Australia aim to exploit England swing

After their humiliating defeat in India, Australia are once again on the rise, and a good performance at Trent Bridge would certainly boost the confidence of Michael Clarke. Australia begin their Ashes campaign on July 10 at Trent Bridge.

Australia have a formidable pace attack that can trouble the English batsmen. Mitchell Starc will be the key protagonist for Australia as the conditions in England are ideal for him. The wicket at Trent Bridge is expected to provide both pace and bounce and Starc is capable of exploiting it. Starc returned to Australia’s Test squad for the home series against South Africa in November 2012. He troubled the Proteas batsmen with short-pitched deliveries at WACA, Perth. So, he will be benefited from the swing in England.

“I think most of our guys actually watched that Test, so some good signs for the quicks over there,” Starc told reporters in Sydney. “It was nice to see the Pommies struggle against the left-arm bowlers, I can tell you that much. There’s some things we can take away from the English batsmen and the way they got out there.

“Obviously, the ball is going to swing a bit more in England … but the key we can take out of that Test was the length the bowlers bowled and the length that troubled the batsmen most. So that’s something we looked at closely as a group and spoke about in Brisbane.”

Australia haven’t had a good track record in swinging conditions as they registered their lowest total at Cape Town with 47 runs. They must have also watched the damage done by Stuart Broad and James Anderson at Lords.

“If somebody bowls an amazing spell, you can get knocked over but if you’ve trained and prepared as well as you possibly can, you’re giving yourself the best chance,” Clarke said. “It seemed that Stuart Broad in the second innings bowled a pretty good spell so England deserved a lot of credit. We’ve got to try and find a way to combat that. I think [time of year] definitely makes a difference. I saw a forecast the other day that said it was 14 degrees in London. I’m hoping it’s not 14 degrees there when we’re playing our first Test match.”

Australian batsmen have to get the runs so that the bowling attack becomes meaningful. Shane Watson’s form will be critical from Australia’s point of view. He must bat at the top of the order, perhaps at three, to combat the early swing. Also, Chris Rogers brings in the much needed experience to the batting order as he has played a lot of county cricket in England. If he fails to deliver, then the whole burden will be shifted to Michael Clarke, which is not a good sign for Australia.

Michael Clarke also talked about the conditions in England. “I think it’s a fair indication of where both teams are at,” Clarke said of England being favourites. “England have a lot of experience. A lot of the guys have been involved in Ashes series before and they’re playing some really good cricket. Our recent series in India wasn’t nearly as good as we would have liked so I accept that we are the underdogs but we’ll be doing everything in our power to have success.

“Our goal is to win the series, we know it’s going to be tough, but we’re going to have a red-hot crack at hopefully winning the Ashes for the Australian people. The batters know we didn’t perform as well as we needed, we didn’t make enough runs and we are certainly accountable for our performances. We know that if we can bat well as a unit, that will give our young, talented fast bowlers every opportunity to take 20 wickets.”

Given the determination of Michael Clarke, Australia certainly have their noses ahead in the Ashes.