Never in the recent past has the Australian team got such a drubbing at home. In the final test at Sydney they seemed to be mesmerized with no clue about what was happening around them. England on the other hand came prepared and were ready for the kill. They ensured that the ashes were won convincingly and left no doubt as to the better team.
There was a lot of talk about the change in guard and a fightback from the wounded Aussies before the test match began. I think the Australian team still thinks that there is nothing wrong with them. That is reflected in their team selection and also in their approach. The only changes they made this time were sort of forced changes. Khawaja came in place of injured Ponting and Beer came in as a specialist spinner. The team still thought that the firm of Johnson, Hilfenhaus and Siddle were capable of running through the opposition. That was wishful thinking and England demonstrated that this attack is toothless in the only innings they batted. Only Shane Watson and Steve Smith seemed to create any opportunities in that innings. Cook continued his brilliant form and was helped by centuries from Bell and Prior.
The approach of the team and its belief in its own abilities is also key in a test match. After getting bowled out for 281, thanks to a rearguard action from Mitchell Johnson who was the only person to post a fifty; the Aussies had the Poms at 5/226 when Collingwood got out. At that stage they should have enforced a quick closure. But they allowed Prior and Bell to score freely and take the score to a mammoth 644 runs. Then in their second innings, when the situation called for playing out the time, they went on the attack and lost the plot. The English bowling was too good for them and they lost by an innings. So in this series they lost all the three matches by over an innings, they conceded 500+ runs three times.
As far as Australia are concerned there were no positives from this series. It thoroughly exposed their bowling limitations. It also exposed the lack in depth of their batting pipeline and therefore it looks like a very steep climb from here on. Barring Perth, their bowlers never took 20 wickets in a test match. All the commentators were in unison on this. As Ian Chapell said a band aid solution ain’t going to fix it. They need a complete overhaul of the selection committee, the coaching staff and the team. The irony will be if they win the series at home against SL in August they will start day dreaming again. Ricky Ponting is done as a skipper, it remains to be seen if he stays as a batsman.
England on the other hand have a bagful of positives. The batting of Cook, Strauss, Trott, Pietersen, Prior and Bell. The bowling of Anderson, Swann, Finn, Tremlett and Bresnan and the fielding overall has been stellar. The only negative, if you really have to pick any, would be the form of Collingwood (who has announced his retirement now) and to an extent the inability of Pietersen to focus on the job and play a long innings consistently. I thought a lot of credit must go to their coach and the back room team. Their bowlers were spot on from the first delivery and bowled very few no balls. They created opportunities and applied pressure when required.
On the whole, I think England deservedly won the series 3-1. My prediction was a English with a margin of 1 (2-1 being my favored score line). But hey, who is complaining when you witness some great cricket and a total annihilation of the Aussies. Watch out for my statistical analysis of the series to wrap this series.
