Tag archive for "Australia"
In the lead up to the Ashes Rafiq Copeland remembers the highs and lows of living in England during two very different campaigns.
During last year’s Ashes Series I was living in the UK and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Not to say that England was horrible in itself – I was living in the delightful Devon countryside – but as an Australian I had to put up with a lot of jokes at my expense. Even more than usual.
Well, what an exiting series we have just witnessed. Australia and Pakistan have really served up some of the more exiting test cricket seen in a long while. In an era of endless and pointless cricket series, this two-match series on English soil promised to be as useful as being named Pakistan captain. However, a great dose of new talent, and some excellent, encouraging pitches, this drawn series was just great.
Other than the fact that the ICC should be roundly criticised for continuing to schedule two or four match test series, which inevitably provide little excitement due to teams not being able to play off for the series win, this series will remembered as an increasingly rare moment of joy for test cricket. The last few years, other than the South African tour of Australia two summers ago, have provided very little for the game. In fact, much has been negative, with leading players openly suggesting that they’d rather be playing T20, and the ICC seeming to agree, evidenced by the fact that Kumar Sangakarra and his country played their first test in eight months the other day. But, as I mentioned, a mixture of new and fresh players, and some great competitive pitches provided a fantastic spectacle.
First things first, how exciting to see new talent absolutely loving and thriving in the test environment. Much will be written and said about Mohammed Amir in the years to come, but to catch sight of him at this early stage is just magnificent. His pace, ability to swing the ball, and most importantly his desire are just first class. Also on the Pakistan side it was thrilling to see the continuation of Mohammed Asif’s good form, and the emergence of some good new batting talents, particularly Umar Amin. I guess the other new element was Salman Butt, who obviously must receive plaudits for the win, but I thought was a little too timid in his field placements.
For the Australian’s the new talent was certainly Steve Smith, and the keeper Tim Paine. Australia is certainly not a country that likes blooding new talent much, but the inclusion of these two (Paine admittedly for an injured Brad Haddin) was good to see. Paine looks a fine cricketer, and will certainly be the next in line when Haddin hangs up the gloves. Smith is an interesting case. A couple of years ago in India, Australia tried to play Cameron White in a similar role, but although his batting was strong, his bowling just couldn’t stand up to what was required. The problem for the selectors is that other than when they play in England, Australia is unlikely to get as much impetus from their quicks, without those pace-friendly conditions. As such, the pressure on the spinner to perform is much more intense. Smith, as yet, does not show enough in his bowling to suggest that he can shoulder this pressure in the short term, but perhaps some regular sessions with Shane Warne in the nets, and the continuing improvement of his devastating batting will see him as a shining light in the future.
Finally, I must mention the pitches. How fantastic to see test match pitches that provide a real fighting chance for bowlers. It is perfectly fine for T20 and ODI pitches to batting friendly, as teams only have a certain amount of overs to score, and thus the pressure of time results in more parity for the bowlers. However, in test cricket slow low pitches are a death knell. Teams, like Sri Lanka against India in Galle last week, can simply grind their way to an invincible position, no matter how boring the spectacle may be. Test crickets need to be feisty, and must offer encouragement for bowlers.
All in all, a great series, and subsequent series for Australia in India, and for Pakistan against England should provide more excitement, and the chance to see these young guns of test cricket strut their stuff.
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The series between Australia and Pakistan is a bit of an oddity for a few reasons. The first is that it is being played on foreign soil, England in this case, the second is that the teams played a long and tedious series not six months ago in the Australian summer, and the final reason is that although Australia absolutely destroyed the Pakistani’s in that series, leading to a mass overhaul of Pakistani cricket, the result of this series is far from a foregone conclusion.
Now, I realise that this series preview comes a day late, and I do have the benefit of hindsight, which shows that the Pakistani’s tore apart the Australian batting order last night, but even before the two Mohammed’s success last night, this series was open to either side for the taking.
Playing a test series in Australia is an incredibly difficult task. After their famous Ashes win in 2005, the English team, still stocked full of talent, travelled to Australia and was embarrassed 5-0. Of course following this, Australia went on to lose the Ashes again in England the next year. This is but one example of the difficulties of travelling to Australia for touring sides, even for one as talented as the 2007 England team. The task is even more difficult for teams from the sub-continent, who are not used to the bouncy conditions and larger grounds. In fact the only team to taste success in recent history was South Africa in 2008-9, but this is of course a team that is well used to similar conditions.
Pakistan’s tour of Australia was a disaster, but other than the foreign pitch conditions, there were some fairly important mitigating factors.
The first of these was the furore around the position of former captain Younus Khan. Khan was a fine player, and a celebrated leader, but had been usurped of his power just prior to the series. There was plenty of conjecture about his absence from the team, and this had a marked effect on the new captain Mohammed Yusuf. Yusuf too, was a fine player, but evidently not a strong leader, and couldn’t handle the pressure of the absent Khan, and also struggled through some of the key moments on field.
The second major factor, related to the first, was that Pakistan was being continually undermined by its cricket board. There were constant reports about political interference in selection decisions, including leaving out Kamran Akmal after an admittedly poor performance. This kind of pressure was disruptive to a young team desperately trying to find form after so long not playing test cricket.
The final mitigating factor was the hunger of the Australian team. After a successful tour of South Africa, which seemed to usher in a new era for Ricky Ponting’s post-Warne and McGrath team, the Australians were devastated by their Ashes loss. This meant that they wanted to prove a point to an Australian public that doubted the credentials of this young team. Pakistan, in their tumultuous state, were lambs to the Australian slaughter.
Now, these factors are important to consider when considering the current series in England. Firstly, as we saw last night, the English conditions suit the young and exiting Pakistani pace attack much more than in Australia. Mohammed Amir and Mohammed Asif are fantastic proponents of swing bowling, and must just dream of playing in England every day.
Furthermore, there seems to be more solidity in the Pakistan team. Under new coach Waqar Younis and captain Shahid Afridi, there seems to be a new identity, particularly with Younus Khan and Mohammed Yusuf now clearly out of the picture.
The Australians on the other hand are at an odd place at the moment. Having just lost the ODI series against England, and with another series against India jammed in before the Ashes, Australia is trying desperately to test the strength of its wider squad. It knows that its bowling stocks will need to be deep, and must also start to think about contingencies for a loss of form from the top six. Marcus North seems to be the most at risk in the batting line-up, but Michael Clarke has also been out of touch, and I’m still not convinced with Shane Watson at the top of the order.
None of this means that Pakistan will necessarily win this series, but it will certainly be competitive. If their young batting line-up can support the excellent bowlers, and if their politicians can resist any harmful meddling, then they certainly have a fighting chance in this series.
More world cricket stories
There was a time when a cricketing tour of India was something to be reckoned with. Touring teams not only had to face the perils of players such as Bedi, Azharuddin and Tendulkar, but they had to be able to cope with the absolutely singular experience of playing cricket in India. The grounds were mysterious, the food was exotic, and the pitches were unlike anything found in any other cricketing country. Fast forward to the super-charged atmosphere of today’s cricket, and in particular the IPL, and it’s easy to see how this mystique has evaporated. You see, in their quest for the big bucks, the Indian Cricket Board (ICB) has sold out one of their national trump cards. The days of feared tours to India are surely gone, as more and more players flock to the country once a year to play in the IPL.
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Sri Lanka vs India 2nd Test Day 2 Highlights
Where art thou Ishant Sharma? An open letter to a fading Indian quick
Sri Lanka vs India 2nd Test Day 1 Highlights
