The Ashes Blog

Phillip Hughes, the 20 year old from country New South Wales, is set to replace Matt Hayden at the top of the order for the 2009 Ashes series. Assuming he doesn’t completely lose the plot in South Africa, and doesn’t sustain serious injury (which seems to be the curse of Aussie cricketers at the moment), he’ll walk out to bat with Simon Katich at Cardiff on July 8.

I think the decision is an excellent one. He’s young, talented, and a leftie. Even though he’s about three feet shorter than Hayden, Hughes looks set for a long career with the Australian cricket team, and I think we all just hope he lives up to the hype.

One concern is how he’ll cope with the English bowling conditions. He bats well in Australia, but it’s a bit different facing that seaming, swinging ball under cloudy English skies.

Will Phillip Hughes succeed in England? I’d be interested to hear what you think, so leave a comment below.

Update:
What a start by Hughes! Two Tests, four innings, and scores of 0, 75, 115, and 160. As Ricky Ponting said, “I’ll make sure his head doesn’t get too big over the next couple of weeks.”

At least Hughes will be well prepared for the 2009 Ashes series, having been signed up by Middlesex for the start of the season. And the signs are looking good for Hughes doing well in England. As Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, said:

“… he has just survived the most difficult assignment imaginable in facing Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel on their home pitches. Those are harder pitches and bowlers than he will face in England.”

I guess that answers the question I asked earlier – will Hughes handle the “seaming, swinging ball under cloudy English skies”?

Update – April 23, 2009:
Phillip Hughes scores a century on debut for Middlesex
The dream run continues for young Aussie opener Phillip Hughes, who has scored a hundred in his first innings for county side Middlesex. Granted, the pitch was a good one for batting, and the opposition bowlers were pretty ordinary, but it does answer the big question over how Hughes will go in English conditions. Another Aussie young gun, Mark Cosgrove, also scored a century in the same match, so perhaps the signs are good for Aussie batsmen in England in 2009.

Update – May 8, 2009:
Three centuries in four innings for Hughes
Phillip Hughes is loving this England gig, as he has just notched up his 3rd century for Middlesex. That takes his aggregate to 452 for twice out in four innings – a batting average of 276. Not too bad for a young fella on his first trip to England.

Matt Hayden will retire sometime during the current Australian summer, and will not be part of the Aussie team that will be going to England in 2009. At least, that’s what I think he’ll do.

He’s had a fantastic career, and has been one of our greatest openers. When he’s on fire, he is phenomenal. Unfortunately his time is nearly up, and I think Matt Hayden knows it. He hinted recently that he may not have the zeal to play for too much longer, and by the time we get to the First Test at Cardiff, Hayden will be close to 37 years 8 months of age.

“I would love to think I could play through England, and past next summer. But things don’t always go how you want them to.”
- Matt Hayden

His one advantage is that he was a late starter at Test level, so he can last longer than a guy who starts in his early 20s.

Here’s Hayden’s scores for 2008, during which time he averages 38.75:

v India: 13, 123, 103, 0, 13, 0, 29, 83, 16no, 16, 77
v New Zealand: 8, 0

A few good scores, but 3 ducks in the past 5 Tests is a real negative, and the pressure for him to go is starting to build. Will Hayden get the push, or will he be allowed to leave on his terms? Even great players can be forced to leave at the time the selectors feel is right. Fortunately for Hayden there’s no obvious replacement, no Aussie opener scoring a mountain of runs at domestic level. The selectors could opt for Shaun Marsh (son of former Australian opener Geoff), Brad Hodge, or perhaps move Mike Hussey to the top of the order and slide someone like David Hussey into the middle. The Hussey Brothers, batting in the same line-up on English wickets, sounds pretty good to me.

Update: January 14th, 2009
As predicted here at The Ashes blog, the big Queenslander, Matt the bat, has declared at the age of 37 and is heading back to the sheds to cook up a great big barbecue feast. He was powerful, brilliant, and awesome to watch when in full flight, but I reckon he got the timing of his retirement just right. It was time for him to go, and Matthew Hayden can now move forward in life, and Australian cricket can enter a new era, and perhaps unleash a new champion opener onto the world stage.

Farewell Matty Hayden, you’re an absolute legend!

Matthew Hayden -
Tests: 103
Runs: 8625
Avge: 50.73

News about Matthew Hayden’s retirement:
Australian opener Matthew Hayden retires as Ashes loom
Once Hayden faced the cherry, now it’s time to pluck tomatoes
Numbers that stand tall – Hayden among cricket’s greats

England: 147
Australia: 0/46
Australia wins by 10 wickets

It is finished. Australia has won the Ashes in the most convincing fashion possible, with a 5-0 rout of what really is a pretty decent England team.

I previously mentioned the need for KP to bat through to the end of the England innings. Well, he lasted 3 balls, and with England’s leading batsman back in the pavilion, the match was all but over. Chris Read looked out of his depth, scoring just the one boundary before being beautifully caught by Ponting in the slips.

Harmison and Anderson delayed the inevitable with some solid defensive work, but a lead of just 45 was never going to provide a challenge for the opposition. Appropriately, it was Glenn McGrath who took the 10th wicket with his final ball in Test match cricket.

When the Australians came out to bat, the England team admirably formed a guard of honour for the retiring Langer. Ironically, the English bowling to the Australians in the second innings was amongst the finest we’ve seen all summer. Anderson and Harmison were bowling well, and Hayden and Langer had to tread carefully to avoid some good line and length stuff. They survived, and the emotion of the occasion was almost becoming too much for Langer. With 7 runs needed, he asked Haydos for a quick finish. His good mate obliged, hitting a mammoth six over mid-on to bring the scores level. The two batsmen had another brief chat in the middle of the pitch, with the Queenslander perhaps asking the retiring Langer if he would like to hit the winning runs. Langer obviously wasn’t too fussed, as Hayden flicked the next ball for four and Australia had won by 10 wickets.

For Ponting, this was a significant and emotional time:

“Even when we took the last wicket, to think that would be the last time we’d be walking off with Glenn and Shane …
I was hoping to get a chance to bat with Lang. To realise that was the last opportunity I was going to have, it’s a pretty emotional time.

I grabbed hold of Michael Clarke on the way around the ground and had a word about the next era. For the next few years, hopefully it’s he and I and Michael Hussey being able to be the leaders and win games for our country.

I told him to sit back and have a look around. It’s 80-something years since its happened and it’s a moment we should all savour.”
- Ricky Ponting

Australia: 7/372

England were able to get those quick wickets in the morning session, and were completely dominating until they came up against a couple of big Queenslanders. Matty Hayden and his good mate Andrew Symonds took control, putting on 279 runs (the sixth highest partnership in Test history for the sixth wicket) and all but securing the game for Australia.

For Symonds, this innings may prove to be as monumental as his big century at the 2003 World Cup. His Test career has so far been much like his one day career pre-2003 – lots of potential, and the occasional useful knock, but nothing of substance. He now has a Test 150, and will have the opportunity to add to that on day three at the MCG. After picking up a couple of handy wickets during the Perth Test, Symonds may finally develop into the batting all-rounder that he has always promised.

His partner in crime was Matty Hayden, who has also been a little short on runs so far in this series. His 27th Test Match hundred might be enough to keep those calling for his retirement quiet for a little longer, as his form in this game certainly indicates that Haydos could play out another season at least.

As far as England is concerned, this was yet another day when they looked great for a session, and then they completely lost it. Granted, they did have a few poor umpiring decisions go against them, but so did the Aussies. The difference between the two sides is that the Australians create more opportunities, so that if they don’t get them with the LBW, then they’ll just bowl ‘em out.

England: 215
Australia: 1/119

It was a strong display from the Aussies on day two of this Perth Test. England was on top on day one, but as has been the case throughout this series, they can’t seem to put enough good days together. This time it was their batting that failed them, leaving it up to their supposedly weak tail to put on the highest partnership of the innings. According to Duncan Fletcher, Ashley Giles was brought into the team for the first two Tests because he offered more with the bat. This was shown for the foolish decision it was when Gilo’s replacement, Monty Panesar, teamed up with Steve Harmison to add valuable runs to England’s total. Panesar’s perfectly executed straight drive to the boundary drew applause around the ground, and in particular from England’s dressing rooms:

“It was the shot of the day. Better than anything I played today. Better than anything I’ve played all series, in fact.”
- Kevin Pietersen

What must be going through Duncan Fletcher’s head this evening?

Australia’s second innings started with Justin Langer’s dismissal first ball, and I thought for a moment there that we might be about to see a classic Australian collapse. However, Matt Hayden finally started to look good, with one delicious sweep shot off Panesar’s bowling that looked just like the Hayden of 2001. When that came out, I knew he was comfortable.

Together with Ponting, the two of them seem impenetrable, and they look like they could post a pair of centuries. The pitch started to get easier for the batsmen around the middle of the day, and by the time the Australians got in, it looked like a perfect batting strip. With their lead already at 148, I’d say another 150 runs would be enough. England will struggle to chase anything more than 300, though if they’re good enough, the locals may try and set a target in excess of 400. However, as KP has pointed out, South Africa successfully held on for almost a day and a half last year in Perth for an unexpected draw, and England will be hoping they can do likewise. But then if the English do manage to get another 9 Aussie wickets today, then that will leave them with at least 2 full days to either bat out for a draw, or secure an unlikely victory. If they reverse their batting order, they might be in with a chance.

What are people saying?

“The most incompetently-selected England team of recent years were facing a desperate battle to save the Ashes this weekend …” – Daily Mail

“… Ponting has once again driven a dagger deep into England’s soul.” – The Telegraph

“Has Duncan Fletcher lost the plot? The dire display in the second innings at Adelaide, the prevarication over playing Panesar and the stubborn insistence on retaining Jones behind the stumps, would appear to answer the question in the affirmative.” – Brian Whorrall, comment at The Times

“Taking five wickets on the first day of an Ashes Test was incredible but I have to make one thing clear – it doesn’t mean people should think that I can turn this series around single-handed.” – Monty Panesar

I thought it would be interesting to do a statistical comparison of the two sides to see how they will fare against each other, statistically speaking. What I’ve done is add up the batting averages for all 11 players in each side to give a team batting average. I’ve then added up the bowling averages for Australia and England, and this gives us a team bowling average. To the Australian batting averages I added the England team bowling average to give a final total (and vice versa for England). So if a side has a very good, and therefore low, bowling average then they won’t be adding too many runs to the oppositions total team average, so it seems to me like a fair comparison: Read the rest of this entry »