The second test match of the 2015 Ashes series takes centre stage of this week’s sporting calendar at Lord’s starting on Thursday. Cricket fans will be eagerly anticipating the second instalment of the fiercely contested series and with England’s 169 run victory inside four days at Cardiff, it’s England’s fans who will be more optimistic heading into the game.
England have historically struggled against the seamers of Australia at Lord’s but have managed to win the last two Ashes tests there in convincing fashion. With the wayward Mitchell Johnson and the circumstances surrounding Mitchell Starc’s fitness yet to be confirmed, Australia would wish they had a Glenn McGrath or Ryan Harris, both of whom have good records at the ground, available.
With all the talk about the quality of Australia’s pace attack leading into the first Test, it was England’s pace unit that overwhelmed the Aussies with all four holding tight lines and lengths along with their solo attributes. James Anderson’s ability to swing the ball in all directions is beautiful to watch as is watching batsmen struggle with Broad’s testing bouncers and full-length deliveries. Newcomers to the team Mark Wood and Ben Stokes impressed too, the former with his fast skidding pace taking match figures of 4-119 on his Ashes debut and the latter with his off-cutters and wicket to wicket bowling in the manner we have come to expect from Australia’s Shane Watson.
All-rounder Watson has struggled recently with one test match wicket in his last three Test outings as well as a modest average of 30.33 with the bat and no century to his name since 2013. It is likely that he could lose his place to the young Mitchell Marsh who scored two consecutive hundreds in the warm-up matches against Kent and Essex. Marsh has a respectable average with the bat in his eigth test match innings of 37.42 but his bowling is still raw, having taken only one wicket.
One player who will definitely not feature for the Australians is the power-hitting senior figure of wicket keeper Brad Haddin. The 37-year-old came in for criticism in the Cardiff test. He dropped Root, who went on to hit 134 in the first innings, whilst he was still on nought and continued his poor run with the bat, managing just 22 and 7. His replacement, Peter Nevill, is yet to represent his country in any format and will be pleased to begin his career at the Home of Cricket. Nevill has a good average of 44.29 in his 55 first class matches with a high score of 235 not out and could be a circumstantial change which could work to the Aussies’ benefit.
Mitchell Starc appeared to suffer from a painful ankle injury during the first Test and it seemed unlikely he would feature at all at Lord’s after a bout of painkilling injections. The Australian camp has since confirmed he is winning his fitness battle, managing to work through his full run-up without too much discomfort. He is a key figure in the bowling attack and managed to take seven wickets in Cardiff.
Whilst Darren Lehmann faces a selection headache of sorts, for England it is much easier. As it stands, they do not need to fix any of the areas of their team and it is expected that they will line up at Lord’s just as they did in the first Test.
Along with the pace attack, Moeen Ali was another who starred at the SWALEC Stadium. His first innings score of 77 and his match bowling figures of 5-130 mean that he is justifying his inclusion in the team as the all-round spin bowler.
The openers Alastair Cook and Adam Lyth will be hoping to build a solid partnership, improving on the poor 24 runs they have managed in the last three matches. Yorkshireman Lyth has shown glimpses of what he can offer England. His second innings counter-attack of 37, featuring some traditional cover drives and more unconventional pull shots down the ground, showed that he can perform at Test level.
Cook’s form has improved after the gruelling scrutiny he had been under for the past 18 months regarding both his batting and captaincy abilities. Averaging over 55 in 2015 with two centuries has begun to re-install the fans’ and ECB’s belief that he is the man to have at the top of the order and, thanks to some of his decisions at Cardiff, the man to lead the team.
The man of the moment is certainly Joe Root. The young Yorkshireman has risen to stardom over the past year and his form has been majestic, averaging 84 in his last two years in an England shirt. He left fans in awe in Cardiff, and he is most definitely the key man in the batting line-up at present.
With the likes of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes further down the order, the former yet to hit top form in his two Ashes innings, England fans are no doubt the happier bunch prior to Thursday’s match. One thing is for sure, it will be as hard fought and as testing a five days of cricket as the first match. Even with their current problems, Australia will be looking to come back stronger and refreshed with the likelihood of two new additions to the starting eleven. The anticipation is heightening and the transfixing game that is Ashes cricket is only one more day away.
