Barring a 1981-esque England comeback, it looks as if we’ll be heading to The Oval with the score at 1-1 and everything to play for.
England’s Headingley predicament is so dire it brings about horrendous memories of Australian batsmen carting James Anderson and co. all over Cardiff with nonchalant ease. Shot out for 102 then forced to watch the tourists rack up a lead of 343, you would have been forgiven for thinking the pain was temporarily over. But this England side has a special ability to bring delight and despair in equal measure and their collapse from 58-0 to 78-5 bordered on laughable.
It’s been a thoroughly miserable two days for England and the prospect of winning the Ashes looks a little further away on the horizon than it did in the wake of Edgbaston. The media have been quick to collectively jump on the ‘all England players are bad people’ bandwagon – it’s almost as if Ravi Bopara is purposely trying to play badly if you read the supposedly ‘professional’ garbage written about him over the last few weeks.
Still, never let it be said that this blog follows such a negative path. I’m all for the bright side of life even if Matt Prior will walk to the crease tomorrow morning with the company of the night-watchman and the steady reassurance of hardly any batting to come.
Going back to 1981 and Headingley, is anyone else dreaming of a miraculous turnaround? Does no-one think it remotely possible that Stuart Broad will discover his inner Ian Botham and blaze England to an unthinkable lead? I suppose when you put it like that it does seem rather improbable. But allow me to indulge for a second; in 1981, Botham took 6-95 as the Australians racked up 401 before beginning his quest to haul England back into contention with the bat. Today, Broad took 6-91. England are in just as calamitous a position now as they were then, if not worse. With history in mind, I wonder if Ricky Ponting will be tempted to have a punt on Paddy Power’s odds of 200-1 for England to win the match?
It’s majorly likely, however, that the Aussies will stroll to victory at some point tomorrow and take this Ashes series into a final Test decider at The Oval which, frankly, is the most entertaining prospect. With a series draw not good enough for England to bring the Ashes home, they’ll be going all out for the win. Expect a fired up (and probably hardly fit) Andrew Flintoff giving his everything in what is his last Test match.
How are England going to win? It’s painfully obvious that they’ll need a change in the batting order and, as much as I rate him, Bopara is going to have to be moved from the number three slot. He’s simply had more than enough chances. He could well make the position his own in the future but for now he needs to be either dropped or moved down the order. And for his replacement, here’s a left field selection that would get English pulses racing and bring the sweet smell of cricketing nostalgia: Marcus Trescothick.
Exciting, isn’t it? The veteran opener is still delivering a waterfall of runs down at Somerset and loves playing the Aussies. It was he in 2005 that provided the lightning fast, ultra confident starts to an innings that regularly got Ponting all hot and bothered. It’s he who would be perfect in this scenario, with England needing to play as positively as possible. Yes, he’s retired and can’t go five minutes outside of Taunton without getting homesick. But give him the chance to come in just for this Test match and play his natural, free flowing game and I bet he’d take it.
He can go in with Strauss and Cook can shift down to number three. Cook is a level headed, defensive batsmen and can be the anchor by which England build their innings around. He’s batted three for England before with a degree of success and, as mentioned, it’s only for one match. Trescothick can blaze the ball around like the days of old, Cook can play second fiddle and Matt Prior and Freddie can provide the middle order acceleration. It’s radical, it’s out of the ordinary and it could work. The Aussies will definitely not be expecting it.
If it happens, you heard it here first.
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You know, I was thinking about this the other day.
If (and it’s a massive if), Trescothick feels willing and able to play one last match, the selectors must at least speak to him. Having turned down the chance to play in the 20-20 World Cup though I’d guess the chances of him playing, although greater, would be about 0.01%.
For me, Bell has to go. He doesn’t have the necessary testicular fortitude for Test Match Cricket -time and time again when his country needs him he goes missing. Does he ever make a contribution in anything other than a situation where we’re already massively on top?
As for Bopara, he has a county game this week - hopefully he can get some runs on the board and regain some form. I know his confidence is shot but I feel we should persist with him. Unlike Bell, his Test career is only just beginning, and as you say, he'll have the chance to make that position his own in the future.
Who to bring in though? Trott seems to have consistency in all forms of the game, and his average this summer is superb. Bringing him in now could be a disaster though - a baptism of fire if there ever was one.
On the face of it, Ramprakash is another fairly radical option. However, he already averages over 40 against Australia and this game is at his home ground.
Having said all that, there won't be any changes whatsoever.
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