The Ashes 2013: 1st Test, Trent Bridge: Edgebaston 2005 All Over Again?

                   If this summer's Ashes needed building up any further, the action of the past four and a half days will have whetted the appetite of any cricketing fan for the next few weeks. Exactly the start this series needed, with the 1st test, held at Nottingham's Trent Bridge, having a little bit of everything. Fantastic bowling, batting mistakes, controversies, involving both humans and technology, a fantastic debut and finished off with a nail-biting final day. In this post, I will review the key action over the past few days, analysing what it means for this Ashes series, and for the state of cricket moving into the future.

                    Looking at my Ashes preview post, I noted that people expected England to end this series as comfortable winners. Whilst I do want England to win, I also want a good entertaining game of cricket. Based on the last five days, I am glad to report that both still seem on the cards. A truly enthralling opening test, and if we get four more like it, we can begin talking about the greatest Ashes series ever. Reminiscent of the famous 2005 Ashes test at Edgebaston, where England won by just 2 runs, first test of 2013 will be remembered in the same breath.

                     Day 1 began as almost all test matches begin: tentatively and nervously. This led to no end of batting mistakes, causing an incredible 14 wickets to fall in the one day. At first, the toss seemed a good one to win, with England coming out the initial victors. The first session was probably honours even, with England putting on an encouraging 98 runs for the loss of only 2 wickets. The second session saw the demise of the dangerous England middle-order. Trott led the batting attack, only to lose his wicket just short of his half century, whilst the dangerous Pietersen, Bell and Prior all went for small scores.This session belonged to the Australians, and particularly Peter Siddle. The experienced Australian swing bowler, of whom much is expected from Down Under, took his 8th career Test 5 wicket haul. As outlined earlier, he will be integral to any Australian success this summer. Starting the final session at 185-6, after a brief fightback by Broad and Bairstow, England's tail collapsed. From 213-6, the final four wickets fell for just 2 runs, in an incredible display of batting incompetance. The primary beneficiary was young Mitchell Starc, who had the opportunity of a hat-trick, after the wickets of Bairstow and Finn in successive balls. England's first innings did little to settle the nerves of the watching fans, who knew they had posted a below-average total. In response, the Australians began even worse, with big-hitters Shane Watson and Ed Cowan going in successive balls to Finn, before James Anderson took the big wicket of captain Michael Clarke. In danger of total collapse, the Aussies dug in, putting on a further 50 runs for the loss of one wicket, leaving them at 75-4 by the close. A scoreline that left both believing they had a chance, but it would be England that would be the happier, as the Aussies failed to convert their chance to jump on England's batting mistakes.

                       Day 2 will be remembered for the emergence of a potential star: 19-year-old Ashton Agar. Amost single-handedly, he dug his side out of trouble, with records tumbling around him as he went. However, the day started fairly positively for the Aussies, with Steve Smith making the first half-century of the 2013 Ashes. But once again, the pendulum swung, as Smith, Haddin, Siddle, Starc and Pattinson all going in double quick time, with Jimmy Anderson the tormentor-in-chief. These wickets left Australia in disarray at 117-9, and a comfortable victory for England looked on the cards. Step forward Ashton Agar. Little was expected when the young man walked to the crease. After nearly three hours, and 98 valuable runs for Australia, the match was back in the balance. I have to admit, even as an England supporter, I was willing him on to his maiden Test 100, instead of leaving him with a regret. But, as the ball sailed towards Graeme Swann at 280-9, the dreams died. Credit must also go to Agar's hitting partner, Phil Hughes, for an excellent knock of 81, allowing the debutant to make his shots. The batting mistakes showed little sign of abating for England's second innings, as opener Joe Root went cheaply, before the usually reliable Jonathan Trott went for a golden duck. This put England bang in trouble, still trailing by 54. Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen stabilised the innings, taking England to the close without further loss, and setting Day 3 up as the crucial one in this Test.

                         Unfortunately, the third day produced the biggest controversy of the Ashes so far, which overshadowed the majority of the play. Involving Stuart Broad, it came after an initial England revival from captain Cook and Pietersen which saw them reach 121-2. Both then lost their wickets in quick succession, bringing Ian Bell to the crease. His innings would be pivotal, putting England in a commanding position. His partnership with Broad in particular set England up for the final couple of days. However, here is where the controversy lies. At 297-6, Broad clearly edged an Ashton Agar delivery through to Michael Clarke at 2nd slip. Out all day long. Unfortunately, Aleem Dar remained unmoved, perhaps because the ball flicked clearly off the gloves of Australian wicket keeper Brad Haddin. The more disappointing sight, however, was the fact that Broad refused to walk off, despite such a obvious nick. To me this smacks of 'Roy Carroll syndrome', where a player knowingly decieves the officials to gain an advantage. To those supporting Broad's decision, the phrase 'not cricket' was devised for exactly these situations, as the game of cricket was seen as the pinnacle of sporting fair play, and the phrase was used to arbitrate other moral decisions. To see Broad clearly disregard this high moral standing was disappointing, and it shows that not even the sport that created the phrase, and which prides itself on its morality, is immune from cheating. Thanks to this, England were able to get to the close with a healthy lead of 261, keeping the critical partnership of Bell and Broad at the crease.

                         Day 4 saw Ian Bell make a fantastic hundred, in an innings that he described as one of his best. This allowed the English to set an imposing target of 311, after another back innings collapse of the English tail. A strong opening partnership for the Aussies was crucial in order to chase down the 311, and Watson and Rodgers started in fantastic form, making it to 84-0 by the drinks break. Watson, who has often been criticised for his inability to convert his medium scores into large ones, then went next ball. Joe Root's maiden Test wicket of Ed Cowan just before tea gave England the lift they needed going into the final session, but still left Australia in with a chance. That chance was seemingly extinguished in the remaining session. The wickets of firstly in form Rodgers, Clarke, Smith and Hughes put England on the brink of a superb opening Test victory. Unfortunately for Australia, it was here where their poor decision-making told, as captain Clarke has been accused of being a touch too trigger-happy with the review system. This led to 'Broad-gate' on day 3, and to derision over his own dismissal on day 4, as the Australian captain seemingly wasted all of his reviews on each day. In contrast, Alastair Cook has been seen as a wise decision-maker in terms of reviews, snaring the wicket of Hughes against the decision of the umpire, and taking his time before using the DRS. A good example to many captains, as technology can only benefit sport, but must be used properly so as not to be frustrating.

                          The final day began with the odds stacked heavily in the hosts' favour. With England needing just the 4 wickets of the tail-enders, and Australia needing another 137 runs, it looked a case of when and not if. And with wickets falling in clumps, sooner rather than later appeared the mindset. However, with first-innings hero Ashton Agar at the crease, anything was possible. The first few overs passed without incident, with Australia putting valuable runs onto their total, and putting the pressure on the English bowlers. Then came the breakthrough. Agar was caught at slip from the bowling of Anderson to give England the relief they needed. Starc and Siddle came and went quickly, again to the bowling of Anderson, leaving England requiring just one wicket for that priceless victory. However, the curse of the number 11 struck once again. Brad Haddin, who had been at the crease overnight, continued to a battling 50, inviting Pattinson to trust him. As Australia got closer and closer to their target, memories of Edgebaston 2005 came flooding back. At 291-9 at lunch, you could have forgiven England for being decidedly nervous, as Australia threatened to snatch the test match away from them. Then another moment of controversy decided the match. A big appeal went up from Anderson and the English fielders after they believed Haddin nicked one through to Prior. Given not out, Cook made the decision to review. After a lengthy delay, in which HotSpot seemed to reveal a mark on the bat, the decision was reversed, leaving Haddin disraught and thrust the majority of Trent Bridge into raptures.

                           A first Test victory of 14 runs did little to calm the nerves of the England players or fans, in a topsy-turvy game in Nottingham. However, I for one hope for more of the same, as we saw one of the most memorable Ashes tests of all time. In youngsters like Ashton Agar, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, the sport of cricket, and the Ashes, is safe. I only hope we can say the same for the morality and fair play that should be instilled from the grassroots.

                    
                    

The Ashes 2013: England Expects?

                   In my relatively short cricket experience, I have never before seen an Ashes series where the weight of expectation is so on the English. In the run-up to this summer, all the talk has been the extent of an English victory. All previous Ashes series that I remember has had an air of hope rather than expectation, where a Warne and McGrath-inspired Australia ripped through the English batting in the 90s and early 2000s. More recently, the English record against their great cricketing rivals has improved dramatically, with home victories in 2005 and 2009, before an historic series win in Australia in 2010/2011. These recent victories, and the depletion of the great Australian team of the 90s, has led the press and the public to conclude that, for the first time in my recollection, the English side are the overwhelming favourites going into the test series. This blog post will investigate why this is the case, and outlining who will be the ones to watch in this summer's series.

                     The first question I would have to ask when considering why people consider England the favourites is: does English cricket suffer from the same over-exaggeration as ails many other sports? For example, before every football World Cup, we recieve a barrage of (tabloid) press coverage stating that England are certainties to win the competition. Optimism bordering on stupidity. As with most competitions in my memory, England progress out of the group, before perishing on penalties in the second round or quarter finals to the likes of Portugal or Argentina. In terms of cricket, the more recent successes, in both the Test format, (Number 1 in the world for a while last year) and the shorter forms (T20 World Cup victors in 2010) suggest that the English cricket side are one of the top teams in the world, and as such should be considered favourites in many of the test series they contest. In terms of the Ashes, whilst predictions such as Sir Ian Botham's 10-0 guess in the next two series may be a touch ridiculous, there is certainly no reason why the English side cannot retain the Ashes on both home and foreign soil. As a result, at first glance, whilst we may naturally be biased, and thus over-exaggerate slightly, it is certainly not to the extent that we see with football.

                       Momentum plays a significant role in all types of sport, and often can indicate the favourites for an event. Cricket is no different. Whilst England have had a relatively serene run-up to this Ashes test, with the controversy over the dropped (and slightly bitter) Nick Compton being the only newsworthy piece to come out of the English dressing room, the Australians have had a rather turbulent last couple of months. The major controversy of the build-up to the Ashes series featured star batsman David Warner. In what was described as an 'unprovoked physical attack' on English batsman Joe Root after a drunken night, Warner put his place in the Ashes side in doubt, and threatened to derail the Australian warm-up to the test series. He has since been confirmed as part of the Australian team to take part in the tour, but one can't help but wonder whether that will cause rifts in the dressing room. I know that I certainly wouldn't be happy to know that a friend of mine had not been given a place over a team-mate who has committed assault! Any cracks in the armour of the Australians will be exploited to the full by the English, and as a result the 'favourites' tag may be justified.

                          Another bizarre decision by the Australians occurred just weeks before the beginning of the Ashes. The removal of head coach Mickey Arthur, replacing him with Darren Lehmann, will do little but destabilise the Australian side, especially as the Aussies will take a while to change their regimes to fit the new man. To compare this to another sport, this is like a football owner removing their manager a week before the Champions League final and expecting his team to play to their optimum capacity despite this. It is always an unrealistic expectation, handing the English further inertia and momentum going into the opening test in Nottingham.

                           If we look at the two teams, we can see further evidence of why England are considered the favourites. The Australian bowling attack promises much, with the dangerous Peter Siddle spearheading the swing bowling. With promising, but inexperienced Ashes bowlers in Pattinson and Starc, we can certainly see how the Aussies can take wickets. The 'mystery' bowler Ashton Agar, making his Ashes debut at the tender age of 19, will either prove to be a master stroke by Michael Clarke, or one that England will take full advantage of. Certainly, the Australians will miss Mitchell Johnson, who would have made a considerable difference to their attack. In terms of batting, once again we see much inexperience in the top order. Whilst opener Shane Watson is well recognised as a top batsman, and Michael Clarke will star further down the order, the rest have been shown to be inconsistent in warm-up matches, and this will undoubtedly be exploited by the English bowlers. Should David Warner make a significant appearance, he will play a vital role in anchoring the Australian innings, being a dependable number 3 or 4. With this team, the Australians are more looking to build for the future than relying on now. Gone are the big names like Hayden, Hussey, Ponting, Gilchrist, Warne, Lee and McGrath, leaving the Aussies with gaping holes in their team sheet. This has seen a series whitewash at the hands of India, and could see them toil in England.

                            Looking at England, we see many of the established names that we have become so accustomed to over the last few series. We have not suffered quite as much as the Australians in terms of retirements, and as such can still boast names like Cook, Pietersen, Bell, Trott, Swann and Anderson. This gives us an undoubted advantage over the Aussies, and with relatively established youngers like Broad able to help the likes of Finn and debutants Bairstow and Root, the English side seems to be far more cohesive than their Australian counterparts. The bowling attack looks particularly damaging, with Anderson, Broad and Swann all capable of taking wickets at will. Finn too looks a prospect, and will benefit massively from the experience of the next few weeks. In terms of batting, England have a good attack, but we have seen that when one wicket falls, we often find it difficult to prevent a collapse. Batsman like Cook, Trott, Bell and Prior will look to anchor the innings, allowing the more flair players like Pietersen and Root to play their shots and make quick runs.

                              Most of the initial analysis has been proven to be in operation when looking at the opening day at Trent Bridge. Whilst the Australian bowling attack has looked threatening, with Peter Siddle the pick of the Aussie bowlers (taking a five-fer), the more inexperienced bowlers have looked good but inconsistent. The English batting once again suffered from a tail collapse, going from 213-6 to 215 all out in double quick time. The batting collapse continued into the Australian innings, with both Watson and Clarke falling cheaply before the close, leaving the Aussie innings perilously poised at 74-4. The first session of today's play will be a crucial one for this test series, allowing either side to get their foot on the throat of their opponent early.

                             In terms of the test series, whilst 10-0 seems a completely ridiculous over-exaggeration, I have to admit that England are looking good to retain the Ashes on home soil. This is unusual coming from me, as I am usually such a pessimist about English sport, refusing to believe the hype that all too often surrounds our national teams. In this case, I have to agree with the evidence, and whilst a whitewash seems a step too far, a series win is certainly not out of the question. I look forward to the rest of the Ashes, and hope that rain plays no part in this summer's contest!