Ashes Series Preview: A series that is too close to call

Australia should defy history to etch a historical series win on English soil after 15 years

If the 2005 and 2009 Ashes series were Ricky Ponting’s worst nightmares as an Australian captain, 2013 was no less than a catastrophe for Michael Clarke when Australia failed to win even a single Test match in the 5 match Ashes series. 14 long years it has been since any of the Australian predecessors have dethroned England to reclaim the Ashes glory on English soil.

And tomorrow when Michael Clarke sets his foot out for the toss at the Cardiff for the start of a prolific Test series on the backdrop of over 130 years of history, the burden will be on Australia.

ENGLAND:

Over the years, England and Australia have been the sides becoming too familiar with each other. They have played relentless cricket since 2014 with an Ashes series in Australia followed by a tri-nation ODI series and once again they came head-to-head in a world cup clash.

England barely made an impact every time and it was Australia who were exceedingly dominant rattling the English team into humiliation and disgust. While Australia established themselves as a remarkable team, the English were countered with problems aplenty resulting in a fatal period of transition.

But all that said will now go down into history without any relevance to the future. There is now a much more added pressure on Australia than on England given that they have been winless since a decade of that enthralling Ashes summer in 2005. England however, will be a far more relaxed side despite being bullied by Australia in the last Ashes series.

The much more hype of a new look England, the life after Peter Moores era have been catching the attention of world cricket. Their last series against New Zealand at home gave a glimpse of their new look approach and their plan of action in building a team for the future.

Despite losing the second Test match, their intent was flowing towards positivity, ‘’to be bold and attack’’. The young blood in Joe Root, Jos Butler, Ben Strokes and Mark Wood give so much of hope to England. Cook’s captaincy will once again take the limelight and be the central theme. The rest of the experienced players Ian Bell, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali just need to support.

Watch out for Anderson

The prime reason that England has been so good at home is primarily due to the ability of James Anderson to swing the ball in a highly effective manner testing the virtues of a batsman’s skill with a destructive swinging ball that can move in both directions.

The swing he generates in English conditions makes him by far the deadliest bowler to be around in world cricket. He keeps bombarding the edge of the bat with wizardry deliveries where batsmen try to poke it tentatively and thus edging it to the keeper or to the slip cordon invariably.

Anderson always relished the challenge of bowling to the Australian batsmen and always had the advantage of getting better over them. The spell that he bowls in the entire Ashes is going to be a major decisive moment of every part of the game as he comes with an ability to take wickets in a good deal. The major challenge vests upon the Australian batsmen to counter the proficiency of his swinging deliveries.

AUSTRALIA:

There should be no delusions about that on paper as Australia look to be a superior side than England at the moment. But it is not always the best team on paper wins the game. The factors to determine the result go beyond that.

It has been a fantastic turnaround for Australia over the last few years. There has been a slew of some legendary careers retiring and it took a while for Australia to settle and mark another new beginning. Their record at home stands to be phenomenal but they have not had much success away from home as much as they had in their backyard. They recently beat the West Indies comprehensively in the away series, but the challenge that lies ahead of Australia is much bigger than it actually is.

More than anything else, they should defy the history to etch a historical series win after 15 years on English soil. To have world class players in the squad could help for the cause of winning but the pressure to deliver continuously over a period of 2 months to reign supreme over the opponents need a definite grit and high quality of skill and sometimes in the course of delivering, even the best can falter.

This Ashes series would test and grind the temperament and skill of the Australian players who are presently touted as to having the world’s best lineup of players in Test match cricket. The conditions and the situations are however different from the last Ashes series.

When Mitchell Johnson unleashed brutal thunderbolts on England in 2014, it frightened and mentally disintegrated the England batting lineup. But in England, it is the swing that often dictates the competence of the bowler than anything. Johnson in 2009, had a horrid tour to England where he amounted to nothing. But this is 2015 and Johnson is in a rejuvenated form. Australia needs a strong and fit Johnson to be firing along with Mitchell Starc. The Johnson-Starc show that Australia will be putting on display through the Ashes will determine if they are well equipped with the conditions to get 20 England wickets to win the Test match.

Apart from Johnson, this series adds a lot of importance to Steve Smith, testing his temperament and skill in the conditions that challenge him as a batsman. The new world number 1 Test player, who loves to pile huge runs will be confronted by a testing challenge from the English swing bowlers especially when an early wicket falls. The swinging ball poses a significant threat early in the innings and the key to success is to have a technique that would mitigate the threat to lose his wicket.

Voges is the man

A rookie international Test player aged 35, Adam Voges adds a real strength to Australia’s batting line-up. For someone who played over a decade of first class cricket, the experience he brings into the team is enormous.

The advantage that Voges brings with himself is that he knows the conditions better than some of the players in the Australian lineup despite playing only two Test matches. He spent all the prime days of his career playing first-class county matches year after year becoming a veteran. And the formidable English bowling attack should put Voges through a real test.

The series is expected to be a cracker and is too close to call.