5 reasons why Australia are Ashes favourites

A lot of drama, speculation, bad mouthing - the usual prelude to an Ashes contest was witnessed prior to the first test match at the Gabba in Brisbane.

And the match lived up to the hype and expectations as we got to witness a gritty, determined performance from the hosts, Australia which certainly outclassed the visiting English team.

After a tricky and tough first three days, Australia stamped their authority and went on to thump England and win the test match by 10 wickets.

Looking at what transpired at the Gabba and the fact that Australia as a team didn’t really fire on all cylinders, here’s looking at reasons why they can go on to win this Ashes series:

Steven ‘Stellar’ Smith’s batting and captaincy

Steven Smith walked out to bat in a rather tricky situation at the Gabba. With 3 quick wickets, England were right on top. It was then the Aussie skipper Smith showed what he’s made of.

A knock laced with solid technique, his trademark shots and more importantly his presence of mind and the match situation. He had to guide the team out of a messy situation and also guide Shaun Marsh to hang in with him and put pressure on the English bowlers.

This innings of 141 not out from 326 balls was filled with 14 boundaries, most of which were sublime, exquisite shots. In terms of the pressure and the match situation when he came in to bat, the value of his century only increases.

Australian great Ricky Ponting termed this knock from Smith as “stellar” and commendable and also went on to say that it will go down as one of the finest knocks played by an Australian captain in the history of Ashes. That pretty much sums up the brilliance of Smith’s batting performance.

Apart from that what was pleasing to see what how well he was able to utilise the bowlers. With Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and Lyon in the team, Smith after a long time had the luxury of having 4 quality match-winners at his disposal.

Although all the bowlers didn’t perform to the best of their abilities, his field placement showed that he wanted to attack the England batsmen and not allow them to settle. That confidence and positivity was carried on by the bowlers especially in the second innings where they dismissed England for a modest total of 195.

On a whole, if Steven Smith can continue the good work as a batsman and captain, then there’s nothing stopping Australia from defeating their arch-rivals to go on to win this Ashes series.

Capitalising on England’s weaknesses

Australia built on Engalnd's dependence on Alastair Cook

It’s a known fact that England are over-dependent on Alastair Cook and Joe Root with the bat and James Anderson and Stuart Broad with the ball. Australia figured that out pretty quick and had a strategy in mind to remove Cook and Root early.

Alastair Cook can bat long hours and can cause serious trouble for Australia. So, through Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood, they managed to get an edge over Cook as he managed a meagre 9 runs in the match.

Whether Australia can carry this momentum forward has to be seen but they have set the stage for Cook and England to worry. With England’s middle-order looking rather wobbly and out of confidence, Nathan Lyon nipped out Stoneman, Malan and Moeen Ali in the second innings which was crucial to Australia’s win, as Joe Root was looking good but he couldn’t get enough support at the other end.

As a team they managed to play out the threat of Anderson and Broad pretty well in the second innings and then they attacked the other bowlers who didn’t show much promise.

The fact that Australia were aware of England’s strengths and able to build a strategy to negate them augers well for them with 4 games left in the series. This certainly is a positive sign and something which gives us the impression that Australia can go on to win this Ashes.

Australia’s bowling attack performed well as a team

After a long time, Steven Smith had the luxury of having Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and Lyon as his bowling attack. Each bowler individually is capable of winning the game on his merit.

Credit goes to the bowling attack as they backed each other pretty well. Starc and Hazlewood were coming back into the team after an injury lay-off so were a bit cold in the first innings. It is then that Cummins and Lyon stepped and ensured that the pressure was on the England batsmen at all times.

Nathan Lyon in particular was fantastic through the game. He carried forward his brilliant form from the Bangladesh series. He was able to put constant pressure on England, allowing Smith to rotate his quick bowlers from the other end.

It was a complete team effort from the Aussie bowlers where everyone chipped in to deliver the results. And this is with Starc and Hazlewood bowling within themselves. With the pink ball and lights, this Australian bowling attack is going to be even more lethal in the second test.

Australia haven’t played to their full potential thus far

With the inclusion of debutant Cameron Bancroft along with the return of Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazelwood from injury, the Australian team looked a bit unsettled heading into a very important series- The Ashes.

Adding to that was the surprise inclusion of Tim Paine ahead of Matthew Wade or Peter Nevill as their wicket-keeper for this series. England, with their fragile batting lineup, looked stronger on paper before the start of the first test match.

Starc, Hazelwood and even the debutant Bancroft rose up to the occasion and put away any doubts about the team looking rusty or unsettled heading into the game. Add to that the likes of Khawaja and Handscomb didn’t fire in the first test match.

As a team, Australia didn’t play to full potential at the Gabba. It was the individual brilliance of players like Steven Smith, David Warner and Nathan Lyon which was good enough to beat England.

Going forward, if Khawaja and Handscomb can strike form and the bowlers can find complete rhythm and form, this Australian team will look even more potent and lethal on home soil. If the team plays to their full potential, then it will be really hard for England to come back in this series.

Cameron Bancroft - A solid foil for the attacking David Warner

In recent times, Australia haven’t been able to find a good opening partner for the attacking, swashbuckling David Warner. And it’s very important for any test team to have a solid opening combination. They add stability and importantly, they protect the middle-order from getting exposed early.

Australia have tried Matt Renshaw who showed some grit and determination. He was good in Indian conditions where the experienced Warner failed to impress. But he was unable to convert his starts to something substantial, which made the selectors think of other alternatives.

Cameron Bancroft has been impressive with his performances in the domestic circuit. 67 matches, 4477 runs at an average of 39.97 with 11 centuries and 18 fifties for Western Australia are good numbers.

With Australia looking at someone who can be a good foil to David Warner- who is prolific in home conditions, the selectors preferred to pick someone who has played well in Australian conditions heading into the Ashes.

And it’s never easy for someone to make his test match debut against England in a high pressure series like the Ashes. And not to forget, he has to face the likes of Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Chris Woakes in full flow.

Keeping those points in mind and just based on his performance in the first test match at the Gabba in Brisbane, Australia seem to have found a good solid opening partner. This further strengthens the Aussie batting lineup making it look more settled and less wobbly.