Ponting, the only Australian captain to lose three Ashes series, also failed to fire as a batsman.
After being thumped 1-3 by England and failing to regain the Ashes urn, Australia needs to take a hard look at the composition of its Test team starting from the top as the former world champions work towards shrugging off this massive disappointment and take the long road back to reasserting their dominance by re-focussing on the basics.
More disappointing than the failure to regain the urn from Australia's perspective would be the gulf in class between the two teams for most of the Ashes series, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to state that Australia is facing its most serious issue with finding cricket talent in the country since the Kerry Packer days. And, in a further indictment for the beleaguered 2010-11 Ashes squad, they have been described as the worst Australian team fielded for an Ashes series by their local media and commentators.
The two main reasons for Australia's abject performance in the series are the woeful form of the top-order and the failure of their bowlers to make inroads and sustain pressure on England's batsmen. These combined with fielding lapses also made it difficult for Australia to compete with England on an equal footing for most of the series.
When a team loses three Tests in a five-match series by an innings, it is apparent that the batsmen failed to do their job, and the bowlers also didn't come up with inspired spells of bowling that contained the run flow or exerted any pressure on the opposition batsmen that resulted in wickets for the most part.
Australia's highest score in the series was 481 at the Gabba, while their lowest was a dismal 98 in Melbourne. Most of Australia's top-order batsmen failed to cope with the swing and length generated by England's pace bowlers and looked like novices for the most part with a few exceptions, though to give credit where it is due - the Pommies' fast bowlers were world-class through the series. The Australian batsmen's cause wasn't made any easier by their decision to play rash and ill-advised shots at the most inopportune of times. The loss of quick wickets at the top also meant that England captain Andrew Strauss and his team were able to dominate the Australians for most part of the series.
Ricky Ponting, who is now the only Australian captain to lose three Ashes series, failed in his dual role as skipper and his team's premier batsman. Ponting, the No.3 batsman, scored only 113 runs in eight innings at an average of 16.14. If one were to remove his highest score of 51* in the series, his average falls into single figures. Ponting the captain, unfortunately, was hardly better, and his field settings and bowling changes were questioned for most of the 2010-11 Ashes series. Ponting missed the Sydney Test because of a fractured finger, but needs to think hard about his future in the Australian Test team, even though he is adamant he is still the best man to lead his country.
Michael Clarke was another notable failure in the top-order, and batting at No. 4, he managed to eke out 193 runs in the series at an average of 21.44. He may need to contemplate dropping down to the three-drop position, where he is more comfortable.
Phillip Hughes replaced the injured Simon Katich mid-way through the series, but failed to grab his opportunity to consolidate his place in the team, as he struggled his way to score 97 runs in six innings. Marcus North was dumped after failing to impress in the first two Tests of the series, and Steven Smith only fared comparatively better as his replacement. Smith, however, has age on his side and is touted to be one of Australia's exciting prospects for the future, but he needs to further develop his game to make meaningful contributions to the Test team.
Australia's bowlers couldn't be faulted for not trying hard enough, but at the end of the day, the lack of penetration in the attack coupled with the inability to contain the run-flow and exert pressure of any kind for the most part saw England post totals in excess of 500 runs four times in the series, including 644 all out at the SCG, which is their highest-ever score in Australia.
Mitchell Johnson, Australia's bowling spearhead, had a series to forget except for the third Test in Perth, where he had match figures of 9 for 82 as he and Ryan Harris blew away the England batting line-up as the hosts eased to a 267-run win. However, Johnson failed to have any impact on England's batsmen in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, where he was at his erratic best and proved to be easy picking for even the late-order batsmen. Johnson's 15 wickets in the series came at an average of 36.93 and strike rate of 54.6. In fact, Harris was the only Australian bowler to have a strike rate of below 50 - an apt indication of the inability of the Aussie attack to pose any threat to the opposition batsmen.
Ben Hilfenhaus bowled the most number of overs by an Australian bowler in the series, but apart from his hard work and ability to generate swing on occasions, he didn't have much to show for his efforts in terms of making crucial breakthroughs as his series figures of 157.5-42-415-7 indicate. Australian selectors also got their spin choice wrong when they chose Xavier Doherty over Nathan Hauritz for the first two matches of the series. Doherty, though was unimpressive, and was dumped himself after the Adelaide Test.
It is quite tough to pinpoint positives for a team under such circumstances. However, Australia does have some gains to talk about from the series, particularly the resurrection of Hussey's Test career and the emergence of Usman Khawaja as a future one-drop batsman.
Hussey started the Ashes series with a bang as he made a career-saving 195 at the Gabba, and continued his good form in the second and third Tests with scores of 93, 52, 61 and 116; and though the southpaw failed at the MCG and SCG, he still finished as Australia's highest run-scorer with 570 runs at an average of 63.33. Hussey was also called into lead rearguard rescue acts because of the continued failures of Australia's top order, and he did so with aplomb in the first three Tests.
Khawaja, who made his Test debut at the SCG as replacement for Ponting, may have only scored 37 and 21 runs in his two outings in the Test, but he demonstrated enough poise and talent to indicate he is ready to take over the pivotal No. 3 position.
Watson was the only consistent performer in Australia's top-order and though he didn't convert any of his four half-centuries into centuries, he scored 435 runs in the series at an average of 48.33. Though Watson had a good series with the bat, he needs to start converting his starts into big scores to be considered a good Test match opening batsman. Haddin had a good series both behind and in front of the stumps for the most part, and though the experiment to promote him to No. 6 failed in the SCG Test, Australia would do well to persevere with him in that role. Haddin scored 360 runs in the series with a highest score of 136 at an average of 45.
Peter Siddle (14 wickets) and Harris, whose Ashes series was cut short after the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne, bowled well in patches and need to be commended for running in and hitting the deck hard, but apart from a couple of spells, they weren't really able to maintain the pressure on England's batsmen. The unheralded Michael Beer, who made his Test debut at the SCG, and the dumped Hauritz, look to be Australia's best bets in the spin department for at least the next couple of seasons.
There is no disputing that the weak areas far outweigh the few gains the Baggy Greens had in the Ashes series, but failing to regain the urn may actually turn out to be the best thing for Australian cricket if Cricket Australia and the players admit certain things and ways of thinking need to change, and make a concerted effort to start and bridge the obvious gaps in their top-order and bowling attack before the next series comes along.
0 comments:
Post a Comment