🔗 Share this article

• Published
  9 minutes ago
• 4 Comments

For Australia to bounce back and win the first Ashes Test so convincingly as they did, one questions what psychological damage will be inflicted upon the England team.

How will they respond for the rest of series?

Unexpected Turnaround

I do not think anyone expected what happened on Saturday. When you look at the number of overs required to finish the game, it was Test cricket on accelerated pace.

England were clearly dominant at lunch on the following day, leading by 105 runs with nine wickets in hand. The playing surface was still doing plenty. It looked so tough for Australia to get back into the match.

Shot Selection Woes

From that point, England's choice of strokes was their big undoing. The Australian bowler put in arguably his poorest performance in an national colors in the initial batting, then turned it around in the subsequent innings to be the driving force for the recovery.

England's batters were out trying to hit balls outside off stump, on the up, through the covers.

Attempting runs off those bowls, with those shots, is the one thing you just do not do as a batter in Australia.

Adjustment Problems

It showed that England had failed to complete their homework, are unable to adapt or are unwilling to adapt.

There is a lot of talk about England's approach, their aggressive style. I witnessed it up close during the recent series in the UK. Under their captain and Brendon McCullum, they can be pretty stubborn when it comes to sticking with that method.

It is acceptable on sluggish pitches. On the fast, bouncy pitches of Australia it is a approach fraught with danger. If England do not reassess, they will face difficulties for the entire series.

Bowling Perspective

As a bowler, I would have always felt in the game against this England team.

I depended on my accuracy, backing myself to hit the same spot on or outside off stump, with a some bounce and movement.

Even if this England team was performing strongly, I'd be licking my lips at the prospect of bowling to them, aware one mistake could result in multiple wickets.

Skill and Resilience

There are occasions when England can be a high-quality team. They have good players. Good players have ability, but great players have the mental toughness and attitude to be adaptable enough for the situation.

They would been shellshocked at the way things unfolded at Perth Stadium, devastated at the way they were defeated. Now we will see what they are capable of. Even as a true blue Australian, I somewhat wants to see them adapt, just to show they can get better.

Pace Attack Issues

It was similar with their bowling. England's attack was very good on the first evening, then lost the plot when they were attacked on the following day.

In the longest format, all disciplines require a Plan B. Quite often it feels like England have one method, then no alternatives if that fails.

'Where has this come from?' - Starc bowls Root as England collapse in six balls

Brilliant Innings

In fairness to England's bowlers, they were confronted with one of the great Ashes innings by the Australian batsman.

His 69-ball hundred was the second fastest by an Australian man in Ashes cricket, two overs behind the legendary keeper at the Waca 19 years ago – a game I participated in.

My former teammate Gilly said the performance was the superior of the two. I concur. Given the challenging nature of the pitch and the context of the match situation, the innings will go down as a moment of Ashes history.

Tactical Moves

It was a bold and brave move for Australia to promote Head in the lineup for the follow-on.

Usman Khawaja has faced criticism for being failing to start in either innings. He had back spasms after playing golf the previous day the Test, but I do not believe the two were linked.

When Khawaja missed out on the opening day, Australia advanced their number three and got bogged down.

In promoting the aggressive batsman, who has the experience of starting in limited overs, Australia were able to take the attack to England.

Future Considerations

Now there is the question of what Australia will do for the next match. I'd like to see them stick with the approach of attacking play at the top of the order.

That could mean continuation at the top, meaning someone like Beau Webster enters the middle order, or return to his position and Mitchell Marsh or Josh Inglis could move to the top. It would be difficult for the batsman, but sometimes you have to do what the rival team would find most challenging.

Series Outlook

After the opening match was dominated by the pace attack, questions arise if the rest of series will be brief, low-run Tests.

Perth Stadium is pretty much the fastest, bounciest pitch in the global cricket, so the batters should get a little bit of relief from now on.

It is not entirely about the pitch. Recognition has to be given to the pacemen for delivering the ball in the correct areas so often. In general, batsmen on each team will need to analyze how they got themselves out.

Pivotal Match

Now we progress to Brisbane, and the completely distinct twilight conditions for the following match.

In the historic series, I was a member of the national side that dominated England to win 5-0. The rivalry in this country have a tendency of getting away from England quickly.

At the present, England are just one match down. There would be no coming back from two down, which is why Brisbane is such a massive game.

They must adapt, or the Ashes will be lost again.