The Australians came back roaring into contention for the Champions Trophy with a facile win over a listless England side at Jaipur. That loss has put England out of the tournament that they were really not interested in and now they play the West Indies in the last game of their group to try and salvage some pride out of this event.
Right from the beginning, the English have given every indication that their mind was on the Ashes series that begins next month and they felt that it was a distraction to participate in this tournament. That approach has now put more pressure on them than anything else, as they now have to try and lift themselves up from the floor after the defeat to Australia. Even if they were not interested in the event, the game against the Aussies should have been the one that they gave it their all if only to keep the psychological advantage, as they go on to defend the Ashes, but by losing in the manner that they did, they have given the Aussies the confidence that this England side will not find it easy to retain the Ashes.
By constantly talking about the Ashes, the English have shown they are feeling the pressure and the best cricketing way to go to Australia was as winners in their game, if not with the Champions trophy itself. In fact the injured English skipper Michael Vaughn has gone on record to say that the win over the old rivals in the same event two years back was the one that gave them the belief that the Aussies were beatable. So why did this England team play in the manner that they did? They had got a good start after being asked to bat first and so should have capitalized on that. Instead they let a newcomer like Mitchell Johnson get the upper hand by the dismissal of Pietersen and Shane Watson trying to establish himself in the Australian team, showed that the English have a weakness against the short ball. If they are going to get hopping on the slow pitch at Jaipur, what fate awaits them on the harder bouncier pitches in Australia and on longer, bigger boundaries too?
Pietersen and Flintoff on whom much will depend, if England are to retain the Ashes were shown to be tentative to the short ball and if England can feel that the Yardys and Dalrymples are going to cause any more than some good humored banter at their names, then they are in a world of their own. In limited overs games when one picks a bits and pieces cricketer, then he has to be essentially a batsman who can bowl a bit.
Yardy showed that he can move in his crease but not much else and Dalrymple will have to have the Australians blindfolded to cause any ripples with his bowling. Sure Flintoff when he starts bowling will make a difference, and if Harmison can hit the right spots, then he can be a handful too, but apart from that there’s nothing in the bowling as Martyn showed.
He got some generous start balls to get off the mark and then kept his head as he knew a boundary ball was, well, just a ball away. Michael Hussey was his usual calm self and Symonds got himself some useful time out in the middle. The one big gain for the English was the confirmation that bowling round the wicket to Adam Gilchrist does cause the dasher more problems than otherwise.
It was another disappointing match for the Jaipur fans and they were wise to have played Diwali at home than to go and watch the English burn themselves to Ashes.
