Shush Mitchell, Jimmy is bowling.
(Source: wisdencricketer.com)
Toil, trouble and collapse
It’s fair to say that in the last three days Australia have comprehensively outplayed England with both bat and ball. This was bought into sharp focus today by the contrasting fortunes of the bowling talisman of England and Australia. Mitchell Johnson continued to swing the ball round corners at high speed bamboozling England’s batsman into a second batting collapse in the same test. While Graeme Swann bowled poorly and was hit out of the attack by Mike Hussey who again showed how crucial he was to the Australian batting. This left England’s seamers exposed to a huge amount of work, the fact that they actually managed to control the scoring should be a huge confidence boast for them, but without enough rest it appeared difficult to take the required wickets.
England and Australia still have weaknesses which will now define the course of the series, Swann is the crucial link in England’s attack he is a capable of long spells which both protect England’s seamers and threaten wickets. Without an in form Swann England are hobbled particularly if they persist with only four bowlers. Australia still have their own bowling problems for me it’s difficult to see Johnson maintaining this form but their current selection gives them six viable options two of which haven’t even been used in this test so despite the apparent inconsistencies they may still succeed. Australian batting however is possibly an even bigger issue, as it seems to be boiling down to Watson and Hussey. If England can get these two it will cover their frailties with the ball and should give England the edge in the remaining tests.
