Once again today in our Ashes 100-1 countdown as we reach number 88, David Siddall of World Cricket Watch delivers the post. Today, David reminds Australian fans that of their recent collapse to 88 all out against Pakistan. But as we all know, Australia is not the only side contesting the Ashes that is prone to collapse...
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As Blaise Murphet pointed out a few days ago, Pakistan have taught us some lessons about both Australia and England before the Ashes kicks off in November. The one big thing we’ve discovered about both their batting lineups is their fragility. The fragility of the Australia batting unit was illustrated in the remarkable collapse on the first day of the 2nd test at Headingley. Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif claimed three wickets a piece as they fell for a woeful 88. You can watch the footage unfold again by clicking play on the video below.
But the truth is, England’s batting has been proven over the course of their test series with Pakistan to be just as fragile as the Australians. They might not have had an 88 all out but in the 3rd Test at the Oval they lost 6 wickets for 74 runs. It would be a collapse that would ultimately lead to their downfall as Pakistan kept the series alive at 2-1. And as we’ve seen from the 4th test to date this was far from a one off.
Despite England posting a substantial total of 446 in their first innings, their innings could not have been more lopsided. The epic 8th wicket partnership of 332 between Jonathan Trott (188) and Stuart Broad (169) was just as monumental as the collapse that went before it earlier in the day. England went from 39-2 to 102-7 with numbers 4,5,6 and 8 all recording ducks thanks to some incredible bowling from Mohammad Amir.
Conditions in Australia are likely to be a bit more batter friendly than those experienced in England this summer. But I certainly wouldn’t rule out the possibility some batting collapses come November as each team’s batting lineup looks from time to time that little bit shaky.
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