'Australia just aren't very good'
It's a widely acknowledged fact that England have their best chance of winning in Australia for more than 20 years and the British press pack is getting pretty bullish about the team's chances
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
It's a widely acknowledged fact that England have their best chance of winning in Australia for more than 20 years and the British press pack is getting pretty bullish about the team's chances. In the Daily Telegraph, Steve James can't quite work out what all the fuss is about ahead of the series because the Aussies have gone downhill so much.
The truth is that somebody needs to say it: Australia are simply not very good anymore. They are losing for fun at the moment. They are the new England. Even grade cricket is said to be going soft. Just like we used to in the Eighties and Nineties, they now seem to pick players out of a hat. Last Sunday they played a T20 international with players from only two states. They lost. In the past two years 45 players have represented Australia in Tests, one-day internationals and T20s. And they’ve only got six domestic teams! No wonder they’ve just sacked Merv Hughes as a selector.
Over in the Guardian, Vic Marks takes a more measured approach and looks at five areas that will be crucial to the outcome of the series.
If the sun shines there is little lateral movement in Australia. Batsmen are more likely to be undermined by extra bounce, which may be why we have sent what must be the tallest ever English pace attack to Australia – Stuart Broad, Steven Finn and Chris Tremlett are 6ft 5in and over. For batsmen this means that pronounced footwork is not quite so essential; there is not such a need to lunge forward to stifle sideways movement. But for batsmen and bowlers it is not as if they have suddenly been transported to Mars. The same basics still apply.
Andrew McGlashan is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo