I certainly won't be making any predictions either. However I have a bit of a feeling that the momentum is swinging back our way. While England clealry outplayed Australia in the third test, I think they will feel a bit down at having let the match slip away. They have played out of their skins and still didn't manage to pull it off, and that can only help Australia.
Plus with each innings the odds increase that Australia's batsmen are finally going to click. They have a good break at the moment to work on their ability to face reverse swing. Punter finally showed some form so we just need another couple to click and a big score could be on the cards. But then again it may not. Very difficult to call. I do wish we had picked a team with more knowledge of English conditions. Mike Hussey was outstanding in the ODIs and he has made gazillions of runs in county cricket. Also Darren Lehmann who has done well over here and is an experienced campaigner all round, was dropped earlier this year. He could have made a difference, perhaps.
I agree though that there is unlikely to be a change in either team, except for Dizzy. He has to go, no question. It's a tossup between Kasprowicz and Tait. My hunch is that they'll go for Tait. Although he can be expensive, that's not really our main problem. Both Warne and McGrath can contain the runs, and they need someone to unsettle the English batsmen more than they need dependability such as Kasper would provide.
A lot of focus has been (deservedly) on the bowling, and while it has obviously not been up to scratch, it must be noted that it's a lot easier to bowl well when you have a big lead to defend and the opposing batsmen are demoralised. The fact that our top six have failed to get a good score on the board has made it that much harder for our bowlers. They're used to defending first innings totals of 600, not 250, and the pressure has shown. |
