Ashes Second Test Preview 2010-11

Adelaide Oval, Friday, December 3-Tuesday, December 7, 11 a.m. M. AEDT, 10:30 a. M. Local

Woof. What an interesting first test we had. If one hat-trick wasn’t enough for you, how about two batting associations of over 300 to go along with it, including, of course, a score of 1-517 and a double century for Cook in the second inning for England? After Australia were in such a dominant position after the first few innings, the momentum really changed England’s path and now they have promotion heading into this Test Match and indeed the series.

It will be interesting to see how those in loose green will respond after such a demoralizing draw. The entire team looked completely helpless and pathetic on England’s second dig, several catches were disallowed and the bowling attack lacked power. To rectify this, the Australians have recruited two more bowlers into their team of 13 (Harris and Bollinger) and both are a realistic opportunity to play in the Adelaide test match. You’d have to imagine Siddle is safe after his astonishing first-inning ball performance and Doherty’s solid if unspectacular debut performance would likely keep him safe, leaving Johnson and Hilfenhaus on shaky ground. As for batters, with no additional batters recruited into the squad, it would appear that Marcus North’s spot is safe despite missing the bat in his only innings of the game.

For the English, they are unlikely to switch sides. All of the hitters appear to be in good shape, with only Collingwood and Prior unable to make a decent score in their innings. The question marks about Cook, Trott and Bell’s ability to hit in Australia were well and truly answered, while Pietersen appeared to be in good contact before losing his ground in his only innings of the game. The bowlers looked solid and at times extremely menacing, and Anderson was probably the pick of the bunch despite his little ground.

Australia (possible)

Shane watson
Simon Katich
Ricky Ponting (c)
Michael clarke
Michael hussey
Marcus north
Brad Haddin (week)
Mitchell johnson
Xavier doherty
Peter siddle
Ben hilfenhaus

Ryan harris
Doug bollinger

IN: Ryan Harris
Doug bollinger

England (likely)

Andrew Strauss (c)
Cook Alastair
Jonathon Trott
Kevin pietersen
Paul collingwood
Ian Bell
Matthew Prior (week)
Stuart broad
Graeme swann
Steven finn
James anderson

My prediction:

Once again, the key to the match will be the opening partnerships, but this time it also includes the starting bowlers. Too often in the first test match, loose balls were thrown, allowing the batter to freely score runs and thus release any pressure that might have built up from the other end. If any of the bowlers on the team can keep things in order, they will go a long way in helping their team to victory. However, they will need to get it exactly right because Adelaide’s pitch will likely be very relentless on any mistakes.

The big question for this match is whether either team is capable of taking 20 wickets on a field that traditionally offers little to bowlers. With that being said, the last time there was an Ashes Test in Adelaide, Shane Warne and his bowling buddies completely wrecked England on the final day, providing a completely unexpected result for a match that was destined for a draw. However, unfortunately, with both teams looking pretty solid with the bat and mostly no threats with the ball, I am not predicting that we will see Warne-type magic in this Test and I am choosing this match to end in a draw, with huge scores posted by both teams in the first innings.

My advice: draw

Session times (AEDT):
Session 1: 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Session 2: 1:40 – 3:40 p.m.
Session 3: 4.00 pm – 6.00 pm

Bets (Betfair):
Australia $ 3.70
England $ 3.55
Draw $ 2.18