Are Australia a better side now than 12-18 months ago?

[BoyBrumby]

Tough to see too many grounds for English optimism. However, straws to clutch at that I can see:

- Hard to see the Oz lower order being as effective as it was over here; if not for the efforts of Lee, Warne & co we'd have won much more comfortably.
-McGrath 18 months older & missed a test due to "artefacts" (AKA GBR) in his elbow last time.
-Watson unproven as batter & hard to imagine him doing much with the ball.
-Fred has the wood on Gilly.
-Langer coming back from serious head injury which he's admitted is playing on his mind.
-Hayden struggles against top class swing bowling, if Hoggy can get any swing that is...
-Hussey due to start his sophomore slump.

 

[aussie]

-Hayden struggles against top class swing bowling, if Hoggy can get any swing that is...

all left handers do againts right arm bowlers who swing it back into their pads but Hayden based on his recent form has improved a lot in this area thats for sure.

 

[bluesteel]

Aussies will kick butt

Far out...have I ever seen a more English biased summary than the first post of this thread....you tried to hide it well but it was pumping up England all the way.. So instead of trying to hide the fact that I barrack for the Aussies I will shout it from the housetops...AUSTRALIA ARE BY FAR A BETTER TEAM AND WILL WIN THE ASHES BACK

 

[Barney Rubble]

Far out...have I ever seen a more English biased summary than the first post of this thread....you tried to hide it well but it was pumping up England all the way.. So instead of trying to hide the fact that I barrack for the Aussies I will shout it from the housetops...AUSTRALIA ARE BY FAR A BETTER TEAM AND WILL WIN THE ASHES BACK

Of course he was "pumping up" England - last time I checked, the Wirral was a long way from Wollongong.

 

[adharcric]

For me, the five most significant developments for the Ashes are as follows.

1) The English change bowlers, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones, have both suffered from injuries and even if the former returns, he may find it tough to carry out his naturally heavy workload. The replacements, Mahmood, Plunkett, Tremlett, Lewis or whoever the hell else they can find (perhaps it'll be Broad) simply don't compare.
2) Michael Hussey has entered the Australian middle-order and that means solidity and stability, at least based on what we've seen from him so far.
3) England have found a genuine wicket-taking spin option in Monty Panesar and this will be a consolation for the weakened pace attack. Whether he succeeds is another story, but at least he will pose a genuine threat and has shown that he can take the wickets of quality batsmen.
4) Australia will have home advantage. This means a diminished threat of reverse swing, fan support for the Aussies and everything else that comes with playing at home.
5) Kevin Pietersen has just been demolished by Mohammad Asif, to a certain extent. This doesn't necessarily mean that Pietersen isn't as good as he was last year, but it may have an adverse effect on his confidence and simultaneously give McGrath and Lee a little something to think about.

4 points to the Aussies and 1 to the English, so I'll arbitrarily predict 4-1 Australia this time around. Actually, that sounds wrong. 3-1 Australia.

 

[_TiGeR-ToWn_]

It is very tough to compare to teams 12-18 months apart. But ill give it a shot with Australia.

Last time in England the Australians went in with a very shaky batting line up. Nothing like what it has been for the past year, we were inconsistant and between 4 and 6 we were terrible. Hayden went into the series underdone, he had little confidence and the fact that we only had 1 warm up game he had no touch or understanding of the english wickets. But now are ageing batting line up is getting back to something similar to what it was like before the ashes. Hayden and Langer might possibly be the last test series together opening and neither have left anything to chance, both are scoring runs. But our greatest advantage with the bat is the addition of Hussey. This guy is a phenomen and can either score runs or play defensive. We lacked a middle order batsman that could do both, he might well of been the difference a couple of times and he is very important for Australia to become successful. I would have to say that Martyn is a slight liability and would like to see both Hodge and Jacques get their riteful and deserved spot in the team.

Our bowling department has been a real problem from the Ashes. Only Warne and Lee stood up and tried to take the English on but two bowlers arent going to bowl teams out for small totals. Gillespi was shocking last time but he has changed and give him another chance. He has improved and is looking like the bowler he was a few years ago. We just didnt have the options in England and frankly over the past year it has been a real source of problem. Sure Clark has come in and taken a few wickets, even Bracken was given a chance but neither are world class bowlers. McGrath is back and is fitter then ever (hitting 100kg which is a good sign) He is a world class bowler and these sorts of guys bounce back and are up to the task after long injury spells. What is going to make or break the Aussies bowling department is the 4th seamer or the 2nd spinner. It will obviously depend on where the game is (MacGill for SCG and Adelaide) but this guy is going to either win for us or loose it. Id like to see Gillespi starting in the first game but we will see.

I can't comment on the English as I don't know enough about them and it would be pointless and ridiculous to try and say something about them.

 

[andyc]

Tough to see too many grounds for English optimism. However, straws to clutch at that I can see:

- Hard to see the Oz lower order being as effective as it was over here; if not for the efforts of Lee, Warne & co we'd have won much more comfortably.
-McGrath 18 months older & missed a test due to "artefacts" (AKA GBR) in his elbow last time.
-Watson unproven as batter & hard to imagine him doing much with the ball.
-Fred has the wood on Gilly.
-Langer coming back from serious head injury which he's admitted is playing on his mind.
-Hayden struggles against top class swing bowling, if Hoggy can get any swing that is...
-Hussey due to start his sophomore slump.

Am fairly sure that what Langer's said about it playing on his mind wouldn't mean to much. He had said before that he got nightmares about Shoiab Akhtar, but that didn't make him suddenly lose form. He's a tough guy, and I doubt the knock on the head will do him that much harm in terms of his batting.
As for Hussey, that's definitely just wishful thinking

 

[GIMH]

Of course he was "pumping up" England - last time I checked, the Wirral was a long way from Wollongong.

Thankyou Barney - that did make me laugh

 

[Laurrz]

yes, they are a better side in my view

1. Clark replaces Dizz who has been struggling
2. Hussey
3. Ponting,Hayden better form
4. Gonna be at home, will make them a better team
5. IMO Brett lee is better

 

[Barney Rubble]

Thankyou Barney - that did make me laugh

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Yep, they're a better side. They've offloaded what were their biggest liabilities in 2005 - Gillespie and Kasprowicz - and replaced them with people like Clark and Lee, the latter who was chomping for a spot for a year before the Ashes. They've also shown that they're prepared to take MacGill seriously as Warnie's shoulder becomes a scientific phenomenon.

The other biggie has been Hussey, turning the Australian weakness in the middle order into a strength. He's consistently the only or among the only batsmen to put a price on their wicket every innings. Why he wasn't picked during the Ashes I'll never know.

 

[howardj]

I don't think Australia are a much better side. Has McGrath improved? Martyn? Langer? Gilchrist? Warne, I'd guess, is more susceptible to injuries - last year he almost missed the Hobart Test because of general back soreness, which he apparently struggled with during that six Test Match stretch.

It's drawing a long bow to suggest that the development of Lee and Hussey last summer counter-balances the above. Besides, Lee didn't get have the batsmen attacking him last summer, like he did in the Ashes. England, if their past performances against him are any guide, won't prod Lee back down the pitch like Kallis did.

Not that it's all doom and gloom for Australia though. They're very hard to beat at home - the pitches and general climate are very unforgiving. Furthermore, there's no surprise or ambush element with England this year. Australia know how good England are, and will treat them accordingly. Australia 3-2.

 

[White Lion]

Aussies sadly are better....

my first ever post on this forum btw -Wooo!

as ppl are doing their Ashes predictions... (it is still the beginning of September, right?!)

2-2, with eng therefore retaining Ashes, and why?

Adelaide for me is a major factor to bear in mind -injuries permitting the aussies are guarenteed to play both MacGill and Warne. MacGill has out-performed Warne (purely on a wickets tally) most of the times they have played together in their careers, Adelaide will in the optinion of various top-rated Aussie batsmen "turn square", and Eng are generally poor against spin, particularly if both Cookie and Bellie bat in the top 5.

With the aussies likely to win that match, unless Panesar does a 'Jim Laker', Eng will be hard pressed to stop the aussies winning just one more game out of the other four, so if Eng play at their absolute best, that's my prediction: 2-2

 

[grecian]

Good first post, and a good prediction too.

Mines 5-0 to Australia, I'm hoping for the McGrath-effect.

 

[Laurrz]

I don't think Australia are a much better side. Has McGrath improved? Martyn? Langer? Gilchrist? Warne, I'd guess, is more susceptible to injuries - last year he almost missed the Hobart Test because of general back soreness, which he apparently struggled with during that six Test Match stretch.

It's drawing a long bow to suggest that the development of Lee and Hussey last summer counter-balances the above. Besides, Lee didn't get have the batsmen attacking him last summer, like he did in the Ashes. England, if their past performances against him are any guide, won't prod Lee back down the pitch like Kallis did.

Not that it's all doom and gloom for Australia though. They're very hard to beat at home - the pitches and general climate are very unforgiving. Furthermore, there's no surprise or ambush element with England this year. Australia know how good England are, and will treat them accordingly. Australia 3-2.

McGrath would not be injured
Langer would be the same i recn
Gilchrist i recn wold be better at home.. a lot better
and Warne is a champ and loves bowling against the English

i agree very much with the lee comment tho... but if England are prepared to attack em..then good on em...they may or may not do well tho..always a risk esp,. on our bouncy wickets

 

[tooextracool]

Australia's area of concern is still the middle order. They must score runs between 4 and 7 to consistently put pressure on England, rather than scoring between 4 and 7 runs each, like they did in England last year.

I think its interesting that while everyone is talking about Englands weaknesses, no one has mentioned how Australia's batting has been rather meek since the Ashes. Bar Ponting, Hayden and Hussey all of whom have undergone golden patches since the Ashes, the rest(Gilchrist, Martyn, Langer, Clarke) have been in dismal touch. I also desperately hope that symonds is picked as their number 6 as that would only make their middle order even more brittle.
The only concern i have about this England side is the bowling. Plunkett is clearly rubbish, Mahmood seems to bowl 1 good spell every 5 innings, Harmison is hardly much better, there are still question marks about Hoggard without swing(despite his success in the subcontinent), and with Anderson and Jones unlikely to be match fit by the time, it really will come down to how well flintoff and Panesar bowl.

 

[tooextracool]

Strauss is solid but the extra bounce out here is a factor he will have to adjust to.

Actually if anything Strauss should be more comfortable on bouncy wickets given his penchant for cutting and pulling and his relative weakness against swing. One must remember that his best series came in SA on what you may say are similar wickets, and his worst patch coincided with playing on slow, low pitches of the subcontinent.

 

[Pratters]

Don't get me wrong, Australia are favourites rightfully. But all this talk of England being embarassed and vastly inferior, it's crazy, crazy, crazy. We've not learnt very much about either side since last year. All the learning will be done this winter. We are 7-2. Worth a tenner if you ask me.

To defeat Australia in Australia would be tougher than defeating them in home conditions. It is debatable whether Australia has strengthened or not but I think they are much better placed now than last time to win the series and the only danger I see is if England's spinners (mostly Panesar) plays an important role.

 

[vic_orthdox]

I don't think Australia are a much better side. Has McGrath improved? Martyn? Langer? Gilchrist? Warne, I'd guess, is more susceptible to injuries - last year he almost missed the Hobart Test because of general back soreness, which he apparently struggled with during that six Test Match stretch.

It's drawing a long bow to suggest that the development of Lee and Hussey last summer counter-balances the above. Besides, Lee didn't get have the batsmen attacking him last summer, like he did in the Ashes. England, if their past performances against him are any guide, won't prod Lee back down the pitch like Kallis did.

Not that it's all doom and gloom for Australia though. They're very hard to beat at home - the pitches and general climate are very unforgiving. Furthermore, there's no surprise or ambush element with England this year. Australia know how good England are, and will treat them accordingly. Australia 3-2.

Seconded.

 

[burr]

Yep, they're a better side. They've offloaded what were their biggest liabilities in 2005 - Gillespie and Kasprowicz - and replaced them with people like Clark and Lee,

But that's the problem isn't it? We haven't off-loaded Gillespie. He's still hanging around - now that is depressing.

I really think we're not much better - if anything, slightly worse. There must be precious little new talent out there because all these oldies are getting another shot. As much as I hate to say it, and as much as he is my absolute fav, how did Marto get a recall? If there was the talent of the 93 era that would never have happened.

We may still win, b/c of home ground advantage and b/c England may not be as primed, but I don't think we are better. Having said that, I don't care if we no longer dominate. There's excitement this summer, like there hasn't been since the early 90s. Cricket has been re-born and there is no doubt that is thanks to the renewed End-Aus rivarly. So bring it on - let it be close, bitter and above all, exciting.