Having stewed on the result since Sunday here is my measured thoughts on the first test defeat.
I think the whole game changed on Friday when Damian Martyn took a stunning catch to dismiss Pietersen. Five more overs from KP could have pushed England closer to the Australian first innings total.
The second turning point was Pietersen’s hapless attempt off Michael Clarke before tea. This drop really cost us. This error was then compounded by England’s performance on Saturday morning when Geriant Jones shelled three catches. His keeping has now slipped back to the standards it was eighteen months ago and it looked like he was wearing saucepans not gauntlets.
We simply can’t drop as many catches as we did and expect to beat Australia.
Now that the first test is out of the way the hype will no doubt be replaced by mass hysteria in the media. There were some strong positives to come out of this game for England. Harmison, Flintoff and Jones look like a world class pace attack. Kevin Piertersen looks like he was born to play on the big stage. The way he went after McGrath and Warne showed at times they can be made to look human.
What have we learned about Australia? McGrath and Warne took 15 of the 20 wickets that fell. Should we be surprised by this? They’ve been doing this for the last decade against England.
What do we have to worry about?
The big concerns have to be the top order. Strauss looks like a shadow of the player who burst onto the international scene last summer. Vaughan looks like he has lost all his form completely. Ian Bell looked out of his depth. This is a tricky one. Discard Bell and shatter his confidence or persist with him and let the Australians shatter his confidence. Is Rob Key a better option? I’m not convinced. Until he sheds a stone and a half I can’t take him seriously as an England cricketer. If we did have to get rid of Bell I would bring in Collingwood. Not as classy a player as Pietersen but cut from the same mould when comes to attitude his presence and fielding could lift the team.
We’ll have to persist with Jones behind the stumps but another test like that and he’ll have to make way for Read.
Looking back to the first test in the 2002/2003, we were really on the receiving end then, this time it was closer:
http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2002-03/ENG_IN_AUS/SCORECARDS/ENG_AUS_T1_07-11NOV2002.html
A round up of the papers:
http://content.cricinfo.com/engvaus/content/story/214279.html
I think the whole game changed on Friday when Damian Martyn took a stunning catch to dismiss Pietersen. Five more overs from KP could have pushed England closer to the Australian first innings total.
The second turning point was Pietersen’s hapless attempt off Michael Clarke before tea. This drop really cost us. This error was then compounded by England’s performance on Saturday morning when Geriant Jones shelled three catches. His keeping has now slipped back to the standards it was eighteen months ago and it looked like he was wearing saucepans not gauntlets.
We simply can’t drop as many catches as we did and expect to beat Australia.
Now that the first test is out of the way the hype will no doubt be replaced by mass hysteria in the media. There were some strong positives to come out of this game for England. Harmison, Flintoff and Jones look like a world class pace attack. Kevin Piertersen looks like he was born to play on the big stage. The way he went after McGrath and Warne showed at times they can be made to look human.
What have we learned about Australia? McGrath and Warne took 15 of the 20 wickets that fell. Should we be surprised by this? They’ve been doing this for the last decade against England.
What do we have to worry about?
The big concerns have to be the top order. Strauss looks like a shadow of the player who burst onto the international scene last summer. Vaughan looks like he has lost all his form completely. Ian Bell looked out of his depth. This is a tricky one. Discard Bell and shatter his confidence or persist with him and let the Australians shatter his confidence. Is Rob Key a better option? I’m not convinced. Until he sheds a stone and a half I can’t take him seriously as an England cricketer. If we did have to get rid of Bell I would bring in Collingwood. Not as classy a player as Pietersen but cut from the same mould when comes to attitude his presence and fielding could lift the team.
We’ll have to persist with Jones behind the stumps but another test like that and he’ll have to make way for Read.
Looking back to the first test in the 2002/2003, we were really on the receiving end then, this time it was closer:
http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2002-03/ENG_IN_AUS/SCORECARDS/ENG_AUS_T1_07-11NOV2002.html
A round up of the papers:
http://content.cricinfo.com/engvaus/content/story/214279.html
posted by DaveT at 12:46 PM
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