Weight Of Australian Runs Can Bury England At The Oval
The Ashes series goes to the final match at the Oval on Thursday with the score tied at 1-1. Despite their capitulation at Headingley, England can still win the prize back with victory in London but the state of the series is misleading.
Though the teams are level it is a false position. England have been massively outplayed in two contests but scraped away from Cardiff with a dramatic draw thanks to the weather and unlikely tail end resistance.
Edgbaston was an even contest and England seized their chance at Lord’s after Australia’s only batting failure of the summer. Getting through the tourist’s batting order again is the conundrum facing England in the Fifth Test.
The statistics tell the story. Five of the top six run scorers in the series are Australians with only Andrew Strauss splitting them. In terms of averages, the top five names are all Aussies.
Only the England skipper has posted a century for the host nation- five tourists have raised three figures so far. Off spinner Graeme Swann has a better batting average than four of the England specialists.
While England have replaced the failing Ravi Bopara with Jonathan Trott, a debutant, the decision of the Australian selectors to convert Shane Watson to an opener has paid off handsomely, as the all-rounder has delivered three fifties at the top end.
Michael Clarke and Marcus North are proving to be a formidable obstacle batting at five and six. They average a massive eighty-nine and sixth-nine respectively. Of the current top six in the Australian line up only Michael Hussey has been struggling for runs at number four.
As Australia hold the Ashes it offers them plenty of options for the final Test. If they can simply occupy the crease the famous ‘urn’ will be retained. Ricky Ponting is under no pressure to attack although he would like to win the series 2-1 if possible.
England also have to keep one eye on the weather which did them a favour in Wales but can come to the aid of the opposition now. Any time out of the game makes a draw all the more likely.
The suspicion is that Ponting has another big score within him. The visiting captain tore into England in Cardiff but his scores since have been steady, not helped by some bad luck. He has the capacity to produce the runs for his team when it matters and one sparkling century could put the final nail into England’s hopes.
The inured Kevin Pietersen and Ponting were the two lynchpins of the batting orders but Australia have several players who have weighed in heavily to support their champion. It should be enough to ensure they take the Ashes back Down Under.
Can the English fight back from their humiliating defeat in Leeds? Well, not according to the bookies. Australia are the strong favourites to win the game and retain the Ashes at 8/5 but you can catch England at4/1 to win, probably more in hope than expactation though sadly.
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