Questions for Ponting and Australia to answer before the Ashes

As Australia prepare to take on Pakistan at Headingley in the second test today, Ricky Ponting will be conscious that there are just over four months until the start of the first Ashes test at the Gabba. Given that Ponting has already stated that he expects to be relieved of the captaincy should he preside over a third Ashes series reverse, he can be forgiven for having one eye on the challenge that lies ahead.

So how do Australia look ahead of the big event? On the surface, eight wins out of nine tests since that defeat at The Oval suggests that Ponting's men have responded with typical Australian tenacity to the disappointment of relinquishing their ownership of the little urn. When you factor in Australia's excellent record at home and the fact that England have not won a series Down Under since 1987, Australia should certainly be considered favourites.

But when you take a closer look, there are a number of potential areas of weakness in Australia's XI, which England will have the opportunity to exploit should Ponting and coach Tim Nielsen fail to provide a cure before the action starts.

The questions that Australia need to answer include:

How can they cure their bad habit of batting collapses? - As our post earlier in the week highlighted, Australia has developed an English like habit for the batting collapse. It has only been the inability of the opposition to take advantage that has prevented Australia suffering more test defeats over the last year. England, as they did last summer, are equipped to make Australia pay should this brittleness continue.

Does Ponting need to move down the order? - Australia's best batsman since Bradman appears to be in terminal decline and has developed a real weakness against the short ball. Even a young upstart like Kemar Roach had Ponting in trouble, so Stuart Broad and Steve Finn in particular will look to exploit the Australian skipper's shortcomings. Is it now time for Ponting to drop down to five and promote captain-in-waiting and now the team's premier batsman Michael Clarke to first drop? It will be a brave move by all concerned, but perhaps it is the right move.

What should Australia do about Marcus North? - North is like a cockroach in the sense that just when you think he is dead, he'll spring back to life by either scoring a hundred or even more inexplicably taking six wickets. But the feeling prevails that whilst North is an excellent first-class cricketer, he maybe falls a little short at test level especially when Australia arguably has far more talented cricketers to bat at six (Cameron White, anyone?). England will be happy if North is still in the XI come November.

Smith or Hauritz, or both? - A lot of rubbish has been written in the last week comparing Steve Smith to Shane Warne. He is no Warne, but Smith is a potentially talented all-round cricketer who could arguably bat at six (or seven below Haddin). If he plays instead of Hauritz, Australia would have an extremely long tail with Mitchell Johnson at nine (and the new Bradman, Ben Hilfenhaus at ten). Neither Smith (yet) or Hauritz is a matchwinner, so talk of playing both of them is surely a mistake that would play into England's hands.

How do Australia get more bite with the new ball? - 14 of Australia's wickets at Lord's last week were taken by Shane Watson, Smith and North, which suggests that the pace trio of Hilfenhaus, Johnson and Doug Bollinger lacked a bit of bite. This was especially so for Bollinger with the new ball. The left-armer is undoubtedly a good bowler and he has made an excellent start to his test career, but is he better as first change? And if so, can Johnson be trusted with the new ball?

What is the best seam bowling line-up? - An incredible run of injuries has meant that Australia has had to chop and change its seam bowlers since the end of the Ashes last summer. Stuart Clark and Brett Lee have now gone. Hilfenhaus has had injury problems and Peter Siddle will struggle to be at peak fitness in time for Brisbane. Ponting was worried enough to publicly express recently his desire that Shaun Tait reconsider his decision to only play one day and Twenty 20 cricket. It would seem that the captain and Nielsen are not sure who will join Johnson in their Ashes attack. This uncertainty could prove to be an advantage for England.

And with only Headingley and two tests in India to go until Brisbane, Ponting and Nielsen must be getting increasingly nervous. Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss still have issues of their own to address such as who will bat at three and the poor form of James Anderson, but they will be quietly confident as things stand. It is all set up to be a very close series. 127 days to go and counting.  

Comments

[Mahek]

Best since Bradman? I'd expect someone as old and wise as you to rate Greg Chappell higher :)

Fun Fact: Ponting didn't even make it to the All-Time Australian XI picked by experts on cricinfo.

[The Reverse Sweep]

Ok maybe I erred a bit there, but I did rate Ponting ahead of G Chappell (but behind the Don and Trumper of Aussie batsmen) in my 30 best batsmen ever, so I'd better be consistent at least. Punter may be a shadow of his former self but from 2003-07 he was pretty untouchable.

[Mahek]

You mean the time in which he played almost all his cricket in conditions suited to his batting in a side filled with world class batsmen? :)