Series Preview Part 1 - The Batsmen

As the clock ticks down and the sense of anticipation increases, it’s time to have a look at the teams in detail. I got a bit carried away writing these, so I’ve broken down it down into three parts, starting with the batsmen.

Openers

The selection of Shane Watson to open the batting at Edgbaston last year was one of the bigger selectorial curve balls of recent times, but he has certainly rewarded the selectors’ faith. In good batting conditions he can be outstanding, playing with fluency and power, but he can be rather firm footed against the moving ball and is bowled and LBW rather a lot of for a test opener. He will also want to improve his conversion rate, but at his best he can be a tricky customer for opposing bowlers. His bowling is improving but, ironically, the conditions that suit his bowling won’t suit his batting and vice versa.

Andrew Strauss should have captained England in 2006/7 but is probably secretly relieved that he didn’t. He didn’t have a great summer with the bat, albeit in testing conditions, but he is bang in form and won the Compton – Miller medal in 2009. His may be the wicket that Australia prize most, and Mitchell Johnson has already targeted him , admittedly rather more affably than Glenn McGrath used to.

Simon Katich may be the most improved player in world cricket, having changed from a rather non-descript middle order batsman into a rather non-descript, but effective, opening batsman. Bowling to Katich must be a nightmare – he looks vulnerable all the time but consistently delivers.

Alastair Cook has had a fairly thin time of it of late, his century at the Oval aside, but the absence of another opener from the main touring party suggests that his place is secure. Much depends on the timing of his trigger movements – the evidence from the warm-up games is that he is in decent rhythm but Australia will see him as an opportunity to get a good start to England’s innings.

Middle order

Ricky Ponting is an all time great, one of the very best batsman and, as an aside, fielders ever to have played the game. However, he has now fallen out of the world top ten and is no longer the force that he was, although he showed glimmers of his old self in India. If Australia are relying on him for consistently high run scoring through the series then they may well be disappointed, but there may be one great innings left in him.

Jonathan Trott was England’s best batsman in the summer, although hardly anyone seems to have noticed. He had a thin time of it in South Africa last winter but has come back strongly and may well take some shifting. The evidence of his test career so far is that once he gets in he tends to make big scores and will be hoping that he continues in this vein. They won’t want to be relying too much on his bowling, though, since that would be an indication that things weren’t going well.

Future Australia captain Michael Clarke had a pretty horrible time of it in India and has been struggling with both his back and a shift of popular opinion against him. However, he enjoyed himself, for the most part, in England last time out and on form he is both great to watch and very effective. England will look to get under his skin, but if he can recapture his best form then he could be a key player.

What to make of Kevin Pietersen? It’s been a long time since his last test century and the pressure is starting to mount, although that run has included scores of 99 and 81 not out and he was the player of the World Twenty20. Had a thin time of it in the summer in tricky batting conditions but Australian pitches may suit him and he was one of the few players to have a decent series in 2006/7. England have done well of late without spectacular contributions from their most talented player, but their lives will certainly be easier if he can score some runs.

The stellar start to Mike Hussey’s career seems a long time ago and it’s hard to avoid the feeling that the selectors should have bitten the bullet some time ago. Made a fluent hundred for Western Australia a few days ago, but he will know that his place is under threat. He needs runs at Brisbane and Adelaide to make it through to the end of the series.

When Steve Waugh suggested in 2001 that Paul Collingwood was the best young batsman in England the response ranged from ‘Paul who?’ to laughter, but he has overcome a poor start to his international career to become a linchpin of England’s middle order. His test career is pretty close to the end but he will fight all the way and has been involved in most of England’s rearguard actions over the last eighteen months. Has had a good start to the tour without looking in great form and, of course, is one of very few English batsmen to have made a test double century in Australia.

Marcus North has had a curious test career. He played well in England last year, although he failed miserably in both of the defeats, and made a career saving hundred in India in his last test, but the fact remains that he has failed to make it past ten in half of his test innings. If he can get to twenty five then he is very dangerous, but England will fancy their chances. His off spin is very handy as well, as shown by his rather surprising appearance on the Lord’s honours board.

If Simon Katich is Australia’s most improved player, then the honour on the England side goes to Ian Bell. Having never quite fulfilled his undoubted talent in the past, Bell now seems to have the self-confidence to go with his ability and has also been helped by the emergence of Jonathan Trott at number three. Bell seems much happier at number six and is coming off a superb 192 against Australia A. If Australia are expecting a soft touch then they might well be in for a surprise.