3rd Test: Australia v England at The WACA, Perth, 13-17 Dec

[Owzat]

Thought I might as well get this thread going now, starts this Friday

England need to try and win this one, their record in Perth suggests that may take some doing, as does their form in the series so far. England have won only once at the WACA, lost eight (66.67%) and drawn three times 25.00%)

England's only win at the WACA in December 1978 :

Australia vs England (2nd Test, Ashes 78/79)

England 1st inns - 309 (117.5 overs)
G.Boycott 77, D.Gower 102, G.Miller 40. R.Hogg 5/65

Australia 1st inns - 190 (66.5 overs)
P.Toohey 81no. R.Willis 5/44

England 2nd inns - 208 (66.3 overs)
G.Gooch 43, D.Randall 45. R.Hogg 5/57

Australia 2nd inns - 161 (46.1 overs)
G.Wood 64, G.Cosier 47. P.Lever 4/28, G.Miller 3/21

England won by 166 runs

Botham surprisingly ended wicketless in 11 overs bowled in each innings, but did score 11 and 30 in a fairly low scorer. England were 41/3 in their 1st innings, Australia 100/7 in their's. In Australia's 2nd innings they were 58/4, recovered to 141/4 before losing their last six wickets for 20 runs.

I think it is essential England win the toss in Perth, and then put a big score on the board.


England series averages 13/14

Cook : 82 runs @ 20.50 (HS 65)
Carberry : 114 runs @ 28.50 (HS 60)
Trott : 19 runs @ 9.50 (HS 10)
Root : 130 runs @ 43.33 (HS 87)
Pietersen : 101 runs @ 25.25 (HS 53)
Bell : 115 runs @ 38.33 (HS 72no)
Stokes : 29 runs @ 14.50 (HS 28) & 2 wkts @ 45.00 (BB 2/70)
Prior : 35 runs @ 11.67 (HS 31no)
Broad : 58 runs @ 19.67 (HS 32) & 11 wkts @ 23.00 (BB 6/81)
Swann : 7 runs @ 2.33 (HS 7) & 4 wkts @ 99.25 (BB 2/135)
Tremlett : 15 runs @ 7.50 (HS 8) & 4 wkts @ 30.00 (BB 3/69)
Anderson : 4 runs @ 2.00 (HS 2no) & 5 wkts @ 48.80 (BB 2/19)
Panesar : 2 runs @ 2.00 (HS 2) & 2 wkts @ 99.00 (BB 1/41)

Not hard to see why England are struggling, only two batsmen averaging more than 30 and England dropped Tremlett to bring in a spinner and 'all-rounder' while retaining an ineffectual Anderson and Swann.

Where England won the Ashes at home was in the bowlers backing up the batsmen when the batting wasn't scoring big scores, here it is the side that doesn't collapse all the time like a cheap tent that will boss it and England haven't shown nearly enough batting strength.

If this series were in England then they may have gotten away with it as Anderson, Broad and Swann would have come to the rescue. Here there is no such rescue. Bell had a good series, the rest of the batting not so much and it was Broad with 22 wickets supported by Swann (26) and Anderson with 22 more expensive wickets that sealed the series.

 

[barmyarmy]

Here's my radical team for Perth:

Cook
Carberry
Root
KP
Bell
Ballance
Prior
Bresnan
Broad
Anderson
Mills

 

[SpitfiresKent]

I'd agree with that although I would swap Mills with Rankin.

 

[barmyarmy]

How fast does Rankin bowl? I think at Perth raw pace is very handy especially as they have two bowlers who are able to break bones and we don't appear to have any.

 

[MUFC1987]

If only we had a young fast bowler with 90 or so Test wickets already to his name, who we could bring in.

Or we could bring in the guy averaging 60 odd in the Division Two of the Championship last year.

If we're talking about people who should be nearer the side, Moeen Ali gets the vote for me. Proper batsman who could do the job at 6 and more than useful off-spin. Would let you pick three specialist pace bowlers and still have two spinning options.

 

[Skater]

Cook
Carberry
Root
Pietersen
Bell
Bairstow
Prior
Bresnan
Broad
Swann
Anderson

That would be mine.

 

[Owzat]

Cook
Carberry
Root
Pietersen
Bell
Bairstow
Prior
Bresnan
Broad
Swann
Anderson

That would be mine.

Probably something like that. You can't really drop Cook, Pietersen or Bell and Root probably did enough. Still not convinced about Carberry but he's done enough to merit another go or two, Bairstow probably unlucky not to come in for Trott.

Bowling wise well Swann has struggled, but whether he or Panesar would be the better option is questionable and their records in the series are similar bar maybe Panesar's ER is very worrying.

Funny how Anderson has struggled yet no one seems keen to drop him - ever. Tremlett hasn't done too much wrong, Anderson has taken one more wicket than him in one more Test, five wickets @ 48.80 compared to four @ 30.00

Oh and with regards Swann's comments on "no blame" for dropped catches, I think perhaps England's series motto should be "catch you later.................."

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Here's my radical team for Perth:

Cook
Carberry
Root
KP
Bell
Ballance
Prior
Bresnan
Broad
Anderson
Mills

Mills? From what I hear, he's all speed and no accuracy. They should give Rankin a go. Don't understand why you need to drop Stokes after just a game!

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From my point of view, I'm delighted to see the hammering the Poms are getting just like I was overjoyed when the Poms butchered Australia in 2005. England have had this coming for a long, long time.

I truly believe, like Shane Warne, that the brand of cricket they play is absolutely negative. Stuart Broad contributes to my dislike, but even from a completely neutral perspective, it's just so negative. I'm a little divided about this English side. I have immense respect for Cook, Pietersen who I believe is along with Ab the best modern day batsman crossing all formats, Bell, Anderson and Swann. Broad is good, but he's a bit of a piss off.

England tried to fix something that wasn't broken.

1) Jimmy looks tired. If I had to pick three seamers in the world, it would be Jimmy, Dale Steyn and on current form Mitch. But if they were all at their peak, I'd still pick Anderson ahead of both. He from the very outset, looks drained. Don't get me wrong, he looks bloody fit like most of them these days, but his NIP is missing and it often happens with him when he's over bowled. I read somewhere that he's bowled the most deliveries in Tests along with Swann since 2010. That, says a lot. I couldn't for the life of me get why he played in some tests which he shouldn't have.

2) England have tried all sorts of combinations since Strauss left. England's biggest strength was their fast bowling resources management and stability. I don't understand why Compton was dropped. I don't understand why Root was made to open. I don't understand why he was dropped down the order and I certainly don't get the big deal about Carberry. He's older than Compton and I believe that was the criteria for dropping Compton.

3) How many No.6's have England tried in their attempt to replace Collingwood? I believe Morgan, Bairstow, Taylor, Woakes and Stokes and from the look of things, they're now going to try Ballance. I have nothing against any of these guys, but while all looked talented, none was given a proper run other than Morgan you could argue. I like the look of Stokes, and I hope they don't drop him.

I really like Cook. I think he's ticked all boxes of a truly great test batsman. I just don't think he's a captain. You give him a good side and he will grind the opposition down, but with the way he is as captain, it will take him an eternity to pull a side back up. I feel, Swann should be made captain. Prior stays for me, form or not, after De Villiers he's the best test batman and keeper and that says a lot.

 

[barmyarmy]

I wouldn't have played him to start with. An all-rounder should be able to get into the side for his batting or his bowling alone. Stokes wouldn't get in for either.
Why Mills? I feel at Perth especially we need someone with raw pace to shake the Aussies up a bit. If we bowl him in short bursts and the rest of the attack do most the work he could be very effective. As you say though it won't happen.
I suspect the side many people predicted for Adelaide will be chosen with Bresnan and Ballance in for Panesar/Stokes.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

I wouldn't have played him to start with. An all-rounder should be able to get into the side for his batting or his bowling alone. Stokes wouldn't get in for either.
Why Mills? I feel at Perth especially we need someone with raw pace to shake the Aussies up a bit. If we bowl him in short bursts and the rest of the attack do most the work he could be very effective. As you say though it won't happen.
I suspect the side many people predicted for Adelaide will be chosen with Bresnan and Ballance in for Panesar/Stokes.

Isn't Rankin 140-145 kmph too? From what I saw of him in the ODI's, he's a little bit of a Morne Morkel.

 

[Haarithan]

Spot on analysis, Kushal. Especially point #2. Still baffled by Compton's omission considering he only really had two poor test matches at home to New Zealand. All the more baffled the selectors named an older yet poorer replacement in Carberry.

Also from what I heard while streaming Sky Sports 2 yesterday, Nasser Hussain all but confirmed Finn isn't anywhere in the mix to get a go at Perth, and also says the right call is being made wrt Finn, citing he hasn't at all bowled well of late, whilst backing the likes of Rankin and Tremelett to start at the WACA. Appallingly hypocritical to say the least.

My XI for Perth:

1. Cook
2. Carberry (totally should have been Compton here)
3. Root
4. Pietersen
5. Bell
6. Bairstow/Ballance
7. Prior
8. Broad
9. Swann/Stokes (In the case of the latter, move him up to #8, he sure as hell isn't a #6!)
10. Anderson
11. Finn

I'd save Bresnan for Melbourne and Sydney tbh.

 

[karolkarol]

England don't make enough runs, simple. What's that 20 innings without reaching 400 now?

As for Mills, he is nowhere near test standard and currently I wouldn't even have him in a 1st choice Essex XI, Topley is a much better prospect IMHO.

My team would be

Cook
Carberry (although as Haarithan says this should be Compton)
Root
KP
Bell
Ballance
Prior
Bresnan
Broad
Swann
Anderson

Runs on the board and time taken out of the game doing it means that generally you don't lose matches. Yes England have been poor with the ball and pooer again in the field but in my mind their biggest crime has been the batting. Put that right and it should reinstill some confidence.

 

[War]

Australia v England, 2nd Test, Adelaide, 5th day : Shocked Cook searches for answers | Cricket News | England in Australia - The Ashes | ESPN Cricinfo

Graeme Swann and James Anderson, The Age revealed, have bowled more deliveries in Test cricket than anyone in the world since the start of the 2010-11 series. Sometimes it shows.

 

[barmyarmy]

Well that's mostly because we're one of the few countries to take test cricket seriously and play 5 test series.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

clearly England aren't playing enough twenty20.

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1) Jimmy looks tired. If I had to pick three seamers in the world, it would be Jimmy, Dale Steyn and on current form Mitch. But if they were all at their peak, I'd still pick Anderson ahead of both.

then you are mental.

anyway, I think a 4 man pace attack is the way to go but not just picking someone because of raw pace. Australia thought that would be a good idea, remember the threats of "chin music" when they unleashed Tait on india? he was promptly spanked to all corners and australia lost their record match winning streak.