The Ashes 2013: Five things to expect

Alistair Cook

England have just finished a successful Champions Trophy campaign where they were in the hunt till the very last ball was bowled. The last half-decade has seen a steep rise in their cricketing fortunes perhaps invigorated by Andrew Strauss’ captaincy.

This year they will have a rare opportunity to win their third consecutive Ashes series and critics are unanimous in the opinion that they are the favourites. England’s bowling prowess has been a major component of their success as they have developed a pool of bowlers who have played regularly and with success. They have eliminated a long standing weakness from their side by adding a quality spinner to their ranks in Graeme Swann. Most of their players have played the Ashes before and are used to pressures of the occasion.

On the other hand, Australia are a shadow of the side that enjoyed absolute domination in world cricket for a considerable period of time after the 1999 World Cup. Circa 2013, the Australian camp seems to be in disarray following their coach Mickey Arthur’s dramatic sacking just a fortnight before the first Test is to be played at Nottingham. The squad seems to lack unity ever since the ‘homework-gate’ in India that saw four key players being suspended. Their batting seems weak as suggested by their frequent failures in the Champions Trophy. They do have a ray of hope as the quality of their bowling attack might bail them out of humiliation but is it enough to take them to victory? It remains to be seen.

Here is a list of five things to expect from Ashes 2013:

5. Hostility

Darren Lehmann has taken over the Australian side as the head coach, and one of the first areas that he has highlighted to be addressed is his team’s attitude. Australia have not looked competitive enough in the last year- they were humiliated by India in the Test series and were lacklustre in the Champions Trophy. Lehmann’s old school style means that he will try to create a happy bunch of players who are loyal to each other and play for each other. You can expect some sporting banter on the pitch, a few cold stares after a well thrown bouncer and a few animated send-offs. It might not be a throwback to the great Ashes of 2005 but there will be sparks.

4. Green Surfaces

The early part of the Champions Trophy had sporting pitches but they did not offer a lot to seamers. However, by the end of the competition we came across more helpful surfaces at Cardiff and at the Oval. It is likely that England will prefer to play on greeener surfaces given the weak Australian batting line-up and their potent swing bowling attack. However, this might have a flip side to it. Australia are coming into this tournament with Pattinson and Starc, who will enjoy such conditions as well. Pattinson thrives on surfaces that provide support for swing and movement of the pitch. England will have to negate their effect in order to fully exploit their advantage.