When there’s a will, there’s a way and when it’s an Ashes Test, you really have to find a way. And that is what Joe Root and England will try to do. They have been simply out-played and out-classed by the Aussies in the first test. A comfortable 9 wicket win for the hosts will make them feel more confident while it will surely dent England’s confidence. And it was not just about the victory but also about the manner of victory. Apart from that one day when Root and Malan had a more than decent partnership, they were simply out-played in almost every session.
England need help and certainly the cavalry’s here. They are bringing on James Anderson and Stuart Broad – the trio who have 1156 Test wickets between them. They certainly have all the experience and the quality it will take to rattle Australia’s line-up. They have already been practising with the pink ball for quite some time. And now that the game is in Adelaide and that too with a pink ball, is it okay to say that it is advantage England?
As far as bowling is concerned there are no worries in the Australian camp. With the form that Cummins, Lyon and Starc have shown in the previous game, Australia will be feeling quite good about themselves and about the brand of cricket that they are playing. Even the batting department has been quite good. Warner played a blinder of a knock in the previous game and he has continued his fine form from the World-Cup. However Warner does have some injury concerns, the results of which will be known on Wednesday. So if he is out, it might be a big blow to Australia and Usman Khawaja could be his replacement. Travis head played a match winning innings and he will certainly carry forward that form in the next game. Steve Smith had a pretty quiet game by his standards but it’s just a matter of time before he comes good.
England on the other hand have some woes in the batting department that have continued ever since India toured England. Apart from Joe Root, no other batsman has been consistent enough to even remotely support Root. David Malan played a very good knock but apart from that there was absolutely not much resistance from England. They will need to fix that batting department and they will need to fix that fast.
England need to fix their batting issues and come good in this game because if they don’t do that, this might well be another short test and a very long summer for England.
Australia and England – Predicted XI For The Pink Ball Test
Australia’s Possible XI – David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey ((wk), Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Lyon.
England’s Possible XI – Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson
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