lasted longer this time. A considerably more experienced batting line-up will feature Alistair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell. KP’s inclusion remains to be seen, as does Eoin Morgan’s. Bowling wise, England are blessed with plenty of depth, which has really been the catalyst for their rise to the top of the heap. James Anderson leads an attack that features Steve Finn, Tim Bresnan and Chris Tremlett. Obviously one of those four would have to make way for the spinner, which is likely to be Graeme Swann.

In all, the England team won’t look that dissimilar to the one that wiped the floor with the Aussies a year ago. By stark contrast, the Aussies will be very much a different outfit. What is in stall for fans of both teams is an anxious wait between now and the middle of 2013, and the promise of a long and drawn out contest spanning half a calendar year, which will almost certainly provide us all with memories that will live forever.

How do you think the lead-up to the next Ashes contest will unfold for these teams? Who do you think will be in the mix for the starting XI’s when it all kicks off? Only 500 odd more sleeps left!

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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby ddb » Sun Dec 04, 2011 11:29 pm

England have a big test over the next year or so and if it goes well for them I can see a period of Aussie like domination.

You'd have to be able to see into the future to predict Australia's team in 18 months.
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby shankycricket » Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:15 am

Why is KP's place likely to be seen?
He is younger than Strauss and has scored twice as many runs as Strauss over the past year who is a certainty in your opinion?
So why is KP not a certainty?We are talking about Tests,not ODIS.KP's test form has been good as anyone's.Even during his worst year in Tests in 2009 he averaged around 40.
KP's place is as safe as that of Trott and Bell.
If anyone is under the scanner apart from Morgan it is Strauss whose form over the couple of years is worse than that of Punter whom everyone wants out of the Aussie side.
The fact that we dont have a stand out young opener in county cricket is the reason why Strauss has not been under threat as yet and not only because he is the winning captain.I dont think Flower will want to carry a player just because he is a captain if there are better alternatives.There arent any better alternatives available atm but if Strauss' form doesnt improve over this winter and next summer then there is a possibility of us using Trott as a short term opener with Bell at 3.

But for the sake of continuity I'd love to see Strauss in charge till the back to back Ashes in 2013 and 2013/14.I would love to see him given the chance to defend the Ashes which he won as a captain.He is a great bloke and it'd be nice to see him go out on a high but for that,he will have to justify his place as a batsman by scoring runs and cant expect to just walk into the side as a winning captain.
Hopefully he will get some runs soon.There will be no better places to regain form than the roads in UAE and SL.
Come on Straussey :Eng:
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby Gingerfinch » Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:23 am

They won't contemplate dropping Strauss whilst England are winning.

Morgan needs to start scoring centuries. If he doesn't then he may be replaced by Taylor.

As for the bowling. Anderson and Swann look the olny two certainties at the moment.

Love to see Punter carry on and get back to something like his mid noughties form.
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby shankycricket » Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:30 am

Iamthewalrus wrote:They won't contemplate dropping Strauss whilst England are winning.

Morgan needs to start scoring centuries. If he doesn't then he may be replaced by Taylor.

As for the bowling. Anderson and Swann look the olny two certainties at the moment.

Love to see Punter carry on and get back to something like his mid noughties form.

Swann? :D
You know my views on him.
I would strongly advocate 4 seamers at Lord's and Trent Bridge.
Swann could play at Cardiff,Edgbaston and The Oval where you usually need a spinner.
Have I got the stadiums right?I dont know if there is a Test at Headingely but if there is,I wouldnt play him there either.
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby Gingerfinch » Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:32 am

I'm not sure they have named the venues yet, shanky?

AND

I'm not up for a Swann debate this early in the day :)
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby braveneutral » Mon Dec 05, 2011 8:21 am

Lord's, Old Trafford, Trent Bridge, Riverside, Oval.

In my opinion KP's place will be far more under threat than Strauss. Strauss will likely be the most successful England captain of all time by the time he is done. They won't shove him. SInce 1st Jan 2008, Strauss has 3117 runs at 43.29 with 9 centuries and 14 fifties. KP has 3337 runs at 50.56 with 9 centuries and 15 fifties. That is not the vast difference in statistics that you are suggesting...
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby OffStumpYorker » Mon Dec 05, 2011 9:50 am

I suspect Strauss will retire after the 2013 series in Australia, he'll be 36/37, and have possibly an unrivaled legacy as an England captain, with 3 or 4 ashes series wins under his belt, and handing the captaincy over to Cook. I also doubt that KP will be dropped unless he decides its time to call it a day or his form drops or he has a period of sustained injury.

The England team is likley to be the same, with possibly one or two minor changes in personnel, as fresh faces start to make a case through the Domestic, EPP and Lions squads.

In regards to Australia, I expect them to be a lot more competative with the likes of Marsh, Khawaja, Pattinson, Cummings, and other new faces that we have yet to see, and as a result Australia make sneak a series win, especially if England are hit with injuries to key personnel. I suspect Punter may decide to hang up his international bat after the forth coming India series, especially if Khawaja and/or Marsh excel.

I also beleive that they should consider the back to back series as a 'super' series with the aggregate from both the home and away legs counting to who wins/retains the ashes, as its entirely possible that England could win the home series and Australia the Away series thus its pointless exchagning the Trophy for a matter of 2 months.
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby Making_Splinters » Mon Dec 05, 2011 12:05 pm

England's recent success has been based on some blistering form from their batsmen and bowlers a couple of injuries, retirements or loss in form would make for a very interesting series against the baggies.

Australia are finding their feet though again they are quite reliant on Clarke at the minute, Ponting has been looking better and Hussey is always a key factor, hard to see where they will be in years time at the moment, they have some good bowlers coming through but the batting is a major question mark.
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby greyblazer » Mon Dec 05, 2011 1:36 pm

Strauss's form has looked worse since Ashes 09. As I have said it for long the only way KP won't get 9000-10000 test runs is because he gets bored of playing too much cricket and retires. As far as I see KP looks ambitious and I'm certain he would like to get around 10000 test runs.
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby from_the_stands » Mon Dec 05, 2011 2:30 pm

shankybiggestengfan wrote:Why is KP's place likely to be seen?
He is younger than Strauss and has scored twice as many runs as Strauss over the past year who is a certainty in your opinion?
So why is KP not a certainty?We are talking about Tests,not ODIS.KP's test form has been good as anyone's.Even during his worst year in Tests in 2009 he averaged around 40.
KP's place is as safe as that of Trott and Bell.


I agree that KP has been a key player for England in the Test arena. I also agree that his form has been as good as anyone's. The thing with KP is his unpredictable nature. Whilst he still has years left in him if he wants, I can't help but feel that he is a bit of a lose cannon in terms of his role in the side. He's proven in the past to be a boat rocker, as we saw when he infamously "got rid" of the captaincy. Listening to some of the things he says in the media, it is clear to me that there are fewer days of Test cricket ahead of Kevin Pietersen than there are behind him. He wants to spend more time with his family, yet missed "the buzz" of IPL. These are not really the kind of things you want to hear when you're planning for a heavy schedule of Test fixtures in the next couple of years. Therefore, with these things in mind, it is my opinion that KP's place in the England side for the back-to-back Ashes series remains to be scene. You may disagree with that, and that's absolutely fine. Personally, I think that the England Test team would be much poorer without KP, but would KP be much poorer without Test cricket? :dunno
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby Making_Splinters » Mon Dec 05, 2011 3:12 pm

England have in the side at present three batsmen with a realistic chance of getting that elusive 10,000 run land mark, how times have changed!

People tend to say that KP will lose interest, but I genuinely don't think that will happen, even if we go down the stereotypical line of him playing for KP, he knows in his heart of hearts that legacies are made in test cricket rather than limited overs game, so someone concerned with image would want the big test landmarks at the end of the day.

Personally I feel that KP is coming off the back of a tough time in his life, he for a while simply lost the enjoyment in his profession, but looking at him in Australia, England and even in India, there is a joie de vivre back in his stroke play and long may it continue.
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby OffStumpYorker » Mon Dec 05, 2011 4:18 pm

I tend to agree with you MS, especially in the period 2009 to autumn 2010, in the period before he had the rather public spat with the then coach, and ECB.

During 2009 he an Achilies tendon injury which curtailed his summer, not being fully match fit he then headed home to SA with England where he was pretty much torn to shreds in the media and by the fans over there, glimpses started to show in Bangladesh with a gritty 99 and couple of 50's.

In 2010, the british media had the knives out and a few fans, especially with the Left arm spin weakness being banded about, however in the ashes the old rythmn seemed to start showing through, with a Nice Double at Adelaide, and a couple of fast paced 50's in other games, culminating in a 'full' return to form with his 175 at the oval.
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby rich1uk » Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:41 pm

F-T-S i am not sure what comments you refer to when you suggest KP might walk away from the game

when interviewed at the end of the summer he was adamant he wants to be playing for england, in all three formats, until at least the next world cup in 2015. those were words direct from him and not journalists trying to read between the lines and coming to their own conclusions as well. whether he is able to achieve that will depend on him improving his performances in the ODI arena but in tests he seems to have as much desire now as ever , especially since people have been writing him off. his personality is such that he will want to prove them all wrong.
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Re: Counting down to the back-to-back Ashes series in 2013/14

Postby braveneutral » Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:43 pm

Punter looks happy in that picture.
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I suppose.

At times.

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