88 Days Until the Ashes…
As Blaise Murphet pointed out a few days ago, Pakistan have taught us some lessons about both Australia and England before the Ashes kicks off in November. The one big thing we’ve discovered about both their batting lineups is their fragility. The fragility of the Australia batting unit was illustrated in the remarkable collapse on the first day of the 2nd test at Headingley. Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif claimed three wickets a piece as they fell for a woeful 88. You can watch the footage unfold again by clicking play on the video below.
But the truth is, England’s batting has been proven over the course of their test series with Pakistan to be just as fragile as the Australians. They might not have had an 88 all out but in the 3rd Test at the Oval they lost 6 wickets for 74 runs. It would be a collapse that would ultimately lead to their downfall as Pakistan kept the series alive at 2-1. And as we’ve seen from the 4th test to date this was far from a one off.
Despite England posting a substantial total of 446 in their first innings, their innings could not have been more lopsided. The epic 8th wicket partnership of 332 between Jonathan Trott (188) and Stuart Broad (169) was just as monumental as the collapse that went before it earlier in the day. England went from 39-2 to 7-102 with numbers 4,5,6 and 8 all recording ducks thanks to some incredible bowling from Mohammad Amir.
Conditions in Australia are likely to be a bit more batter friendly than those experienced in England this summer. But I certainly wouldn’t rule out the possibility some batting collapses come November as each team’s batting lineup looks from time to time that little bit shaky.
Where Next? Choose from the latest cricket stories…
- My Favourite Cricketer…. Anil Kumble
- One Hand One Bounce Weekly Cricket Podcast 62
- Book Review: Miller’s Luck, by Roland Perry
- The Pacific Pull Shot Episode 4
- Relationships in Cricket are Funny Things
- One Hand One Bounce Weekly Cricket Podcast 61
- Nathan Lyon Signals a Post-Warne Era for Australian Cricket
- One Hand One Bounce Weekly Cricket Podcast 60
- My Favourite Cricketer…. Chris Pringle
- What Would Hell Be Like for a Pakistani Cricket Fan?
