An Australian Whitewash is not a given

It did not require for a plotting of ‘leg-theory’ bowling to bring down the Aussies this time. Australia were not expected to give much of a fight to this quality England side and the current status 0-2 in the Investec Ashes series would lend itself to the predictions made prior to the start of the series.

Australian batting has been a let-down with the top order in particular failing to support with any kind of a platform, leaving some of the past greats and members of the then Invincibles mortified at the manner of caving in, particularly in the second Test at the Lord’s.

The tour kicked off with a bit of an unexpected move, though mostly seen as a surprise than a shock for most Australian players. While the timing of the replacement of Coach Mickey Arthur by the home-grown Darren Lehmann is worth a debate, coming as it did a couple of weeks before the start of the Ashes series, the decision seemed to be welcome in most quarters. For all its suddenness, the sacking did not really reek of a vendetta or pose a scapegoat for the dismal performances. It was seen purely as a move towards what would contribute better to Australian cricket.

Much was hoped for from the new coach Lehmann and players had no qualms to admitting publicly that some quick fixes indeed were expected. Fixes or not, he started off on a positive note when the Australians grabbed some important sessions of the First Test at Trent Bridge and were a whisker away from snatching a victory.

Things changed quickly for the worse however in the following match at The Lord’s. The performance in the second Test is something that the Australian team would want to quickly move on from, the first innings total of just 128 runs lasting for less than four hours ultimately contributing to the colossal defeat margin of 347 runs.

If they do manage to get their minds off the batting collapse at Lord’s, the team are not short of positives to take with them to avoid a third consecutive defeat in the series. The bowling has been in good rhythm with the only area of bother being the slow bowling department. Nathan Lyon has been the best spin bowler for Australia for some time and has been wielded the wrong end of the stick unfortunately after his performance in India, an acid test for any spinner. It would be ideal for him to be back in the playing eleven. 

Most batsmen have managed to get off to good starts in the series and not been woefully out of form as the innings totals might suggest. Only Steve Smith and Brad Haddin have not managed anything of note beyond a half-century each. With a much-needed break from International cricket after the second test, the batsmen would in all probability have been trying to work on getting back to the basics of Test cricket.

However, an important series and an unenviable situation like this would mean that the seniors in Michael Clarke and Shane Watson would be expected to take the lead and navigate the team away from trouble. The skipper would only know too well that his batting (along with Michael Hussey’s) has been instrumental in Australia’s win and drawn games in the last couple of years, ever since the batting mammoths of the previous era started withering away to retirements. Take a look at this statistic – Clarke’s Average in the 20 matches prior to the tour of India was a staggering 72.48 and Australia’s win percentage during the corresponding period had been a healthy 60%. In the last two tours where Clarke has struggled to find his rhythm going, his average has fallen to 38.80 and Australia have not managed to win a single of their last six games (Clarke missed out on one game in India due to back injury though). Watson has no such tall numbers to boast about. He would need to buckle down and play some good test innings to not find himself out of contention especially with his bowling too not contributing much of late.

The coach and captain would be aware that dwelling on the negatives would not be of much help. The comparisons with the past greats and building of the team for the future that is going around in the media should not be allowed to burden the inexperienced and younger lot in the team. The players’ task lies at the present, only as far as the next match and the next session for now.

This team might not be a team of world-beaters, far from it as a matter of fact. They are indeed going through the trough of a cycle bound to hit all teams. But they would believe, they have the quality to avert a whitewash. There have been quite a few sessions in the series to take cheer from. Cricket fans would be ardently hoping for more such sessions and a few more of Trent Bridge than a Lord’s.