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With the Ashes taking the sporting focus over the next two months, we thought we'd allow one of our resident Aussies, Field Education Manager Scott Ferguson, to go into bat for his once-proud nation and dream of reclaiming the sacred urn.Eighteen months ago, if you asked Australians what they wanted from the 2005 Ashes series, most would have said a contest, after 18 years of one-way traffic. A contest was what we got, the best series in history according to many pundits and when the final stumps were drawn, we Aussies simply weren't good enough. Complacency went out the window and all planning went towards getting those burnt bails back. Australian sports fans will follow major events anywhere, but when a clash versus England is involved, it's pride, history and sticking one up the Mother Country all rolled into one! So what's on the cards this time? When England last visited Australian shores, their chances of victory were shot down in flames early when Simon Jones suffered a horrific knee injury while fielding. We didn't realise just how good Jones was at that stage - in England last year, he was England's biggest weapon. Yet again, injury is thwarting his career and I believe England will be significantly poorer for his absence on this tour. 
The ageing Australian batting line-up was found out against the seam and swing of Flintoff, Hoggard and Jones under cloudy English skies. There won't be much of that in Australia this time around. The decks are hard and the skies are blue, with most of Australia in permanent drought or facing household water restrictions, don’t expect many favours from the weather. The veteran opening pair of Hayden and Langer won't be terrified of balls swerving back into their pads - they'll confidently be able to step forward and belt the red Kookaburra through the covers. Damien Martyn has resurrected his career in the Champions Trophy and will be hell-bent on getting plenty of runs after being on the wrong end of some shocking lbw decisions in England. The major change to the Australian line-up since last year's debacle has been the inclusion of Michael Hussey. His nomination for both ICC Test and One-Day Player of the Year recognises just how good his form has been since his debut in the baggy green. He has taken over from Steve Waugh as the player most Aussies would choose to bat for their life. In the bowling ranks, Glenn McGrath is still making his big statements of a 5-0 whitewash as he has for every series in memory. Personally, that makes me cringe as much as watching an episode of The Office, but if he needs that to get motivated.... His form in India shows there's still plenty of fight in him yet and you can never underestimate a bowler with that much control. Brett Lee stepped up to another level in England and has continued on. He'll be licking his lips at the thought of taking on English batsmen on fast, bouncy pitches. Australia's wildcard will be the third quick to be picked from Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark and new kid on the block Mitchell Johnson, all of whom have impressive form in lower profile events, but how will they stand up in the biggest Test rivalry of them all? And all that's without mentioning Australia's trumpcards - Ponting, Gilchrist and Warne. With most of the Australian XI on the far side of 30, expect this to be a swansong for several players. With retirement looming and a humbling defeat still burnt into their memories, you can guarantee they'll be aiming to go out on a high. What of the touring party – who will cause Australia problems and who will the crowd turn on? The one thing the locals are worried about is the travelling fans. The Barmy Army are legendary around the world. They bring friendly banter and musical comedy to the stands, on the back of raucous support. So concerned by the volume of travelling Englishmen, that not only have Cricket Australia tried to implement restriction on tickets, which only means most of the touts you saw outside Lord’s and The Oval last summer will be on the plane as well, but they’ve also commissioned local sporting songwriter Greg Champion to belt out a few new anthems – and hopefully banish ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie’ from the stands forever. Michael Vaughan is a big loss. He is a quality captain and I see little of his expertise in Flintoff or Strauss. Being the best player in the team does not make you captain material, and Flintoff’s Test batting average is only marginally better than his bowling average. Personally I think he’d be better off concentrating on his fitness as he never seems to have an injury-free campaign. 
You have to be impressed with the mental strength of Alistair Cook. For someone so young, his resilience at the crease has been a joy to watch. Partnerships need to be made at the top of the order to build the innings, not at the end as a get out of jail card. His steady hand can provide the vital balance when paired with stroke-makers such as Pietersen and Flintoff. He can also deputise as an opener should Trescothick’s mystery condition re-emerge. The Australian Fanatics made plenty of the poor catching skills of Geraint Jones and Kevin Pietersen last time around. This time the crowd support will be significantly louder. Whether Jones or Read takes the gloves this time should make little difference – they just have to take the catches and make the stumpings off the spinners. Speaking of spinners, I hope Monty Panesar is strong enough to deal with the flak from the local crowd. You can lay 1.01 that he’ll be targeted from the outer and by the batsmen, it’s up to him to show he is made of sterner stuff than Phil Tufnell a few years back. He has the bowling talent, but very few Test players in this day and age get to rely on one skill to hold their place in the XI. Nothing will be able to match the excitement of the 2005 series but let’s hope for another cracking set of close contests. England need to get off to a flying start at the Gabba. They may have come from behind on home soil, but if they get battered in Brisbane, it could be another long and miserable tour. Australia seem to have all the favours in terms of scheduling this time around and will enter the series fit and fresh. Punters accordingly have backed Australia from a high of 2.4 soon after the market opened last year into a prohibitive quote of 1.25. |
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