A MUST WIN FOR ENGLAND IN THE MOST SUITABLE CONDITIONS.....

Both teams move to Adelaide after what turned out to be an one sided Ashes opener at Brisbane which has been a happy hunting ground for Australia for nearly three decades. England competed hard for the best part of three days and then it was all one way traffic after a familiar collapse in the 2nd innings. While Gabba has been a nightmare for the poms for too long, Adelaide has given them some good memories especially the batters. I have watched four ashes battles at the Adelaide Oval out of which 3 times England have gone on to score excess of 400. After a low score in the first innings, they did pretty well in the second innings in 2002 but lost the match. In 2006-07 they somehow how found a way to lose after scoring over 550 in the 1st innings. 4 years later, Andrew Strauss and his men produced one of the most memorable result for England when beat Australia by an innings courtesy of a big double hundred by Kevin Pietersen. Another three years later England produced probably the worst brand of cricket after receiving some thunderbolts from Mitchell Johnson. Adelaide Oval generally produces good batting wickets with true bounce allowing batsmen to play horizontal bat shots as well as drives on the up. The drop in pitch generally brings spinners into play which may prompt England to play Mason Crane to help Moeen Ali who is suffering a sore finger. We saw what Nathan Lyon did to India in 2014 when he took 12 wickets to spin Australia to a memorable victory. The third session under lights will bring James Anderson and Stuart Broad into play who have a great chance to extract some movement in the air or off the pitch. More than anything for England to win at Adelaide, it is absolutely vital that Alastair Cook and Joe Root get big hundreds in the first innings. If they lose at Adelaide, the dreaded word 'whitewash' will start  being on everyone's lips.

INEVITABLE AFTER ALL THE HYPE

Australia went 1-0 up to kick start the Ashes and it couldn't have been any better finish than Cameroon Bancroft dirlling another drive through mid on off Chris Woakes for four. England put on 302 on an unusual slow Gabba wicket after Joe Root had won the toss. After Cook's early dismissal, Stoneman and James Vince were involved in a scintillating partnership which put England right in front before a couple of mini collapses had them crawling for 300. Vince truly lived up to the praise he received for his technique which was supposed to suit the fast and bouncy pitches in Australia. To watch a player with such a backfoot dominant technique play so many drives was truly a treat to watch. Australians were in all sorts at 80-4 but Steven 'The Alien' Smith played another mind boggling innings, probably his best, of unbeaten 141. He stood firm amidst the carnage at the other end without playing a single cover drive untill his 100th run somewhat emulating Tendulkar's masterclass at Sydney. That was an adjustment made in response to the nature of the pitch which was much slower than the usual Gabba deck and playing on the up was not the easiest thing to do. A lead of 26 proved more than vital as Josh Hazlewood ran through the English top order in the dying minutes of 3rd evening. After a fighting half century, Joe Root was trapped in front. It was almost a sense of deja vu of Mitchell Johnson's thunderbolts when Mitchell Starc produced a fiesty spell of short pitch bowling directed at the body of the tail enders. Needless to say, the innings ended rather quickly. A target of 170 was not supposed to be as easy as it turned out to be looking at the history of the 'Fortress Gabba'. It was a fitting end to the debut match for Cameron Bancroft as he and David Warner hammered the English Bowling to a 10 wicket bashing thanks to some niggles to Moeen Ali and Jimmy Anderson.
    As expected, Australia looked the better side on the park. For some periods during the match, it felt that they lacked the services of 5th bowler when all 3 quicks were grinding it out. Lyon looked the best bowler on the park for the best part of five days. Inability of English batsmen of converting 50s into big ones will haunt them big time as they move to Adelaide for the Day-Night test where I think they will have their best chance under lights.

GABBA HOLDS THE KEY!

    The Ashes is about to start in a couple of days in soaring heat at Gabba in Brisbane and there is no doubt that the 1st test is going to be extremely important for both the sides as neither England nor Australia is looking a well settled side. Both captains will walk out for the toss at 10 am on Thursday and they won't think twice about batting first if it is an usual Gabba wicket. Nasser Hussain in 2002 gave a good lesson to everyone when he won the toss and decided to bowl first. Hayden smashed a hundred, Ponting got a hundred, England were on the golf course by the fourth afternoon!
     While England will be relying heavily on Cook and Root in the batting department and Broad- Anderson in the bowling department, Australia is very much dependent on Smith and the three quicks- Starc- Hazlewood- Cummins. England don't have a lot of experience except those four players but they have great pedigree in players like Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan. Bairstow and Moeen form a formidable lower middle order along with Chris Woakes who has gone a long way in filling a big void left by Ben Stokes. On the other hand Australia have a much more fragile top 6. Young Matthew Renshaw was axed to everyone's surprise and replaced by Cameron Bancroft who has been a prolific run getter in the Sheffield Shield. Khawaja is likely to bat at no. 3, Smith at no.4 and Peter Handscomb at no.5. Shaun Marsh has always been an honest hard-working guy who finally gets his biggest opportunity that is to bat and control the innings at no.6. Tim Paine was the biggest surprise though, who sneaked in ahead of Matthew Wade and Peter Neville. Australian selectors said that they decided to choose the Best Gloveman in the Country without considering his batting skills. Tim Paine hasn't even kept for Tasmania in Sheffield Shield games this season but he has the best hands in Australia they say!
    Neither of the teams is overwhelming favourites but I think Australia has the edge. If the first test goes their way and if they can hold on to the next one in Adelaide, where England will have their best chance under lights, then I do think that Australia will run away with the Ashes just like they did in 2013-14 season.