Ashes debrief: The future of test cricket and Australia?

[alfie]

Think Siddle should have played this last Test. Though I'd have dropped Starc to fit him in , so perhaps it wasn't such a brilliant idea...

However I do feel that , at least outside Australian/South African conditions , it is a mistake to play both Johnson and Starc together. Yes they'll fire and win the odd match perhaps : but the run rates they tend to concede will probably cost more in the long run.
Seems sacrilege to suggest Johnson for the chop so soon after his peak year ; but Starc is the future , and I reckon it will be something like Starc/ Hazelwood /Cummins or Pattinson within the near future. Faulkner may also come into the mix.

As The Footman says , it is the batting that is the problem though. And that is not going to be an easy fix. You don't replace Clarke and Rogers - and even the underperforming but consistent maker of 30-50 , Watson - all at once and expect instant results.
Will be added pressure on Smith - who is already experiencing some such in his move up to three. He may be fine there back in Australia ; but I am not sure it is a great idea to expect him to carry out that role (along with the captaincy) everywhere. I guess it is English - or perhaps NZ - conditions that will test him most so they will probably leave him there. But they really do need to get a solid four to six in place ; and I don't see many of the players on this tour filling those
spots.

Runs in the Shield early in the coming season could be a passport to a test cap for quite a few young possibles...

[alfie]

By the wy , I'm surprised Arthur hasn't mentioned the obvious immediate solution to Australia's problem re Clarke retiring :

Fly in George Bailey

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'm expecting Hussey and Katich to come out of retirement.

[bigfluffylemon]

Astonishingly, only four members of the team that hammered England, won in South Africa and looked so invincible 18 months ago are likely to be in the Australia side after the end of this series: Warner, Smith, Johnson and Lyon.

I think Starc and Hazlewood will still be around. Starc has not had a good series, but is a fine bowler.

Given that Australia seem to have plenty of other bowlers to whom they could turn, it's problematic for them that it has been the batting that has been astonishingly lacking.

I'm sure Starc and Hazlewood will stick around, but they weren't in the test side 18 months ago.

Rumour is that Siddle's pace is down and he doesn't have the penetration that he used to. I still think he should have played. Both Mitches are deadly in the southern hemisphere, but struggle elsewhere. Mitch J has an awesome record at home and in South Africa, but his record in England and the subcontinent is very poor.

[Making_Splinters]

On pitches that don't provide bounce, Johnson is significantly easier to face as you can look to get on the front foot to him with out having your teeth readjusted.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Hard to judge Mitch1 too harshly given the pitches were prepared, to some extent, to negate him.

[sussexpob]

Hard to judge Mitch1 too harshly given the pitches were prepared, to some extent, to negate him.

One 5 wicket haul in 11 matches in England, average approaching 40. I think there is more than an inkling to suggest that Johnson hasnt cut it in away Ashes series at all, and to be fair, hasnt attempted to learn how to bowl on English pitches. Cardiff had some uneven bounce and was two paced, and Edgbaston and Trent Bridge offered movement off lengths that troubled batsman. His return is not indicative of that, especially when Starc, Hazlewood, Broad, Finn and Anderson all have gone for wickets under the 30 mark.

Personally,I believe England are getting payback for Johnson's hype from the last series. He came here to bowl fast and short, and wasted conditions consistently. Even he seems to think the bouncer is his greatest asset, but in truth, I would say in the times I have seen him bowl well it has been his ability to late swing the full ball that really troubles batsman.

He can swing it both ways and reverse it. When he takes it away from you he gets so many players over extending into the shot as the ball moves so quickly and late, and he can make those lengths where you will drive slightly on the up deadly because of the bounce he generates. I would hazard a guess that at Perth when he took that 6/30 odd in 2010-11, every single wicket was full and at the stumps, and swung late intowards the batsman. My memories of South Africa in the late 2000's when he did brilliantly was also of a guy who swung the ball so late, he was scary.

We didnt see that here, even though others swung the ball consistently. He kept bowling way too short all series, never getting it up there and challenging the batsman.

[sussexpob]

Here is the innings I refer to..... only one short ball to Tremlett, the rest are all full balls at the stumps. Trott's dismissal is the most representative, Trott plays the line most batsman would go for, as the ball only comes in half way down.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I think I heard the commentators saying that he didn't bowl any short stuff at TB, though he may have been bowling a shorter, Australian length.

[sussexpob]

I think I heard the commentators saying that he didn't bowl any short stuff at TB, though he may have been bowling a shorter, Australian length.

From the length bowled stats on Cricinfo it rates his bowling effort at 52 balls of bouncer or shorter lengths, 62 on a good length, 7 full length, and 2 yorkers..... a high proportion of shorter balls.

Those types of stats are not available until games played inside the last Aussie summer, so a comparison cant be made to any of his peak, as he hasnt taken a 5-for since. But his last 4for, vs India at Brisbane, certainly looks (cant be bothered to count all the balls this time) that there is a far lower percentage of bouncers, and much more full balls.

[Arthur Crabtree]

It's a criticism that has been extended to Anderson and Broad at times at home. Not so much that they bowled bouncers, but that they bowled shorter than full. Particularly on the green top at Lord's last summer. At least this summer, they have often bowled well at a very full length particularly Broad this week. But then Hazlewood did bowl very full and got driven, because he wasn't getting as much movement.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Was there a lot of reverse in this series? I don't recall it being that much of a factor. Certainly not in Nottingham. I've heard ex pros say that they're really not sure how Johnson gets his swing. He seems to get help in Perth from the breeze, and otherwise gets reverse. A lot of the time in the whitewash, he just pushed the batter back and then got them driving late on a wide, slanting ball and edging. As he got Root a few times.

[sussexpob]

Was there a lot of reverse in this series? I don't recall it being that much of a factor. Certainly not in Nottingham. I've heard ex pros say that they're really not sure how Johnson gets his swing. He seems to get help in Perth from the breeze, and otherwise gets reverse. A lot of the time in the whitewash, he just pushed the batter back and then got them driving late on a wide, slanting ball and edging. As he got Root a few times.

It is bizarre how he gets that ball to swing at times, the seam is all over the place, but the truth is there is lots of example of games in which he has played were he has consistently swung the ball late when its new. He got one of Pakistan's openers recently in his first over with a ball that viciously swung in from a very full length. He can swing the new ball without it reversing. In 2009 when he took that 8-60 vs South Africa, he also bowled a lot of cutting balls that moved from the pitch to the right handers from good lengths. He has tricks to his game, I dont think that can be denied, but that guile to his game has been lost this series. I dont blame conditions for that.

On a similar note, I did read sometime this series ( I cant remember where) that Anderson is experimenting with seam position as there is a belief that the ball will swing later if the conventional positioning is not used. He has started to grip the seam with his fingers wider from the central seam, in order to encourage the ball to wobble in the air.... its not a fully understood science, but regardless of how it leaves Johnsons hand, he swings the ball, so it works.

[Alviro Patterson]

The amount of cricket Australia played since October, I am surprised the players are not burnt out.

October: 1 T20is, 3 ODIs and 2 Tests v Pakistan
November: 3 T20is and 5 ODIs v South Africa
December/January: 4 Tests v India
January/February: An ODI tri-series with India and England
February/March: Cricket World Cup
April/May: Some players on IPL duty
June: 2 Tests v West Indies
June/September: 5 tests, 5 ODIs and 1 T20i v England

Barely two weeks to recover

October: 2 tests v Bangladesh

One week downtime

November: 3 tests v New Zealand
December: 3 tests v West Indies
January: 3 T20is and 5 ODIs v India
February: mini away tour to New Zealand
March: 3 T20is v South Africa and World Twenty20 in India
April/May: IPL

Domestic players vying for a place in the Australia test squad will have little opportunity to get Sheffield Shield cricket in because the competition doesn't start until November, stops in December for the Big Bash and resumes again until February.

[Arthur Crabtree]

On a similar note, I did read sometime this series ( I cant remember where) that Anderson is experimenting with seam position as there is a belief that the ball will swing later if the conventional positioning is not used. He has started to grip the seam with his fingers wider from the central seam, in order to encourage the ball to wobble in the air.... its not a fully understood science, but regardless of how it leaves Johnsons hand, he swings the ball, so it works.

Isn't that just his Stuart Clark/Mo Asif wobble ball? He copied that off them. But it's to seam the ball rather than swing it. Maybe he discovered it swung as well.