It was England’s batting that let them down at Perth, but it is the
state of their bowling that will give Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower
the greater food for thought in the build-up to the Boxing Day Test at
Melbourne
Andrew Miller at the WACA19-Dec-2010It was England’s batting that let them down in Perth, but it is the
state of their bowling that will give Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower
the greater food for thought in the build-up to the Boxing Day Test in
Melbourne. Speaking in the aftermath of a series-levelling defeat,
Strauss insisted there would be no knee-jerk reactions, but hinted
nevertheless that changes were on the cards for the MCG, as an intense
campaign takes its toll on England’s resources.Despite an impressive return to Test cricket for Chris Tremlett, whose
eight-wicket haul included a career-best 5 for 87, there were jaded
performances from the remainder of the seam attack – in particular
Steven Finn, who looks in need of a rest – and an anonymous one from
their trump card, Graeme Swann, who came off a distant second-best in
his latest duel with Mike Hussey and bowled just nine expensive overs
in the second innings.While Swann’s ineffectiveness can be put down in part to the vagaries
of the WACA wicket – a surface on which even Shane Warne failed to
claim a five-wicket haul in 12 visits – it had a knock-on effect on
the remainder of the attack, with Australia scoring their runs at more
than three-and-a-half an over in both innings, compared to rates that
barely exceeded three an over on the more placid surfaces in Brisbane
and Adelaide.The most culpable bowler in that regard was Finn, who claimed a
further five wickets in the match to cement his position as the
leading series wicket-taker with 14 at 33.14, but who conceded 183
runs in 36 overs all told. Despite showing immense promise at the age
of 21, he currently lacks the experience and conceivably the stamina
to last the distance in a five-Test series, and he could well make way
in Melbourne for the sturdy Tim Bresnan, who proved in Bangladesh that
he is an asset on unresponsive wickets, or the more explosive Ajmal
Shahzad, whose particular penchant for bowling at left-handers could
be useful in dislodging Australia’s main man, Hussey.”I wouldn’t think there will be wholesale changes because it’s not a
time for panic, but I certainly wouldn’t rule anything out at this
stage,” said Strauss. “We have played a lot of good consistent cricket
over this tour so far and we’re going to need to do something similar
in these last two matches. It’s all about bouncing back now. We’ve
done it well in the past and we’re going to have to do it in
Melbourne.”We have a got a few days to take stock of the situation,” he added.
“There are definitely lessons to be learned from this game, it would
be wrong for us to wash our hands of it completely. But our intensity
in the field was pretty good and the bowlers for the majority of the
time did a very good job. Bowling Australia out for 260 and 300 on a
pretty reasonable wicket was a decent effort.”One character whom England most certainly missed was Stuart Broad, who
tore an abdominal muscle in the closing stages of the victory in
Adelaide, and whose tally of two wickets at 80.50 did not do justice
to the hostility and control that he brought to the attack in the
first two Tests, in which time his economy rate was 2.30, the best by
any bowler on either side. All things being equal – and to judge by
England’s pre-match comments – both he and Tremlett might well have
played here, with Finn missing out on rotation, but Strauss rightly
refused to be drawn into “what ifs”.”I think Broad would have been very effective on this wicket but
unfortunately he was injured and there is no point crying over spilt
milk,” said Strauss. “Chris Tremlett came in and bowled outstandingly
well, I thought. His hostility all through the game was there to see,
batsmen didn’t enjoy facing him. He grabbed his chance with both hands
so I’m delighted for him. But to win Test matches you need 11 guys to
perform, not just one or two.”After a fortnight in which his own team’s bowling issues had been
scrutinised in minute detail, Ricky Ponting was glad to be able to pass some
of the problems over to England. “I think England will now be starting
to have a bit of a look at their team make-up and the sort of cricket
they have to play to beat us,” he said.”Broad has been an important player for them for a couple of years,”
he added. “He is their most hostile bowler and would have enjoyed
bowling here, although Tremlett was probably the pick of their
bowlers, so it was going to have an impact on their team. But we have
played Swann particularly well. He bowled well in the second innings
at Adelaide, but that was on a pitch that suited him.”Given how integral Swann has been to England’s recent upsurge in
fortunes, it is inconceivable that he will be kept this quiet
throughout the remainder of the series, especially when one considers
how quickly he bounced back from some rough treatment in the first
Test at the Gabba. “He understood the situation, that’s the way it
goes,” said Strauss. “Sometimes he will be very effective, sometimes
less so. The great thing about him as a bowler is that he’s proved
over the last two years that he’s going to be a threat more times than
not.”There was nothing in it for the spinner,” added Strauss. “He did well
to get a couple of wickets in the first innings but there was no turn,
the ball skidded onto the bat pretty well. In those circumstances, it
will always be difficult for a spinner to exert any sort of pressure.
Australia played him well and positively. But the remaining two
wickets in the series should suit him more than this one.”England’s other major talking point is the positioning of Ian Bell in
the batting order. Despite the loss of five wickets in less than 50
minutes on the final morning, Bell once again looked the classiest
batsman on show as he stroked a range of cover-drives before falling
lbw for 16, the first time he had failed to reach fifty in the series.
With Paul Collingwood looking horribly out of sorts with his series
tally of 62 runs at 15.50, Bell needs to be given more of a chance to
make a positive impact higher up the order, rather than being left to
milk his runs with the tail.Strauss, however, said that there had been no thought given to
promoting him in the second innings of this match, despite England
losing five wickets on the third evening, including Collingwood for 11
to the last ball of the day. “We have got to keep perspective about
things and realise there has been a hell of a lot of good batting on
this tour so far,” he said. “We have no reason to expect that to be
any different going forward.”