England haunted by spectre of 2006-07 whitewash
THE next test in Adelaide, starting on Thursday, is likely to decide whether England’s tour of Australia could unravel like the “Ashes horribilis” of 2006-2007, when they suffered a 5-0 whitewash.
So far, the similarities are mounting in eerily familiar fashion after Jonathan Trott’s sudden departure from the tour with a stress-related illness.
Seven years ago it was Marcus Trescothick who quit the tour just before the first test, suffering from depression that had first manifested itself in India nine months earlier.
To lose a senior player of that calibre is difficult for any team to cope with quickly. England predictably lost the first test at the Gabba, famous
Cook, as Flintoff was, is a relatively new captain, albeit one unlikely to turn to strong drink
among other things for Steve Harmison’s nervous opening ball that went straight to second slip without troubling the cut surface, an unhappy memento of a test lost by 277 runs.
Trott’s return to England will test the resilience and resources of Alastair Cook’s side in Adelaide.
History suggests they will play better than at Brisbane, though the placid pitch of the old Adelaide Oval has been replaced by a drop-in one to suit the modern business model of a stadium that can both hold and profit from Australian rules football.
No one is quite sure how it will play, but England will be hoping it does not afford Mitchell Johnson the pace and carry he got at the Gabba.
That England side of 2006-2007, led by Andrew Flintoff, did fight back in Adelaide, where they dominated Australia by racking up 551 for six.
Emboldened by his team’s runs Flintoff declared, a decision not welcomed by everyone. Another run fest followed, this time by Australia, and suddenly England found their seemingly impregnable position eroded.
The game should still have been drawn, a result that was the odds-on favourite going into the final day.
But Shane Warne had other ideas and almost single-handedly persuaded England’s batsmen to self-destruct for 129 in their second innings, which left Australia’s batsmen with a modest target even they could not mess up, despite their history of cock-ups chasing small totals.
Flintoff’s team were broken men after that and neither he nor Duncan Fletcher, the coach, was able to lift players enough to prevent a rampant Australia from inflicting maximum humiliation with only the second Ashes whitewash in history.
For that reason, Cook will be desperate for a good showing in Adelaide after the humiliation of the first test.
A win would be handy, or at the very least a draw, as they would not want to be two down going to the Waca, a venue where England have won only once since 1971.
Cook’s team are different in one or two aspects from their whitewashed predecessors, such as in their ability to overcome an early deficit as they did in India a year ago.
Given that Michael Clarke’s Aus- tralia lack a genius such as Warne, who turned several of those tests seven years ago on his own, England should get enough runs in Adelaide for any purple performances from their own bowlers to count this time.
There are similarities between the two sides, worrying ones if you believe that history is cyclical.
Cook, as Flintoff was, is a relatively new captain, albeit one unlikely to turn to strong drink if things start unravelling further for his team.
England have a strong bowling side, as then, but a batting line-up susceptible to collapse, though, happily, Australia suffer the same problem. Then there is the sheer hostility and ferocity with which the Australian players, the parochial media and the public have hit them, a reprise of seven years ago.
Back then, there was widespread anger in Australia at how gleefully England had celebrated their 2005 Ashes victory against a crack Australian team, with open-top bus rides and parades through Trafalgar Square. There was also a determination to give legends such asWarne, Glenn McGrath and Matthew Hayden one last hurrah, and no prisoners were taken.
This time England expected to be treated with respect, following three successive Ashes wins. So far they have received about as much of that as the dogs in an Indian slum.
England also have senior players, such as wicketkeeper Matt Prior, out of form as they did last time.
His predecessor, Geraint Jones, played only three matches before being dropped, averaging 10.66 with the bat.
Others, such as Andrew Strauss, had a poor series while Cook averaged 27, though he was not the complete batsman that he is now.
Where things could differ is that team director Andy Flower may be prepared to take risks with selection, something Duncan Fletcher did not do until his team were 2-0 down.
The first thing Flower must do is to find a No 3 batsman. Joe Root has just gone back down the order but, in the second innings, he played Mitchell Johnson as well as anybody.
Ian Bell is another candidate, but he made three hundreds at No 5 against Australia last summer and flourished when England were in trouble.
Moving him up would fit with Cook’s call for senior players to stand up, but it would also take him away from his best position.
If Root moves up then Gary Ballance or Jonny Bairstow could compete for the No 6 spot or Prior could be promoted.
If Adelaide is flat and hot, which it tends to be, a fifth bowler, especially one who may take the Australian bowlers on with the bat too, could be handy.
On the evidence of the first test, England’s priority is to make big runs in the first innings.
Yet, as we saw seven years ago, even that did not guarantee what the team and their fans would have seen as the right result. — © The Daily Telegraph, London