*Official* Road to 2013 Ashes

[sli]

you have to say the Aussies are value betting wise, with the bowling of pattison, starc, siddle, cummins in English conditions they will be hard to play against

[Pup Clarke]

Compton has the look of a batsman who has significantly reigned himself in the last couple of years. You can see every so often he's itching to really get at the spinners.

[Flem274*]

If Eden Park number one gets the same treatment as number two and Colin Maiden, all 12 batsmen in the game and some of the tail will be licking their lips. Prime opportunity for Compton to make a name for himself there.

The Basin and the Uni Oval will be fair pitches though, and will be a good gauge.

[SS1]

you have to say the Aussies are value betting wise, with the bowling of pattison, starc, siddle, cummins in English conditions they will be hard to play against

I disagree with that massively.

Batting wise the Aussies will need Clarke and Hussey to bat for hours and hours and hours in England. Warner and Hughes have (maybe had in Hughes case) serious technical issues. Cowan is nothing special and whats more, they are all lefties and England undoubtedly prefer bowling at lefties than right. Warner averaged in the 20's on his only soiree outside Australia. That kind of batsman, a slogger primarily is not suited to Test match cricket in England. He's like Gayle or Sehwag, who average 34 and 27 in England. Then you have the likes of Watson, who as a batsman is nothing more than average. He's a 50 and out guy that buckles under the scrutiny of good Test match bowling.

Bowling wise they look decent enough but none of their young bowlers look absolutely incredible. Cummins is the pick but appears to be very injury prone. I like Starc and Pattinson looks decent enough but they aren't sending the 1980's West Indies quartet are they here. Siddle and Hilfenhaus still play ! I thought they'd be put out to pasture after England rocked up 600 - 1 and 500 - 3 etc on their own wickets. The mere fact that they likely come back to England for the next Ashes tells you all you need to know about Australia right now. Their spin option is likely to be Lyon....I mean come on !

Australia have one superstar in Clarke who is absolutely exceptional and Hussey is brilliant as well, although his biggest quality is that he appears to love batting against England. Those two will need to carry Australia in 2013 IMHO. They'll be competitive because its the Ashes but if England bowl anything like, Australia will seldomly put 400 up in the first innings and that will largely end their hopes.

[Spark]

How much of Siddle and Hilfenhaus have you watched since the Ashes?

EDIT: Let alone Lyon.

[benchmark00]

Reckon I can probably guess the answer to that.

[Spark]

I always like to get confirmation of my suspicions.

[Riggins]

do you support england?

[sphynx]

I disagree with that massively.

Batting wise the Aussies will need Clarke and Hussey to bat for hours and hours and hours in England. Warner and Hughes have (maybe had in Hughes case) serious technical issues. Cowan is nothing special and whats more, they are all lefties and England undoubtedly prefer bowling at lefties than right. Warner averaged in the 20's on his only soiree outside Australia. That kind of batsman, a slogger primarily is not suited to Test match cricket in England. He's like Gayle or Sehwag, who average 34 and 27 in England. Then you have the likes of Watson, who as a batsman is nothing more than average. He's a 50 and out guy that buckles under the scrutiny of good Test match bowling.

Bowling wise they look decent enough but none of their young bowlers look absolutely incredible. Cummins is the pick but appears to be very injury prone. I like Starc and Pattinson looks decent enough but they aren't sending the 1980's West Indies quartet are they here. Siddle and Hilfenhaus still play ! I thought they'd be put out to pasture after England rocked up 600 - 1 and 500 - 3 etc on their own wickets. The mere fact that they likely come back to England for the next Ashes tells you all you need to know about Australia right now. Their spin option is likely to be Lyon....I mean come on !

Australia have one superstar in Clarke who is absolutely exceptional and Hussey is brilliant as well, although his biggest quality is that he appears to love batting against England. Those two will need to carry Australia in 2013 IMHO. They'll be competitive because its the Ashes but if England bowl anything like, Australia will seldomly put 400 up in the first innings and that will largely end their hopes.

There's a few issues here.

1. Warner's issues are more tempramental than technical. He occasionally snicks them, but most batsmen do, he certainly doesn't have many glaring problems like Hughes did to certain deliveries. He's a hot and cold player, a bit like Jayasuria at test level, but make no mistake, he will probably smash a run a ball century at some point in the series, that could have the potential to win a match.

Warner knocked a maiden ton on a greentop in Hobart, not to dissimilar to the worst of English conditions, when everyone else was dropping like flies. Underrate him at your peril imo.


2. As for the bowling attack, they are all young, and have had their fair share of injury problems. Pattinson is definately the best bowler of the 3, his style suits English conditions perfectly, he swings the new and old ball, and he's more than a few yards sharper than Anderson. Starc reminds me a bit of a young Morkel, all over the joint, but had alot of potential, will extract the most natural bounce, along with Finn, both could be a handful for the Australian/English batsmen.

Pattinson/Starc/Siddle will be the bowling attack imo, Hilfenhaus was dropped for the Perth test imo and is more likely cover imo, Cummins could be a trump card if he manages to get some fitness between now and July, he's only been sat down as a precaution, so it's possible he might make the trip, and considering how much he swung the ball in South Africa, and he's the quickest bowler of both counties, the English would be hoping he doesn't make the trip imo......

Steyn's the only bowler in world cricket capable of bowling high 140's and swinging it consistently atm, Pattinson is just a yard slower, but has similar capabilities. Cummins was bowling 150km/h and swinging it as a 17 year old, add to that he's 6"6, you get my drift basically.............

I think the English coaches would be more worried about the Australian battery, than the other way around personally.

Australia has the best bowling attack of the two nations imo.

[uvelocity]

decent post imo

[Dan]

Warner is only comparable to Sehwag and Gayle in that they're all fast-scoring openers. Technique wise, there aren't that many similarities. Warner's footwork, while still not fantastic, is miles ahead of Sehwag's and above Gayle's too.

Hughes made runs on the county circuit, and although he'll be tested out on the short ball, he has added the pull to his arsenal. A better bat that 2009, I guess. He'll still have issues outside off, I predict.

Cowan is probably the opening batsman with the best temperament (and technique) for English conditions. Making Shield runs at Hobart has prepared him better than any other Australian batsman, with the exception of Hughes and Khawaja at Counties.

I expect nothing from Shane Watson. His bowling will be more useful than his batting, ATM.

Clarke is Clarke.

Hussey's massively experienced in English conditions and seems to have got himself back into some semblance of form.

Matthew Wade might have a lean series, but I expect at least one good counterattacking innings from him. I'm not sure how his batting will translate to English conditions.

Siddle is a hugely improved bowler than 1/517. Hilfenhaus, if he gets his bloody arm up higher, could be very handy indeed. Pattinson the best of the lot though. He will be deadly over there. And Lyon will play a role; he's actually a decent offie and worth a Test spot.

Starc did well at Yorkshire, so his game should translate to the conditions. I have no pretensions of Cummins or Harris being fit. Hazlewood though, could be very, very interesting to watch over there.

[vic_orthdox]

Warner will struggle, IMO.

[Spikey]

'cept at the oval obviously. the new matt hayden

[Howe_zat]

One thing that struck me while watching Warner play against NZ was that he pretty much never leaves the ball. Could bite him in the behind before long.

[Spark]

I actually thought he was playing quite well 2nd dig at Perth. Showed decent judgement of line/length and good shot selection, and there's not really any shame in nicking the ball he nicked.