The Hindu : Sport : It's not easy to plot Australia's downfall

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Sunday, Apr 08, 2007
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It's not easy to plot Australia's downfall

S. Ram Mahesh

BALANCING ACT: Big man Andrew Flintoff would be all keyed up for the duel with the Aussies.

St. Peter's: Theories are a pence a dozen in English cricket. No other side switches between theories as often and as blithely as do the English. Not all of it is blarney of course; indeed, most of these theories have kernels of cricket logic. But, the yarn spun around detracts from the kernel.

The theory in currency as England takes on Australia in a Super Eight match here at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground on Sunday has to do with scoring hundreds. The theory proposes that the

English one-day side is an oft-done joke discerning stand-up comics refrain from because the batsmen don't score enough hundreds.

So, Michael Vaughan is asked if it's time he scored a hundred. Backed to a corner for he hasn't scored one in his 82 ODIs, the England captain replies it's a good point, and promptly gets caught down the leg-side for a duck.

For Vaughan's efforts, he has Australian coach John Buchanan saying, "His one-day record is not strong at all. There is no doubt about that. He is aware of that. But that's something for the England team to worry about. If they believe he is the best man to lead the side that is their choice."

Vaughan's admission

Undeterred, Vaughan comes out and says that "getting to good positions and not going on" was an "an area we need to look at as well — to start better, but more importantly (we need) to get guys to a hundred because we haven't got a guy to a hundred in the tournament yet. "The theory is neither new nor without reason.

For long, experts have maintained that one man batting through the innings with others in support almost always gets a team upwards of 280. And there's statistical back-up as well: in two of England's recent victories over Australia, Ed Joyce and Paul Collingwood scored hundreds. Step forward Andrew Strauss, who has made two centuries in 74 ODIs.

Vaughan didn't confirm that Strauss will replace Joyce at the top of the order, saying "I'll keep you guys guessing", but he dropped hints. "We've discussed it already and we have an idea of the way we are going to go because it is an area of concern," said Vaughan.

"It's never easy when you're not playing. But sometimes a break from the game can be quite good mentally. He's (Strauss) playing well in the nets and he's going into a game potentially with a fresh mind; I have no qualms that he'll be able to produce a score and a big score."

Swing can swing it

Talk of centuries aside, Australia can be beaten — even if Sir Vivian Richards says only New Zealand and food poisoning have a shot. One of the ways is to do it with swing early, have Andrew Flintoff bowl through the middle overs to take wickets, and knock off a challenging — but no greater — target with two good partnerships. It's a method England adopted in the first final of the Commonwealth Bank series.

The other — and one England has had slightly more success with — involves batting first. A reasonable total is gathered either through innings of undimmed will likely to be provided by Collingwood or knocks of brassy attack by Kevin Pietersen and Flintoff. Then Australia is asked the question, "You like batting first, so how about chasing for a change?" Again bowling is key, swing early, Flintoff through the middle, but the menace is accentuated because England fights better when it has eleven men rather than two batsmen in the middle.

Flintoff crucial

Flintoff's form with the bat is crucial, for, if all goes well, he'll be up against Australia's second line of bowling: a passage of play that could decide the match. Against Sri Lanka, the blond giant looked uncertain." He's just lacking middle practice and that's something that can happen," said Vaughan.

"He's such an instinctive player, he's the kind of guy that sometimes when he gets out it looks ugly. The last thing I want Freddie to do is go into his shell and start playing as a defensive player."

The teams (from):

Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Adam Gilchrist (wk), Nathan Bracken, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Symonds, ShaunTait, and Brad Haddin.

England: Michael Vaughan (capt), Ed Joyce, Ian Bell, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Nixon (wk), Ravi Bopara, Jamie Dalrymple, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Liam Plunkett, and Sajid Mahmood.

Umpires: Billy Bowden and Rudi Koertzen. Third umpire: Asad Rauf. Match referee: Mike Procter.

Hours of play (IST): 7 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. and 11.15 p.m. till close.

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