We're done! The England players are back at home, the tour Down Under is finished. That's the good news. The bad news is that they leave in 3 days for the subcontinent, for 7 weeks of banal 50-over cricket and runny shits. That, of course, is assuming they last all 7 weeks - the signs have not been good of late in the Australia series, eventually going down 6-1, a repeat dose of the series immediately after the 2009 triumph. And what's worse, is that the team are well and truly on their knees with injuries after an arduous tour. Eoin Morgan, a talisman in the past, is out with a broken finger. Swann, Broad, Shahzad, Bresnan and Collingwood are all currently half-fit. None of this is ideal preparation for a World Cup. But then, being such a long process, there is nothing to say that they cannot slowly rebuild the momentum they had over the summer. Let's quickly take a look at those last few ODIs and be done!
5th ODI (Brisbane) - Australia 249 (49.3 overs) (Clarke 54 off 74, Woakes 10-0-45-6) beat England 198 (45.3 overs) by 51 runs
6th ODI (Sydney) - Australia 334-8 (49.2 overs) (Clarke 82 off 70, Johnson 57 off 59, Watson 51 off 34) beat England 333-6 (50 overs) (Trott 137 off 126, Strauss 63 off 69) by 2 wickets with 4 balls remaining
7th ODI (Perth) - Australia 279-7 (50 overs) (Voges 80* off 72, D Hussey 60 off 60) beat England 222 (44 overs) (Yardy 60* off 76) by 57 runs.
So yeh, it doesn't look that good. England fail with the bat twice chasing modest totals on good pitches and then the one time their batting does actually fire, their bowlers cannot defend a massive score and throw away a winning position. But let us reflect on the positives, aside from the fact the tour is over:
First of all, we have the batting star of the series - Jonathan Trott. He really has become the No.3 that England have always wanted on this tour. And he has made the transformation playing his way. He hasn't hit a mountain of boundaries (just 11 in that magnificent 137 for example) and does not hit the ball with a great deal of power, but instead manoevures into the gaps and runs hard between the wickets. When the others are in form, the likes of Pietersen, Prior and now Bopara, will be able to play their natural aggressive games around him, safe in the knowledge that he will stay in there for the long haul, not giving his wicket away and keeping the scoreboard ticking over. His early international record is now nothing short of phenomenal.
The positives on bowling - the emergence of young Chris Woakes. He signalled his maturity in the 1st T20, with a match-winning knock with the bat, when all around him had seemingly failed and followed it up with a spirited performance with the ball in Brisbane. He is neither as quick or as swingy as James Anderson, but that will hopefully come with time. For now, he bowls in a good area and keeps batsmen honest. There was nothing spectacular about any of his 6 wickets in that game (2nd best figures of all time for an Englishman in ODIs) but the overall effect of the spell was pure brilliance. He slightly blotted his copybook in Sydney, where he was expensive at the beginning and, more crucially, at the death of the innings, but then he was far from the only one on that night and is probably a stronger man for the experience. Time will tell how good he can be.
The deficits have been well documented. They have been talked about before and will probably be talked about again in the near future. So I'm not going to bother. Most of you can now breathe a sigh of relief.
It's all over!
RM
5th ODI (Brisbane) - Australia 249 (49.3 overs) (Clarke 54 off 74, Woakes 10-0-45-6) beat England 198 (45.3 overs) by 51 runs
6th ODI (Sydney) - Australia 334-8 (49.2 overs) (Clarke 82 off 70, Johnson 57 off 59, Watson 51 off 34) beat England 333-6 (50 overs) (Trott 137 off 126, Strauss 63 off 69) by 2 wickets with 4 balls remaining
7th ODI (Perth) - Australia 279-7 (50 overs) (Voges 80* off 72, D Hussey 60 off 60) beat England 222 (44 overs) (Yardy 60* off 76) by 57 runs.
So yeh, it doesn't look that good. England fail with the bat twice chasing modest totals on good pitches and then the one time their batting does actually fire, their bowlers cannot defend a massive score and throw away a winning position. But let us reflect on the positives, aside from the fact the tour is over:
First of all, we have the batting star of the series - Jonathan Trott. He really has become the No.3 that England have always wanted on this tour. And he has made the transformation playing his way. He hasn't hit a mountain of boundaries (just 11 in that magnificent 137 for example) and does not hit the ball with a great deal of power, but instead manoevures into the gaps and runs hard between the wickets. When the others are in form, the likes of Pietersen, Prior and now Bopara, will be able to play their natural aggressive games around him, safe in the knowledge that he will stay in there for the long haul, not giving his wicket away and keeping the scoreboard ticking over. His early international record is now nothing short of phenomenal.
The positives on bowling - the emergence of young Chris Woakes. He signalled his maturity in the 1st T20, with a match-winning knock with the bat, when all around him had seemingly failed and followed it up with a spirited performance with the ball in Brisbane. He is neither as quick or as swingy as James Anderson, but that will hopefully come with time. For now, he bowls in a good area and keeps batsmen honest. There was nothing spectacular about any of his 6 wickets in that game (2nd best figures of all time for an Englishman in ODIs) but the overall effect of the spell was pure brilliance. He slightly blotted his copybook in Sydney, where he was expensive at the beginning and, more crucially, at the death of the innings, but then he was far from the only one on that night and is probably a stronger man for the experience. Time will tell how good he can be.
The deficits have been well documented. They have been talked about before and will probably be talked about again in the near future. So I'm not going to bother. Most of you can now breathe a sigh of relief.
It's all over!
RM
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