Who Will Win the Ashes From Here?

Despite the First Test petering out to a draw, Adam Currie runs us through why he believes that England will head into the Second Ashes Test confident of a win.

Who would have thought that so many conclusions could be taken from a drawn Test match?

England will most certainly be marching onto Adelaide with a spring in their step after the series opener, which saw records being broken by the bucket load.

And quite rightly so, after the men from up north dragged themselves out of a miserable position of being 221 runs behind on the third day, to post a monumental 517 for 1 in their second innings.

England’s top three were simply sensational, and coupled with a less than intimidating bowling attack, Australian selectors will be a touch more concerned than they were two season ago heading to Adelaide.

Peter Siddle, despite a magnificent hat-trick in England’s first innings, was made to look a fool, boasting before the series opener that Australia’s bowling attack was the current best in the world.

English supporters were fed their normal dose of mediocre play on day one, a touch more familiar selection of utter humiliation on day two, and for much of day three the Barmy Army would have been looking into holiday packages to the coast next series around.

But cometh the man, cometh England.

All the hype of a team on the rise proved real on the fourth day, and for six glorious sessions England showed us just why they are going to win this Ashes.

England do however need to realise that despite celebrating the draw as a win- it was not. The manner in which they did it might have been somewhat colossal, however the record books show that all they did was draw a Test match, and they know all the hard work still lies ahead.

And so the scoreline stands at 0-0, with four to play.

England do need to take a look at aspects of their game heading into the Second Test, namely their bowling. While there were spells of brilliance, including the young Steve Finn’s five-for, bowling figures do not lie.

Much like Australia, England only managed 11 wickets in the match, and from over 184 overs worth of bowling, a lot more needs to be done.

But then again, an Aussie attack with the same haul off 228 overs suggests that a Newcastle coalminer could not have extracted much out of the Gabba pitch.

A lot will be needed from England’s bowlers over the coming four tests, as rumours suggest that the Adelaide surface will be nothing short of a ‘road’. The seam attack will be up against it yet again, however one must think that a toiling Jimmy Anderson will most certainly do more damage than an out-of-sorts Mitchell Johnson.

There is still good money to be made at this stage of the series with Australia coming in at 2.25, to the visitors at 2.35- a lot tighter margin than before the opener at the formerly labelled ‘Gabbatoire’.

Despite a crumbling Australian team set-up, the bookies are still claiming this series to lean 2-1 to the hosts, with the same scoreline in favour of England set at an enticing 6.0

One thing is certain, and that this is going to be a tight series.

There will most certainly be another draw left in the mix, suggesting that this could be the cliff-hanger the cricketing public has been waiting for.

I am still calling this one at 3-1 to the English. The reasoning behind this is simple.

Despite all the talk of a ‘dead’ pitch, England simply looked the better team in the opener. Granted there were flashes of brilliance from individuals such as Hussey and Siddle, however beyond that this Aussie team looks a shadow of its former self.

In the same light, the England team look nothing like their predecessors, and are all the better for it. They displayed huger and tenacity with their backs up against the wall, and that is what makes them the more deserving side here.

There will be no room for arrogance from here on in. What England need here is the stubborn determination that pulled them back from the brink at the Gabba. 

England will take this series because they want it more, are playing smarter cricket and are quite simply better than their opponents.