The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Flower to ring the changes for England
A NDY FLOWER has called England’s senior batsmen to account for his team’s false start to the A shes and has promised changes for the third Test in Perth.
The tourists find themselves 2-0 down with three to play, and needing to overturn almost 80 years of A shes history if they are to win the urn outright — for the fourth time in succession — from such an unpromising position.
Three times, in both innings of the series opener in Brisbane and then again at the f irst attempt in A delaide, England failed to even approach a total of 200.
The upshot was two landslide defeats as Mitchell Johnson’s pace flummoxed most of England’s specialist batsmen.
A change is definitely expected in the attack, with at least one of Monty Panesar or Graeme Swann set to be dropped with conditions in Perth in mind, but Flower is not afraid to consider further alterations if he feels they will improve the team.
“We have taken some serious hits but we do have a squad full of people who are determined to turn the ship around, and that’s what we must do,” he said.
“I’m absolutely ready to make tough decisions. There will obviously be changes in Perth. Our fans watching back home, I can understand that frustration, absolutely. “We were not good enough.” By the end of England’s second innings in A delaide, they had lost half of the aggregate 40 wickets taken byA ustralia over twoTests to leg-side catches.
That is an unfathomable statistic in the pinnacle format of cricket, in which off stump is almost always the line of attack by frontline bowlers aiming principally for edges or to get through the batsman’s defence for lbw or bowled.
“There has been a disproportionate number of those types of (soft) dismissals, and dismissals on the leg side,” said Flower.
“To improve in the series, we have to address those areas.
“The balance between attacking shots and ensuring you bat long periods is a challenge for all batsmen at all times, and we haven’t got that balance anywhere near right.
“That’s not just the younger batsmen, it’s the experienced ones as well.
“The challenge at Perth will be to assess those conditions accurately and have clarity on the risk/reward that you always have to judge when you’re batting.”
The most established batsmen are the ones Flower agrees England need to set the example as they go in search of a first win at the Waca in 35 years. “A bsolutely, yes we do,” he added. “In these sorts of contests and series, where the intensity levels are high, which makes for very exciting cricket, you do need your more experienced players, players who have been through similar situations in the past, to come through tough periods and play match-defining innings or produce pressure to create chances with the ball.”
England, who flew west to Perth yesterday, will have two days to assess conditions and select and practise accordingly for a match starting on Friday.
If England opt to go without spinners at all it would mean Swann — a nonnegotiable first choice when fit since 2009 — dropping out.