Iain Fletcher: Shortcomings of Australia matched by hosts' decision to play at this ground

Published on Saturday 1 August 2009 19:54

IT WAS meant to be the 'barbecue summer' across Great Britain but sadly those boffins at the Meteorological Office have proved about as correct as a lot of the umpiring in this series so far and the exact mid-point of the Ashes was lost to a deluge of rain.

It is a shame for England as their excellent cricket on Friday had created an opportunity to really hammer Australia when they were down and possibly force a 2-0 lead.

Instead it was dismal, grey and inwardly Ricky Ponting was probably breathing a huge sigh of relief.

The last thing he either wanted or needed was England to bat yesterday and part of today and then try and bowl Australia out in 70 or 80 overs because if the ball swung again for James Anderson and Graham Onions then defeat was a real possibility for the tourists.

And do they deserve that? Honestly.

They are not a good side, that much is obvious and too many of their key players are out of form but so far luck, the most fickle of mistresses, has completely abandoned them.

Both at Lord's and here, in wet Edgbaston, the umpires, especially Rudi Koertzen, have favoured England and often at crucial moments. This does not excuse or explain the scoreline. England are ahead because they have played better cricket as Ponting has so graciously said, but poor old Ponting must wonder what his team has to do to break this destructive cycle of bad cricket and bad judgments.

Going back to the selectors and berating them for a ridiculous touring party would be a good start. It is unbelievable that in Australia they are lauding the selectors for picking a second wicketkeeper on a four-month tour. Very shrewd fellas. A keeper takes a hard ball in his gloves about 400 times a day, and in practice and then also has to bat.

The chance of injury as happened to Brad Haddin on Thursday morning after the toss is, well, quite simply, about 50-50. At the last minute they squeezed Graham Manou in. They could not find room for a back-up top-order batsman though and so Shane Watson, a number six and even there unproven, was thrust into the hardest position in a batting line-up, first up against the new ball.

That he did well and top-scored is irrelevant. That he instead of a specialist opener who was needed to replace the unfortunate Phil Hughes smacks of arrogance, complacency or downright incompetence.

So who did make it into the tour party if a keeper was a last thought and a batsman deemed superfluous?

Brett Lee made it despite being injured for some time and surprise, surprise he broke down after his first hard workout in a match.

Stuart Clark also made the trip despite not having bowled for months after an operation on an elbow. Has he featured yet? Only in Northampton last week where he was reputedly the most impressive of the seamers on show. Not good enough to get selected this week though?

A chap called Andrew McDonald is also here.

Not a good enough batsman to be top six and a useful if rather medium pace bowler. His chances of a game with Shane Watson here are nearly zero although maybe he was selected as cover for Watson as he also arrived in this green and pleasant land nursing an injury.

It beggars belief.

At least three of the 16 spots on tour have effectively been wasted.

They can claim to have nearly won the first Test in Cardiff but the fact is that was more to do with England's folly than Australia's quality. England are notoriously bad on slow pitches. It is why they struggle so much on the sub-continent where pitches bounce little, hardly offering pace and spin.

So well done the England and Wales Cricket Board for staging a Test match in Cardiff on one of the most unsuitable pitches on the island for their national team. That 3.2 million was well earned wasn't it? Never, ever again should England play a Test match in Cardiff until the pitch is of a suitable standard and that means a whole lot quicker and bouncier. Forget the money, the rewards of winning major series like this make a few million pale into insignificance.

It looks like the whole caboodle will decamp to Headingley with England still 1-0 ahead.

At least there is still tension and interestingly some intriguing side issues. Mitchell Johnson actually got his hand position and action correct for one ball on Friday evening and had Ian Bell palpably plumb in front. It was not given, Johnson is still being punished by the Gods and Bell reprieved but if Johnson can start to replicate that delivery in the next three weeks then he may salvage Australia.

As for Bell, if he does not make the most of these three matches against possibly the worst Australian bowling attack of the last 40 years then he should be packed off back to Warwickshire for good.

He has had his good fortune, now he needs to make the most of it with a couple of centuries. If he does not then England could be in difficulty as the batting order, Andrew Strauss excepted, looks vulnerable.

Alastair Cook is suffering from the same technical deficiencies of the past two years and Ravi Bopara is yet to convince he has the technique and temperament for first drop. Then comes Bell, desperate to salvage an international career and Paul Collingwood, a gutsy competitor but one lacking the stamp of class.

It is not a top six to frighten a county attack so unless they follow the lead of the captain and make big scores, Australia have an avenue of hope. They will not stay this poor for long. This match has been wrested from them by some high-class bowling by Anderson and Onions but if it ends in a stalemate then all the wonder deliveries of Friday will count for nothing.

Australia should go into the next match needing a win to level the series, a result that would see them retain the Ashes. Ponting has some able men and is himself one of the game's greats and the highest Australian run scorer of all time, but what he needs now is others to arrive belatedly to the 'tour' party and start performing. If they do he will need to remember the debacle of the first three Tests though and give his selectors a fearful ear-bashing. At the moment they have helped England handsomely.