Australia and the all too common batting collapse

The propensity for regular batting collapses was once purely a trait of the England cricket team, but it has proved contagious for Australia over the last 12 months.

This nasty habit cost Australia the Ashes last summer when first innings batting collapses at Lord's and The Oval handed England the little urn. And despite winning eight of their nine tests since that memorable final day at The Oval, Australia have continued to suffer inexplicable batting collapses on a regular basis.

Pakistan failed to capitalise on another Australian batting collapse at Lord's last week as they did at Sydney. West Indies at Perth and New Zealand at Hamilton also failed when presented with openings by the brittle Australian batting line-up. However, these three teams were either dysfunctional (Pakistan), limited (New Zealand) or chaotic (West Indies), which meant that Australia were able to recover through the ineptitude of their opposition and some typical Australian grit.

England though have the quality to make Ricky Ponting's men pay should this habit persist through the upcoming Ashes series. As such, Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss will be studying the seven Australian batting collapses since the start of the Lord's test last summer with interest:

1. Lord's 2009, 2nd Test vs England (Aus lost by 115 runs): After England had scored 425, Australia appeared to be coasting at 103 for two before the England seamers sparked a collapse that saw their opponents slip to 152 for eight before eventually being 215 all out. Despite a brilliant hundred from Michael Clarke and sterling support from Brad Haddin in their second innings, the die was cast and Australia slipped to their first defeat at HQ since 1934.

2. Edgbaston 2009, 3rd Test vs England (Match drawn): In the next test, Australia suffered another first innings batting collapse after closing a rain interrupted first day on 126 for one. Graham Onions took wickets with the first two balls of the second morning and Australia eventually made only 263. More rain and another second innings century from Michael Clarke, with able support from Marcus North, saved Australia's bacon this time.

3. The Oval 2009, 5th Test vs England (Aus lost by 197 runs): Needing only a draw to retain the Ashes, Australia looked in pole position when they reached 73 for none in response to England's 332. But an inspirational spell from Stuart Broad saw Australia lose seven wickets for 38 as they slumped to 111 for seven. Another brave second innings fightback with Michael Hussey and Ponting leading the charge couldn't stop the inevitable as England regained the Ashes.

4. Perth 2009, 3rd Test vs West Indies (Aus won by 35 runs): After securing a 208 first innings lead, Australia appeared to be cruising to a 2-0 series win when they reached 66 for one in their second innings. But the wicket of Shane Watson sparked another collapse as Australia lost their last nine wickets for 84. A better side than West Indies may have done better than falling 35 runs short of the 359 run victory target on a flat Perth wicket.

5. Sydney 2010, 2nd Test vs Pakistan (Aus won by 36 runs): Ponting's brave decision to bat first under grey skies looked to be a disaster when his side slipped to 62 for seven before folding for 127. But Pakistan conspired in their own downfall by allowing Michael Hussey and Peter Siddle to add 123 for the ninth wicket in Australia's second innings with butter fingered keeping from Kamran Akmal and dreadfully negative captaincy from Mohammad Yousuf the main culprits. Then despite only requiring 176 for victory, Pakistan panicked and folded like a house of cards in a strong breeze.

6. Hamilton 2010, 2nd Test vs New Zealand (Aus won by 176 runs): After winning the toss and batting, Australia eased to 172 for three before losing its last seven wickets for 59 in what was now becoming an all too familiar story. New Zealand though lacked the resources to take advantage and Australia hit 500 in their second innings to set-up an easy victory.

7. Lord's 2010, 1st Test vs Pakistan (Aus won by 150 runs): Batting in difficult conditions, Australia had done really well to reach 171 for two in their first innings, before the wicket of Michael Clarke sparked another batting collapse that saw seven wickets fall for 51 runs. Then a last wicket partnership between Hussey and Doug Bollinger saw them reach 253. As they had at Sydney, Pakistan threw away the initiative to collapse themselves to 148 all out and Australia in the end won easily.

Ricky Ponting must be praying that Australia can discover another Steve Waugh or Adam Gilchrist who habitually turned around scores of 80 for four or 90 for five to final scores of 400 plus. But that won't happen in time for the Ashes, so England must look to exploit this widening chink in the Australian armoury. 

Comments

[Vim]

They won't find one as you can bet that they are going to stick with this batting line-up.

[The Reverse Sweep]

Vim, surely North cannot survive now?