Truth to tell, Australia may struggle to win back the Ashes. They may be playing at home but, if they can’t win at the Gabba where they usually exploit the pace and bounce well, they may not be able to win a Test this series.
This may sound premature, especially considering how the Perth pitch can bring a positive result for just about any team with a good pace bowling attack. However, Australia seem to have gone way down, metamorphosing from the sublime to the ordinary.
One major reason why the home side could not win was their predilection to keep picking Mitchell Johnson, the round-armed left-arm slinger who looks abut as ordinary as a trundler on the staff of a second division county in England.
Selectors seem to have realised their error and will be quick to bring back Doug Bollinger who has the far greater ability to bring the occasional ball back into the right hander. Ryan Harris might complete the trio in order to restore the balance Johnson’s batting was supposed to provide. Unless the Aussies get the big break in Perth by being able to exploit the bounce early, they may find this England team a hard nut to crack.
Considering Ponting’s men were dominant in the Test right up to the moment they built a sizeable lead, they are not to be written off too quickly. The signs of decline have, however, been in the air for more than a while now and the fall is being made worse by the kind of selection policies being pursued by a committee that also has Greg Chappell in it. Everyone knows cricket’s fortunes are cyclical and those who fall would rise again provided they have the professional pride to do it. The Aussies will never be lacking in that.
Their problem is if they had two class bowlers like Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in the side they may have won the same Gabba Test in under four days. Bowling standards have fallen around the world and nowhere is it more obvious than in Australia. It appears the old assembly line of pace bowlers is not working anymore.
The Gabba has been such a fortress for the Aussies — unbeaten there for more than 22 years — that rarely do visiting captains leave without a sense of dejection. The Indians who drew the Test there in 2004 thanks to a lot of unseasonal rain went on to sparkle in the series, going ahead in Adelaide and ultimately dominating a 1-1 draw after customary defeat in Melbourne. Strauss, who made runs in the second essay and still ended up being the lowest scorer in the England card in both innings, is in the same happy position as Sourav Ganguly now to turn the screws on the Aussies.