England will win the Ashes but Australia will take all the positives

After three Ashes tests the score stands at two nil to England. Considering this score and the fact that one test match had been rained off it may seem on first glance that England have had it all their own way. To think this would be wrong, it could be argued that Australia with a bit of luck could quite easily have been two one or even three nil up.

Before the first test match every person had written off this Australian side as being one of the worst to tour England. This criticism and the Darren Lehman factor probably was the reason for Australia performing so well in the first test. This was a test match which was only won by fourteen runs. There were parts of this game where some of the so called best bowlers in the world struggled to bowl out tail-enders.

The second test was a write off for Australia, the match where they most likely lost the whole series. I can imagine that the heavy loss of the first test played on Australian minds whilst it had the opposite effect on England. This was a match that was played only a few days after the first loss. Imagine if Australia had scrapped through the first test, England would have had the added pressure on them.

The third test saw Australia dominate from start to finish. The only good point for England in this match is Kevin Pietersen. His century and England’s unsporting behaviour in delaying every ball meant that England beat the weather to avoid an inevitable loss. Australia actually had KP out before his century but failed to review the decision, much to the annoyance of Watson. 

If this ball had been reviewed it could be argued that England’s first innings would have finished on Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday morning. This meaning that Australia would have had more time to put on quick runs and bowl England out again, even with bad light on the Sunday and rain all day on Monday.

As I write this on the end of day one of the fourth test match, Australia is once again in a strong position. They have got England down to nine wickets. The bowling is Australia’s strong point, there is a group of young bowlers who could worry any batsmen in world cricket. Pattinson, Starc, Bird, Faulkner head the list of young bowlers guided by the more experienced Siddle and Harris. Add to the list Mitchel Johnson who can’t make the squad. All these bowlers and Nathan Lyon make up a very decent attack. Ashton Agar in my mind will come back into the side one day as a batsman only, he can be a similar player to Steve Smith.

Believe it or not Australia actually can take some positives from their batting line up. With the return of Warner and addition of Khawaja they have a team full of potential. It seems that Khawaja has all the shots in the book, he is just waiting for that one innings to kick start his career. England also have some positives to take from this series.

The first being that they will probably win, the second is the form of Joe Root and Ian Bell. They also have some serious questions to answer, the first being how they have not totally put Australia to the sword apart from one match on their own turf. The second being the form of Jonathan Trott, it seems the Aussies have worked him out. The third and probably most concerning is that James Anderson seems to be carrying the bowling a little bit. Without him I feel the series would be very much closer. Whatever happens in the last two tests it seems that the Ashes series in Australia will be very much closer. 

"DRS has not worked well" Flower - India vindicated?

There was a time when every person in the cricketing world laughed at the BCCI and Indian cricket team for not using the decision review system. Even I had a few questions for the ICC in not implanting the system for all test series. I would like to take this opportunity to say that I was one hundred percent wrong over this issue.  

On tour to England a few years ago English commentators Nassir Hussain and Ian Botham both laughed every time an Indian batsman was given out wrongly. The famous words from Hussain were "India do not want a fair game Rahul you have to walk." I may suggest that under the current decision review system which is being used a bad decision like that would not be over turned. 

This Ashes series will go down in history as one of the most controversial, both sides have suffered bad decisions. The only consolation for the teams are that these decisions are balancing themselves out. The review system will now always be tarred with the image of Stuart Broad standing his ground taking full advantage of the two reviews or the awful reviewed decision to give Kawajha out. 

It is likely that both England and Australia will now scrap DRS for the next series starting in December with England coach Andy Flower joining the debate. He does not state in his interview that they will scrap the idea totally but states it needs better umpires. Until a new system comes in which is fairer I do not believe India will ever sign up. In the mean time other nations may join them in not using the flawed system.

So much controversy has been caused by the technology aid that it has now overshadowed what has been a fascinating series. Quite frankly Australia can count themselves very unlucky not to have won a game by now. 

Can David Warner save Australia?

After enduring the worst season of his life David Warner now has a chance of redemption. He is being heavily tipped to come back into the side after new coach Darren Lehman talked up his batting abilities. 

Australia need one of their batsmen to step up if they are to avoid a  five nil whitewash. All of this puts extra pressure onto David Warner, he is one of their better batsmen on paper, but has been seriously off form. The incident with Joe Root will also serve as either an extra burden to manage or a motivation. 

Australia wanted Warner to go away and build back his form, he seems to have done this albeit after one game. His 193 runs may mask his recent failures, but all will be forgiven if he is to make an impact in the Ashes. 

I personally do not agree that Australia's batsmen are the worst in their history, they are just facing a good bowling attack in conditions that not many of them have played in. Bring these same players back in a few years and they will be better for this experience. 

In Clarke, Watson and Warner they have genuine batsman who could destroy any bowling attack, Usman Khawaja is a good batsman waiting to be unleashed. He has shown his talent in patches, he just needs that one big innings to make his name, this is a similar problem that Ian Bell and Steve Waugh faced early in their careers. The lower order could also be considered as one of the best batting tails also. With Agar looking like a genuine batsman, Steve Smith capable of building innings and Haddin holding them all together they could be very dangerous if an actual batsman clicked. This is not even mentioning Siddle who has a few half centuries, Starc who scored big verses India, and Pattinson who nearly brought home the first game. 

Australia may have lost the second test badly, but if they actually can win a toss and then play to their best standard England could be unsettled. Lets just hold back on all those five nil predictions. I have said from the start that it will either be four nil or four one. 

England hit the final nail in cricket's "spirit of the game" coffin

The first Ashes test showcased the very best of test cricket, a big story was written every day. There were two main issues which have arisen from the match, the first being that DRS failed throughout the match for both teams, the other issue was Stuart Broad's decision not to walk off a blatant error from the umpire. 

My views on the DRS situation can be read here. The issue of Stuart Broad staying at the crease is one which is rather disappointing but yet not very surprising. Over the last few days I have been hearing many things saying that his actions are not in the spirit of the game. 

In my opinion the spirit of the game has been something which has slowly eroded over time and has now seized to exist. The death of this started with Australia. Mark and Steve Waugh were some of the first players to stay at the crease when they knew they were out. Since this time these unwritten rules have slightly changed to you only walk on obvious nicks. What has happened recently is that players such as Broad have decided never to walk. 

Sledging was the next thing to chip away at the spirit of the game. Again the roots of this will probably be traced back to Australia. This is something that all international teams now incorporate. Other obvious things to effect this would be the time where many players were spotted trying to tamper with either the ball or pitch. Match fixing will also get a mention as simply being not cricket, but it all happens and is another area where the spirit of cricket is attacked from. 

England seem to feature as much as Australia in the list of teams breaching the spirit of cricket. Notable incidents would include England captain Paul Collingwood not calling back the New Zealand batsman he knocked down and ran out. I could mention Broad senior (who somehow has been appointed a match referee) knocking down the stumps with the bat in anger after he had been given out. From all of this it is clear that the spirit of cricket is dead, so each team now has a free for all to do what they like as long as there are no rules against it. 

On another note, I would like to highlight quotes taken from Graeme Swann in regards to players not walking when they are clearly out. His quotes came from a warm up match between England and Sri Lanka where Dilruwan Perera decided not to walk where the umpire missed the wicket. Some snippets of his quotes (taken from the guardian website) are: 

•  "I wanted to kill the batsman because he was cheating"
• "When people looked at the replays, it would have looked appalling on behalf of the batsman and he would have been shown up"
• "If you know your out then you walk off the field."
• "He was out and cheated in my view."

Well Swanny we all live by our words, lets see if you come out in the press this time around and echo the same words. I do not think so, the fact that England won by a margin less than Broad's extra runs makes his un-sporting behaviour acceptable. I believe that anything goes in this series and neither team can now complain about any future decisions in the series. 

Darren Lehmann factor will make the Ashes series closer

Just weeks before the first Ashes test, the Australian cricket board made the wise decision to get rid of Mickey Arthur as team coach and replace him with Darren Lehman. In my opinion this was necessary to make Australia a bit more competitive in the series. 

Arthur was always the wrong fit for the Australian job, as a South African he was never accepted by the players or fans. His authoritarian methods made the players feel like they had gone back to school. This was highlighted in the disastrous tour of India where four players were suspended from a test match for disciplinary reasons.

It can be argued that the Australian cricket board also didn't trust Mickey Arthur by allowing the captain to be part of the selection committee. This resulted in players not being able to confide in Michael Clarke in fear of being dropped. 

With the appointment of Darren Lehmann the captains selection rights have also been dropped. This means that Clarke is now free to concentrate on his own performance aswell as team building. His methods seem to be more relaxed and more accepted by the players. He was a fighter as a player and will be hoping to install some fight into his new team.

His old school methods seem to be focused on making the team feel as if they are playing against the whole world. There is nobody who could install this seige mentality as well as Lehmann. The knowledge he amassed while playing in one of the greatest international sides will be passed onto the current side.

The effect of appointing a new coach can make teams play better, this can be witnessed in football when new managers come in. If the warm up games are anything to go by the Aussies are slowly coming back into form. The bowling is their greatest strength, they should cause England some trouble. 

If I were to predict then I would say  England will still win the series but it will be alot closer than it would have been in Arthur had ket his job. 

It's Michael Clarke's time

The rise of 'Pup' the boy from New South Wales has not been as straight forward as many would assume. Today Michael Clarke has been named Wisdoms cricketer of the year, this names him the most inform player of the last calender year. It comes as no surprise that he has won this award as he had an unbelievable year. 

The now Australia captain made his début as a fresh faced twenty three year old in India, where he scored a century in his first test. Since this time he had been ear marked to be a future skipper of Australia.  A mark of his special abilities is the fact that he broke into the great Australian team at the age of twenty three. Others such as Stuart Law, Michael Hussey and Brad Hodge all had to wait for their chances. At this time Clarke had the world at his feet, he was the poster boy of Australian cricket, the young guy in amongst all legends.

He was catapulted into a new lifestyle, one which can be hard for a young sports star. Everyone knew who he was, celebrity girlfriends also were part of his new life. This was something that would later play a big part of his cricket future. In 2010 a split with model fiancée Lara Bingle meant that Clarke went home from a tour of New Zealand stating personal problems. This is something that the tough Australian public did not like. 

On his return to New Zealand he put all issues aside and made one of his most focused centuries. Leaving the team suddenly had a lasting affect on Clarkes perception. He was roundly booed by the home crowd when he once temporarily took over from Ponting. He had also been publicly criticised by many former players also. 

There had also been a public spat with team mate and Australian darling Simon Katich as well as the accusation of Clarke hiding away lower down the order at number five. This accusation is something that still is labelled with Clarke, only recently moving up higher in the India series.  

The Aussie public is a tough crowd at the best of times, but 'Pup' seemed to have made enemies of most of them. This was a sharp contrast from his start to international cricket where he was unanimously praised. He also had been treated for some cancerous spots on his face. At the same time Clarke had a little dip in form, with many people stating that some other person should be considered as the future captain. The signs were not looking good for Australia, him being in a team that lost three ashes series, many people called for radical change. This in many ways sums up the life of a sportsman, it is how you overcome these adversities which defines you.  Michael Clarke is definitely a fighter, he has once again changed these perceptions of him, leading from the front. 

Unfortunately for him his peak has coincided a downturn in Australian cricket. This was always going to happen when some of the all time greats retired all together. What is more unfortunate for Clarke is that captains get defined by their team, he is battling hard to change this. As a captain his record will be compared to former captains. This is unfair because him having a weaker team does not make for a fair comparison. In many ways this is a greater test of captaincy than past captains Ponting and Waugh, these guys had great players in their side so very few decisions had to be made. Clarke on the other hand does not have this luxury to fall back onto. 

Michael Hussey is the latest player to retire, leaving the bating very dependant on Clarke just ahead of the ashes. Since being named captain 'Pup' has definitely been one of the worlds best players, he has always had natural timing and stroke play, but a new focus has been added. He scored four double centuries in the last calender year, a feat that no other player has ever achieved.  

The 'Old Enemy' are looking very very strong and any bad loss could bring calls for wholesale change in Australian cricket. 

The challenge ahead for Clarke and his boys should be one they see as an exciting opportunity to win against the odds. Contrary to most English media's opinion the Aussies have a good team, they are young and untested but are packed with potential. You do not have to go back that far when an Australian team touring England arrived with mostly young and in experienced players shocked England. This had been Steve Waugh's first Ashes tour as a captain. 

Being written off pre ashes should work in the favour of Australia, as they have no pressure. They will need a bit of luck as well as fighting spirit, this is something that Clarke will instil for sure. It will be a defining summer for this Aussie side and a defining moment for the new captain. If he is to be successful in the summer it will only add to his story, the full circle of being liked. 

Why does cricket allow for players to play for more than one country?

There have been many players over through the history of cricket to have represented more than one International team. The latest of these players seems to be likely to be Luke Ronchi. The wicketkeeper has represented Australia in the past, although not many times. He has now been selected for the tour of England for New Zealand, the country of his birth. 

I find it very odd that players can still change from one country to another, this is something that cannot happen in football. The rule in football (as it should be) is that if you have played senior international games for one country then you cannot play for another. Does Luke Ronchi feel anything for New Zealand? He did pick Australia over them before so why now does he want to go back? The answer is that he cant get in the Australia squad any more  therefore to play international cricket he has chosen a new country. This shows no real pride in playing for his country. 

There have been a few players who have switched countries in the past, but for most of them there has been good reasons for this. There are three players who have represented India and Pakistan. These being Amir Elahi, Gul Mohammed and Abdul Hafeez Kardar. All of these played for India before independance and later went on to represent Pakistan after partition of the countries. Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi played for England and India. This was in the early 20th century and should not really be considered as India were part of the empire at the time and there were no real cricket rules on this issue. 

There are many others who have played for minor cricket nations and then switched to bigger cricket nations. The latest two would be Eoin Morgan and Ed Joyce who went the other way. Others on this list would be Kepler Wessels who was captain of Australia during South Africa's ban from sport. He later went back to his birth country when they were re-instated. In my opinion these type of moves seem to be acceptable, but to move between two established cricket nations solely because you cant get into the team is not. 

I understand that countries may take players from other countries and naturalise them, for example there are alot of South Africans in England and Australians in New Zealand. But once a player has been played for the national side there should be no switching. If this rule is not changed it could technically allow a player like Kevin Pietersen to go play for South Africa one day. If England didn't accept him back into the squad after they dropped him he could have done this if South Africa agreed. 

I have nothing against Luke Ronchi but I don't believe he really should be allowed to change his country this easily. 

Win or Lose the New Zealand series England have been rubbish!

As I write this England are currently sitting at lunch on day three of the final test match at 92-5, this is after New Zealand scored 443 in their first innings. This means they have made it hard for themselves to win the match and therefore the series. After the historic win in India and previous highs this is very much a low. 

Before the series had started I heard a former England captain confidently state this was the best England team in history and that they should wipe the floor with this poor New Zealand team. I do not totally disagree with that statement but it hasn't quite worked out as planned. This smacks of an over arrogant team who are very under prepared or just not bothered. They seemed up for the games against South Africa and India, so why have they not turned up in New Zealand?

In my opinion England have gone back to the old English mentality, this is to forget about the current series and concentrate on the next series which they believe is more important. The media do not help in this, the amount of times I have read that this is a build up for the Ashes. The bad form started before a ball had been bowled in the test series, I have to agree with Geoff Boycott that England spent to much time doing other activities such as bungee jumping instead of practising.  Did they believe that New Zealand were so poor that they could just turn up and beat them?

Rain saved England in the first test, otherwise they could have actually lost that game. They were better in the second game but are back onto the form of the first game again. What is interesting is that the players who had to prove a point have performed, and the people who were on form before this series are on poor form. Have these people just not turned up because they are sure of their place in the summer? People like Cook, Trott and Bell should be ripping into this bowling attack. The only batsman to do something of note is Compton, this is probably because he had something to prove. 

Ian Bell has done what he usually does, as in he plays well if the team play well. I have never seen the guy dig England out of a hole, he goes missing when the pressure is on. Alistair Cook has been really poor also not looking a shadow of the player he was in India. Same could be said for Jonathan Trott and even Kevin Pietersen, who has been dismissed by a left arm spinner again in the series. I can guarantee one thing, that these guys mentioned will be much better when it comes to the Ashes, I wonder why.

Another disturbing thing is that the England top order has struggled with a swinging ball today, this is very odd. Compton had the right idea with his hundred and eighteen ball, thirteen, the rest were impatient.  He and Matt Prior can stand up at the end of the series and state they have batted well, oh and I should mention Steven Finn. In terms of bowling Broad did his usual, a similar thing to Bell. He only plays well one game in ten. This is usually the game were people are questioning his place in the team. I still think England will win the Ashes, only because Australia are going through a tough period. Not too much should be read into of the poor Aussie tour of India, considering it is the first tour of India for most of the players. They will have slightly more common conditions to play in when they arrive in England.

Punter gambles no more whilst captain Cook slays India

This has been a big week of cricket, especially for two players in particular. It was a week which drew the curtain on the great career of Ricky Ponting as well as being the week where Alistair Cook broke two records. 

Ricky Ponting:

For me Ponting is unlucky as he is playing in an era where it could be easy to forget his achievements because of players such as Tendulkar, Lara and Kallis. Despite having 41 test hundreads and 30 ODI hundreds he will only be considered the second greatest Australian batsman, after Sir Donald Bradman.  

Being the captain after the great Steve Waugh he had massive boots to fill, this was the challenge that Ponting faced, a challenge which he successfully negotiated. In fact I think his period in charge of Australia was more successful than Waugh.  The doubters of his captaincy will always say that he had an easy job as captain, because he had the best players on his side. This is undeniable that he had the best team, but the pressure of leading such a great team also has its burdens. These burdens did not once effect his batting form.

He was part of the team which won three world cups in a row, winning it twice as a captain. An aggressive captain on the pitch always made watching his side exciting. As with Waugh before him and Clarke after him, it seems that being the captain aided his batting performance allowing him to lead from the front.

My lasting memory of him will be the 2003 world cup final, where he destroyed all Indian bowlers especially Srinath in a brilliant display of power and technique. In England he will be remembered as the captain who lost three ashes, while the world will remember him as the captain with the most wins. 

Alistair Cook:

This guy seems to be getting better and better. It is even ludicrous to think that England considered not taking him to the last ashes tour because of poor form against Pakistan the series before. He is the heartbeat of this England side, the captain and the leader with the bat. 

As captain he seems to be in his element, taking everything in his stride never once showing that he is flustered. Just like the new Australian skipper it seems that his form has improved as captain, it will be fascinating to see what happens in the ashes. 

All that said it should be noted that he was dropped by Pujara on 17 runs today, and the bowling attack he is facing is not great. Cook is only 27 years old but has become the highest England century maker. He has one hundred more than Pietersen, who is the only player who could overtake him any time soon. The other record which he broke today was that he is the youngest player to score 7,000 runs. This is something, as he has broken Tendulkar's record. 

India gave him a second chance today, quite frankly that probably will be the difference of winning this match and loosing. It could possibly by the difference of drawing the series and loosing it. If his form stays as it is, he could guide England to a historic win in India, thus putting his name as a legendary captain after his first test tour. 

Australia Surprise South Africa as Clarke breaks more records

Let me first say that I didn't think Australia would be a match for South Africa in this series, I guess I have been proved wrong. I did however write an article last month where I predicted Australia would rise again, but I never thought it would have been so soon. 

The score 482 on day one is only 12 runs short of the all time highest score on day 1 of any test. This is largely down to Warner at the top of the innings setting the tone, with a strike rate over 100. 

In the first test the Aussies proved that their batsmen were a match for South Africa if not outplaying them. The plaudits will go to the inform skipper, he has been on the form of his life since taking over and has subsequently put to rest all doubts about his captaincy. 

In making his fourth double century of the year Michael Clarke now has over taken fellow Australian legends Ponting and Bradman for making the most double centuries in one calender year. If he gets one more double century any time in his career as captain then he will equal Brian Lara as the player with most double centuries as captain.

It seems that Clarke now has a team to slowly work their way back to the summit of test cricket, he is just pushing them on a little quicker. Having a few strong sides in test cricket is important, and right now Aus, SA, Eng and India have pretty strong teams, which makes for great matches. 

I think that some people thrive on the pressure of captaincy, this can defiantly be said of Clarke and I believe Alistair Cook as well. I still hold that the next Ashes will go to England as they are playing at home, but Australia will no doubt put up a good show. All of that is after this great series against South Africa, who are by no means out of the match and series yet.  

How England could surprise India but South Africa will prevail

The excitement of test cricket returned last night, two fascinating series between some of the best teams in the world will run simultaneously. In my opinion India are the best team in the sub-continent and when they are on form they are almost unbeatable at home. 

The question which should be asked is if England can take advantage of India's new batting line up. The retirement of Laxman and Dravid could be the chance that England have been waiting for. Add to this the poor form which Sehwag and Gambhir have been going through, India's well known batting strength could struggle. 

England also have players such as Bairstow (even if he doesn't play), Bell and Pietersen who are all on form with the bat. Samit Patel looks the real deal as a test allrounder and the bowlers are pretty good. The good news for England is that Broad and Finn seem likely to be fit for the first test. Another factor that may favour the Englishmen is that they now have three genuine spinners. They could actually play all three in a match, not that I think they will. Over the winter England struggled against Ajmal and Hearth, so alot rests on Ashwin. We do not know how England will play Yadav but it is clear to see that Zaheer Khan is not the same bowler which has troubled world batsmen all these years.

I personally think that Sehwag and Gambhir had tons of experience so either or both of them will click very soon. The middle order has talent, even if they are inexperienced. Virat Kohli hasn't played that much but already looks like the real deal as a test player. I can only see this being a close series, but I think India may just edge it, even though England could cause India alot of problems.

The other series may not be as close. After day one of the first test South Africa are 255/2. The number one side in the world looked like that on day one. The ever reliable pair of Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis should both score centuries tomorrow. This could be a hard day for Australia to come back from. The second day will be important for them. The pitch does look like a good batting wicket, but surely after South Africa are done with it, the pitch could change.

The loss of Shane Watson does not help to the cause. Saying all that I think if Watson was fit for the next few matches and Australia happened to find a good spinner from somewhere they could have made the series closer than it will be. One thing is clear though, Australia always have fighters in their team, people such as Peter Siddle and Ponting will battle hard. 

Australian Cricket: The New Generation

The Australian cricket team has been on a downward spiral since 2007. Largely down to the decimation of the great team through retirement. Pre 2007 Australia had based there success on having many good players to fill a squad role. For example Michael Hussey or Stuart Law could not break into the team on a regular basis, yet they probably would have been a star in any other team. 

It could be said that Australia may have taken their eye off the ball and failed to plan for the retirement of all these players at once. The result of this being that a whole generation of players were not ready to fill the boots of legends. 

Although I believe that the batting talent coming through may not be to the right standard a few players have now established themselves. These are Warner, Watson and Clarke. Add this to Ponting in tests and Hussey in all forms they have some pretty good batsmen there. 

Then there are other players such as Ed Cowan, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Usman Khawaja, George Bailey and Phillip Hughes who seem to have some talent just need to show it on a consistent basis. Australian cricket is calling out for one of these players to go onto the next level. In my opinion Shaun Marsh and Khawaja have all the talent to do this, but they have never shown the ability to string together to good series. 

In the wicket keeping department Australia are very well stocked with Haddin, Wade and Tim Paine. Although none of these keepers are of the standard of Gilchrist (the standard every Aussie keeper will now be considered against), they are of a good standard.

The new bowlers coming through is the brightest point for Australia. The depth in the fast bowling department is very very impressive. I believe South Africa and England to have the best fast bowlers at the moment but once these Australian bowlers develop they could be on a par. Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson and Pat Cummings have impressed greatly. Wisely the Australian selectors are mixing the three of them around, to ensure they are not likely to be burnt out. The three young players have been mixed around playing with the likes of Brett Lee, Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson. The rise of Clint Mckay has also been impressive, he is not as young as the other three new bowlers but still has been great in all forms of the game in 2012. The strength of the bowling is so strong now that Lee has retired yet Johnson or Bollinger hardly play any more. 

The big problem for the Australian team is that they do not have a great spinner at the moment. This was a team that had Stuart Mcgill and Brad Hogg in reserve behind Shane Warne for many years. The current custodian of this role is Xavier Doherty, he is one of the worst spinners in world cricket at present. Personally I hope Steve Smith has been working at his bowling as he could develop into an ok spinner, but more of a good all rounder. Michael Clarke does a good job filling in and possibly a good option. For the series against India Nathan Lyon did a decent job, but again I am wondering if there is any younger spinner coming through.

It seems that if Australia sort out the few deficiencies in the batting and get in a good spinner they could rise up back to a similar place they were before 2007. This is not saying that they could be as good as they were in their hay day but they could challenge South Africa and England for the number 1 test spot.

World T20 - Australia

For most of my life Australia have been the best team, expected to win every competition they played in. It is a little odd for me not to think they are favourites for this tournament. They are now back with the pack in what is an open draw. The squad is full of either very experienced players or very inexperienced players. 

The captain George Bailey falls into the later of these categories. He has only 5 international T20 games under his belt, he had been named captain on his début. He is if you didn't know a player who can change games with attacking play, a little like his predecessor Cameron White who drops down from the captaincy, raising doubts whether he will start all the games. 

The experience in the team comes from a rejuvenated Brad Hogg, the Hussey brothers and Shane Watson. The selection of Hogg is interesting, pretty much stating that Australia have no young spinners coming through. Warner and Watson at the top of the order can destroy any bowling attack, also aided by Matthew Wade. 

Young players to watch for: 

• Mitchell Starc: An exciting fast bowler who looks a real prospect. It will be interesting how he performs on Sri Lankan pitches. 
• Matthew Wade: He is a wicket-keeper/batsman in the mould of Adam Gilchrist. He can bat pretty much anywhere in the batting order, but seeing as Warner and Watson are established openers he probably will be used as a lower order hitter. 

My prediction: 

A good team, most of these players play in the IPL so generally they should be used to conditions and other top players. The middle order batting is the key to Australian success, this is a job for Mike Hussey. A definite flaw in the bowling attack is the spin department, this will be an issue in the competition. I predict that Australia will end their journey in the SUPER EIGHTS.