The Reverse Sweep

The Boundary View: England on the brink as revolution looms down under - Melbourne, Day Three

 
Off with their heads?

Ricky Ponting's reign as Australian captain is starting to presage the last days of Louis XVI of France. Revolution is nigh with the likes of Steve Waugh promoting Tim Paine as a young, fresh captain to lead the rebuilding effort. After his temper tantrum of yesterday, Ponting was desperate to finally make his mark on the series with the bat. Alas it was not to be and after struggling to 20 off 73 balls, Ponting got a fatal inside edge to precipitate the dreaded death rattle. Ponting's nominated heir Michael Clarke fared little better with Graeme Swann inducing an edge to second slip after another scratchy innings from the vice-captain. Australia needed Ponting and Clarke to come to the party this series and both have failed dismally - Ponting has 113 runs at 16 and Clarke 148 at 21. Louis lost his head at the guillotine - will Ponting and Clarke be decpitated leaders too?

Not bad for a fat lad

When we completed our England Ashes Squad - Player Profilesbefore the series, we suggested that the selection of Tim Bresnan could be explained as thus: "When a group of Englishmen go abroad, there is normally one fat lad in their number...even if he won't see much action" We're always happy to be proved wrong and after playing a miserly support role in the 1st innings, the larger than life Yorkshireman was the main attraction today getting Watson, Ponting and Hussey in the space of 18 balls. Bresnan has bowled surprisingly well in this Test - being parsimonious, accurate and quick in equal measure - and fully justifying his selection ahead of Steve Finn. Not bad for a fat lad, indeed.

The Incredible Sulk 

If an Australian batsmen needs a runner, it's safe to assume that Shane Watson won't be top of the list. As at Adelaide, when a furious Simon Katich was left stranded by an optimistic call, so Phillip Hughes was sold short by the self-obsessed Watson here in Melbourne. He then compounded his mistake by inexplicably leaving a straight one from Bresnan to be trapped in front - once again failing to convert a 50 into three figures. The body language on both occasions from the sulky Watson was absolutely dreadful and it was a surprise that he didn't try and take the stumps with him and burst into tears as he slouched off the ground.

Joy, despair and relief

Cricket is a game of vastly varying emotions and this was epitomised in the contrasting fortunes today of Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris and Ben Hilfenhaus. There was  joy for Siddle as he took a much deserved second six for of the series on his home ground. But for Harris there was only despair as his injury curse came back to haunt him, pulling up lame in his fourth over of the day due to what was later revealed to be a stress fracture in his left foot. Whilst for Hilfenhaus there was just relief after he doubled his wicket tally for the series to four in a ten minute spell that saw him account for Swann and Tremlett - relief for us at the Reverse Sweep too as we had Hilfenhaus down as the leading wicket taker in the series. Oh dear!  - see Australia Ashes Squad: Player Profiles.

Second to Bradman

Jonathan Trott may have been left high and dry on 168 by England's late order collapse in the first session of the day, but his disappointment at not being able to complete a double hundred may have been lessened statistically at least by his not out. Of those batsmen who have completed 20 or more test innings, Trott now stands second on the list - behind some bloke called Bradman - with an average of exactly 64 - see full list. 

Player of the day

All the England bowlers performed well, but it was Tim Bresnan who played the starring role with three quickfire wickets after tea - any thoughts of a miraculous Australian escape went with it.

Zero of the day

He may have scored a fifty, but for running out his opening partner and then causing a mini-collapse with his ridiculous leave, Shane Watson takes the honours here. If he has any pretensions of being a future captain (and Australians must spit into their tasteless beer at the propsect of that) then he has to improve his body language tenfold. 

What happens next?

What else? England to retain the Ashes some time either side of lunch tomorrow. Arise Sir Andrew of Strauss - who seems set to join an exclusive club of Middlesex players to captain England to Ashes success in Australia. If the inevitable happens, Strauss will follow in the footsteps of Pelham Warner, Mike Brearley and Mike Gatting.

Where next?

Day 2 @ Melbourne: Trott so hot as Ponting boils over

Day 1 @ Melbourne: Ponting's Turkeys are stuffed on Boxing Day

Check out all our Reverse Sweep heroes and zeroes: featuring Douglas Jardine, David Gower, Dennis Lillee and Hedley Verity amongst others

Read KP's Ashes Diary exclusively at the Reverse Sweep

Read all the latest from our Ashes 2010/11 coverage

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

4th Test: Melbourne - Preview: Can England reprise glory of 1986?

 
The last time England retained the Ashes down under was in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne in 1986 when they crushed Australia by an innings and 14 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. With the debacle at Perth now behind them, Andrew Strauss' side has a second opportunity to retain the urn at the same Melbourne Cricket Ground over the coming days.

In the lead-up to the 4th test there has been much speculation about the late switch to a much greener looking pitch, which has given hope to Australians that Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris will find a similarly helpful, fast and bouncy wicket to the one that suited them so much at Perth. This is probably wishful thinking on behalf of the home side and the usual slow Melbourne pitch is a much more likely proposition.

This means that Australia will have to think hard about the make-up of their side. Do they risk going in again with four specialist quicks and the part-time spin of Steve Smith? Or do they hand Michael Beer a test debut in place of either Peter Siddle or Ben Hilfenhaus? Dropping the former would mean that Australia would lose its chief snarler in what appeared to be a new 'in your face' approach in Perth.

England also have decisions to make as to the make-up of the bowling attack, although Andy Flower confirmed earlier this week that they will stick to their four-man bowler approach in the absence of a world-class all-rounder. This is no surprise especially as Matt Prior isn't in the form to justify an elevation to number six.

Likely line-ups

England are likely to be unchanged although Tim Bresnan or Ajmal Shahzad may come in for Steve Finn if the latter is deemed to need a rest by the England management. other than that the only change could be Ian Bell being promoted to five ahead of Paul Collingwood.

For Australia, Ricky Ponting is almost certain to play despite a broken little finger and surely they won't repeat their error of The Oval 2009 by going in without a specialist spinner? If Beer does get the nod, expect Siddle to be the one carrying the drinks. Australia also has the option of bolstering the batting by playing Ponting's stand-by Usman Khawaja instead of Smith at number six.

Look out for…

We tipped Kevin Pietersen to end his long quest for a century in our preview of the Adelaide Test and despite crashing back down to earth in Perth, we fully expect him to reach three figures here again in Melbourne.

Ricky Ponting is too great a batsman not to stamp his influence on this series and despite his broken digit and poor run of scores, we would be very surprised if he doesn't make a significant score on the biggest of stages.

Finally, Graeme Swann had a quiet game in Perth after his seven wickets in Adelaide, but the surface at the MCG is likely to suit him better and we wouldn't be surprised to see him star in the 2nd innings. Australia may come to regret not picking their best spinner - the in-form Nathan Hauritz instead of the untried Beer.

Previously at Melbourne

Scene of the first ever Test match in 1877, there have been 53 encounters between England and Australia at the cavernous Melbourne Cricket Ground. Australia has the advantage with 27 wins to England’s 19 and perhaps a clue to the outcome of the 2010 edition is that there have only been 7 draws.

2006 – Australia won by an innings and 99 – England suffered a Boxing Day hangover as they were bundled out for just 159 with Warne taking his 700^th Test wicket. England struck back by reducing Australia to 84/5 before Hayden and Symonds both reached 150. England then capitulated for a second time for 161 for yet another woeful defeat on the most dispiriting of tours.

2002 – Australia won by five wickets – Justin Langer hit 250 as Australia amassed a powerful 551/6 and then England only managed 20 more runs than Langer made on his own. They did better after following on with Michael Vaughan scoring a sparkling 145 as England at least set Australia a target. They then restored further pride by taking five wickets as Australia stumbled over the winning line.

1998 – England won by 12 runs – A pulsating test match with a dramatic climax. Rain ruined day one but Alec Stewart scored a captain’s hundred as England made 270. Steve Waugh (122) then masterminded runs from the tail as Australia led by 70. And when England could only make 244 in their second innings and Australia reached 130/3 in pursuit of 162 all seemed lost. Step forward Dean Headley – who engineered a spectacular collapse and a famous England win.

1986 – England won by an innings and 14 – Mike Gatting’s side secured the retention of the urn with a crushing victory in the Boxing Day Test. Gladstone Small and Ian Botham took five apiece as Australia could only muster 141. Then Chris Broad’s third successive hundred provided the bedrock of England’s 208 1^st innings lead. Phil Edmonds and John Emburey then spun England to victory.

1982 – England won by 3 runs – The forerunner to Edgbaston 2005. An extremely tight match saw all four innings total between 284 and 294. When Australia were 218 for nine chasing 292 all looked lost for the home side. But Border and Thomson took them to within sight of the finishing line before that man Botham struck inducing an edge from Thomson that Tavare parried into the hands of a grateful Miller.

Prediction

If the weather holds true then the MCG is a result wicket and we fully expect England to win a tight encounter and therefore retain the Ashes with the final test in Sydney still to come.

Where next?

Dear Santa...

Read KP's Ashes Diary exclusively at the Reverse Sweep

Dean Headley's 15 minutes of fame

Read all the latest from our Ashes 2010/11 coverage

The 25 Greatest Ashes Tests of them all: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Dear Santa...

 
With Christmas only two days away, we’d been wondering what some of cricket’s big names have asked Santa for.

Thanks to a renegade Elf in Santa's inner sanctum, all can now be revealed:

Shane Watson – the man who Carly Simon once wrote a song about has asked for his bedroom to be covered wall to wall and floor to ceiling with mirrors. He has also asked for a year’s supply of Kleenex. No, not for that! But in anticipation of more tears when he next gets out in the nervous nineties

Michael Clarke– a lifelike Lara Bingle rubber doll and a backbone

Jonathan Trott and Doug Bollinger – appointments with Jacques Kallis’ new hair consultant

Ricky Ponting – the hottest curry sauce of all – anything that means he can get amongst the runs again, but on no account does he want any Beer to go with it

Andrew Strauss- an exclusive membership of the club of Middlesex captains that have won an Ashes series down under. To date, Mike Gatting, Mike Brearley and Pelham Warner are the only members

Steve Smith– Being young he wants to learn, so he has asked Santa for  ‘The Marcus North Tutorial of Batting at Six’ and ‘The Idiots Guide to Leg-Spin by Chris Schofield'

Steve Finn– he had wanted clothes, but after being so expensive at the WACA he managed to bag a sponsorship deal with Prada, so the tall paceman now wants the same radar that Mitchell Johnson used in Perth

Matt Prior & Peter Siddle and Ian Botham & Ian Chappell – a pair of boxing gloves each so that they can take their respective war of words into the ring

Michael Hussey– some more kryptonite to ensure that he can reprise his Superman heroics at Melbourne and Sydney

Kamran Akmal  - A new set of wicketkeeper gloves made entirely out of velcro

Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif  - A damn good lawyer

Nathan Hauritz – Having got rid of his Australian kit at a recent garage sale, the discarded spinner now wants a fresh new kit from Santa in time to make a comeback in Sydney

MS Dhoni– some cotton wool in which to wrap up Zaheer Khan prior to every test match and particularly for the upcoming tours of England and Australia

Tim Bresnan and Jesse Ryder - a KFC Bargain Bucket per day for life

Ijaz Butt  - World War III

Harbhajan Singh– a set of Matthew Hayden’s cook books so that he can prepare a meal for his good friends Hayden and Andrew Symonds when he tours Australia later this year

Daniel Vettori - the Prime Ministership of New Zealand - well he does everything else. Either that or to wake up on Christmas Day as an Australian - there seems to be a vacancy for a spinner

Ian Bell – a DVD of the Famous Five, so he can prepare for his promotion up the batting order

Paul Collingwood – a guide to the best retirement homes in the North East of England

Mitchell Johnson – Kevin Pietersen’s phone number

Kevin Pietersen - A romantic dinner for two with Mitch

Where next?

Check out all our Reverse Sweep heroes and zeroes featuring Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Hauritz amongst others

Historic India-Pakistan peace summit flounders on cricket diplomacy

Read KP's Ashes Diary exclusively at the Reverse Sweep

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Ashes 100-1: 75 - Andrew Strauss' difficult assignment

If Andrew Strauss is going to lead England to retaining the Ashes this winter then he is going to have to defeat history as well as Ricky Ponting's Australian side. Of course having regained the Ashes at The Oval last summer, England only have to draw the series to keep the little urn. But this is something they have never done when defending the Ashes in Australia.

Indeed since 1900 (England pretty much dominated the Ashes until then), England have only managed to retain the Ashes four times down under.

Retaining the Ashes

In 1928-29, a star-studded England side ably led by Percy Chapman and containing the likes of Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond, Hendren, Larwood, Tate and Jardine overwhelmed an Australian side going through a period of transition (a certain Donald Bradman made his test match bow in this series) by four matches to one.

Then in 1954-55, Len Hutton's England side recovered from a heavy defeat in the first test at Brisbane to win the series 3-1, with Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson propelling them to victory with some fearsome fast bowling. Fast forward over 20 years to 1978-79, where an Australian side decimated by defections to World Series Cricket were hammered 5-1 by Mike Brearley's England.

Finally, in 1986-87, Mike Gatting captained an England side that was tagged as the team that 'can't bat, can't bowl and can't field' before the series to a 2-1 series victory with Chris Broad hitting three hundreds and with Botham and Gower also to the fore.

Since then of course, Australia have dominated, winning the subsequent series' by margins of 3-0, 3-1, 3-1, 4-1 and infamously 5-0 four years ago.

Regaining the Ashes

It's not as if England have been any better at regaining the Ashes on Australian soil. Again, they have only done this four times since 1900. In 1903-04, Pelham Warner's side won an exciting contest by three matches to two. Johnny Douglas repeated the trick eight years later when his England team triumphed 4-1.

After losing to a Bradman inspired Australian side at home in 1930, Douglas Jardine masterminded an immediate return of the little urn into English hands in the 1932/33 series - arguably the most infamous test series of them all. History should remember however that the runs of Hammond, Sutcliffe and Paynter amongst others were just as decisive as the venomous fast bowling of Larwood, Voce and Allen.

The last time that England regained the Ashes down under was in the elongated seven match series of 1970/71 when Raymond Illingworth's side triumphed by two tests to nil in another series marred with bad feeling and controversy.

Can England do it again in 2010/11?

History may be against them but this settled and talented side has the best chance of any England team of the last twenty years of returning to Heathrow Airport with the Ashes in their possession. And one possible omen in Strauss' favour is that Brearley and Gatting, the last two England captains to return triumphant also played county cricket for Middlesex - albeit more often. 

Ashes 100-1: 94 - England win the Ashes 5-0

It may not have been quite to the extent of Glenn McGrath's habitual 5-0 to Australia predictions, but Ricky Ponting's answer that a whitewash in favour of his side was "absolutely possible" this winter has caused hoots of derision in the English media.

Andrew Strauss has chosen to keep his counsel as to whether England could triumph 5-0 and referred to Ponting's remark as the start of "silly season". England won't win 5-0 of course, but we thought it would be fun to devote number 94 of our Ashes 100-1 countdown to the prospect of a such an emphatic series win for England this winter. If Strauss and his men can be inspired by their triumphant predecessors and draw inspiration from famous victories at each of the five venues, then who knows?

1-0 at Brisbane - inspired by A.P.F Chapman's side of 1928-29

A.P.F Chapman's side of 1928-29 (see picture) has a strong claim to being the best England team ever considering it contained greats such as Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond, Mead, Hendren, Jardine, Larwood and Tate. They certainly walloped the Australians 4-1 and in the first test ever at The Gabba (also the first of the series), they humiliated their hosts by a still record test runs margin of 675 runs (see scorecard). Hendren hit 169 as England amassed 521 before as a forerunner to what would happen four years later, Larwood ran through the Australian batting line-up to finish with six for 32 as Australia were dismissed for 122. Chapman chose not to enforce the follow-on in what was a timeless test and Jardine made 65 not out as England made 342 for eight declared in their second innings. Set a mammoth 742 to win and with two men absent through injury, Australia capsized to 66 all out. The game is also notable as it saw the test match bow of one Donald Bradman. It wasn't the most auspicious of debuts as Bradman only made 18 and 1 and was dropped for the second test.

2-0 at Adelaide - inspired by Len Hutton's side of 1954-55

Despite a crushing defeat in the 1st test at Brisbane, Len Hutton's team inspired by Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson retained the Ashes with a 3-1 victory, which was sealed by a five wicket victory at Adelaide in the fourth test (see scorecard). Tyson, Bailey and Appleyard limited Australia to 323 in their first innings before Hutton (80) and Cowdrey (79) ensured England gained a slender 18 run lead on first innings. Tyson and Appleyard again, this time in tandem with Statham skittled the Australians for 111, before Compton steered England to their target of 94 after Miller had set hearts a flutter with three early wickets.

3-0 at Perth - inspired by Mike Brearley's side of 1978-79

England have only one won test at the WACA, which came during the series of 1978-79 (see scorecard) when Mike Brearley led England to a 5-1 series stroll against an Australian side severely depleted by the defection of most of its star players to World Series Cricket. In a relatively low-scoring contest, England won the Perth test by 166 runs. Gower scored 102 as England reached 309 in their first innings, before Willis took five for 44 to dismiss Australia for 190 and give his side a decisive lead. England didn't fare much better in their second innings as they slipped to 208 all out with Hogg (who took 41 wickets in the series) taking five for 57. But it was still too much for a weakened Australian batting line-up, which subsided for 161 to give England a 2-0 series lead.

4-0 at Melbourne - inspired by Mike Gatting's side of 1986-87

The team that was famously tagged as the side that "can't bat, can't bowl and can't field" retained the Ashes and sealed the series by going 2-0 up in the fourth test at Melbourne (see scorecard). Small and Botham took five wickets apiece as Australia were skittled for 141, before a third century of the series for Broad formed the basis of England's reply of 349. Australia fared little better in their second innings as they fell for 194 to complete a sorry three day defeat. Little did English cricket fans realise that it would be over 18 years before England would hold the Ashes again.

5-0 at Sydney - inspired by Douglas Jardine's side of 1932-33 

Cricket's most infamous test series began with England recording an emphatic 10 wicket victory at Sydney (see scorecard) in the first test as a precursor to a controversial ride to an eventual 4-1 series triumph, which saw the Ashes regained by the same score as Chapman's side had done four years earlier. Bradman, the primary target of Jardine's leg theory approach, missed this test due to a dispute with the Australian Board and watched McCabe play the best innings of them all against what would universally be forever known as Bodyline. McCabe's 187 not out amounted to over half of Australia's first innings total of 360, with Larwood taking five and Voce four. In reply, England had three centurions - Sutcliffe (194), Hammond (112) and Pataudi (102) as they recorded 524. Larwood then took another five for to reach ten wickets for the match as Australia were bundled out for 164 leaving Sutcliffe to fittingly hit the one run required for victory. The die had been cast.

A 5-0 victory for England? It's absolutely possible!  

Ashes 100-1: 97 Gabba dabba doo

Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower will no doubt be urging their side to make a good start to the Ashes series in Brisbane, which starts in 97 days. Certainly when England last won an Ashes series in Australia, Mike Gatting's side eased to a comfortable seven wicket win at The Gabba in advance of securing an eventual 2-1 series victory.

Since then England have had a diabolical time of it on the Gold Coast with heavy defeats in 1990, 1994, 2002 and 2006. It would have been five defeats out of five but for a seasonal thunderstorm saving Alec Stewart's side in 1998.

However, this is hardly a surprise. Since that defeat in 1986, Australia have only lost one other test at Brisbane (to West Indies in 1988) and have won 17 of 23 matches as the table below shows:

Australia's record at the Gabba 1986-present
Result	Margin	Opposition	Start Date
lost	7 wickets	v England	14-Nov-86
won	9 wickets	v New Zealand	04-Dec-87
lost	9 wickets	v West Indies	18-Nov-88
draw	-	v Sri Lanka	08-Dec-89
won	10 wickets	v England	23-Nov-90
won	10 wickets	v India	29-Nov-91
draw	-	v West Indies	27-Nov-92
won	inns & 96 runs	v New Zealand	03-Dec-93
won	184 runs	v England	25-Nov-94
won	inns & 126 runs	v Pakistan	09-Nov-95
won	123 runs	v West Indies	22-Nov-96
won	186 runs	v New Zealand	07-Nov-97
draw	-	v England	20-Nov-98
won	10 wickets	v Pakistan	05-Nov-99
won	inns & 126 runs	v West Indies	23-Nov-00
draw	-	v New Zealand	08-Nov-01
won	384 runs	v England	07-Nov-02
draw	-	v India	04-Dec-03
won	inns & 156 runs	v New Zealand	18-Nov-04
won	379 runs	v West Indies	03-Nov-05
won	277 runs	v England	23-Nov-06
won	inns & 40 runs	v Sri Lanka	08-Nov-07
won	149 runs	v New Zealand	20-Nov-08
won	inns & 65 runs	v West Indies	26-Nov-09

This is a formidable record and one Strauss and Flower must look to overcome if England want to head to Adelaide either ahead or on level terms. One senses that if they do then it could be Strauss holding the little urn come Sydney in early January.