Ashes 2013-14: Australia’s all-round show against England and other talking points from 1st Test

Mitchell Johnson (centre) picked up nine wickets in the first Ashes Test against England at the Gabba, Brisbane © Getty Images

Australia hammered England from all corners to comprehensively win the first Ashes 2013-14 Test in Brisbane at The Gabba. Their 381-run triumph helped them to their first win in 10 Test matches. England were blitzed by the pace of Mitchell Johnson as they lost their first Test against the old rivals after eight matches. Shrikant Shankar discusses the first Test.

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1st win in 10 Tests for Australia
 
Michael Clarke would be a relieved man as his team hammered England to win the first Ashes 2013-14 Test in Brisbane at The Gabba. Their victory margin of 381 runs is an added consolation as this is Australia’s first win in 10 Test matches. Many of these players at some point would have wondered when they could actually see the light of day. It is a remarkable achievement as they were better than England in every single department. They were ruthless as they did not give England an inch and wrapped up the victory on the fourth day. In the nine previous win-less Tests, Australia lost 3-0 in the five-match 2013 Ashes series. So, the triumph comes as a sweet welcome.
 
 
Mitchell Johnson proves to be England’s bane
 
When a team wins any Test match by a margin by 381 runs, there are bound to be many top performers. Brad Haddin scored two half-centuries in the match. In the second innings, David Warner scored 124 and Michael Clarke scored 113. Nathan Lyon pipped counterpart Graeme Swann in the spin-department. But it was Mitchell Johnson who was the stand-out performer for Australia. He scored an invaluable 64 in Australia’s first innings. He then intimidated the England batsmen with speed and chin music as he took four wickets in the first innings. In Australia’s second innings he was unbeaten on 39. Johnson was again brilliant with the ball in England’s second innings as he took five wickets. This was not just an all-round performance from the left-hander; it was utter domination of the opposition. In past England-Australia encounters, he has proved to be the bane of both teams. In the first Ashes Test of the 2013-14 series, he was England’s.
 
 

Stuart Broad registered a six-wicket haul in the first innings © Getty Images

Stuart Broad grows in adversity
 
There were not many plus points that England could take to the second Test in Adelaide. Alastair Cook’s gritty 65 of 195 balls in the second innings was one of few for England. But the main plus point was that of Stuart Broad’s performance in the whole match. He picked up six wickets in the first innings and two in the second. He also scored 32 runs in England’s first innings collapse of 136. He did all this while constantly being booed and jeered by the Australian supporters. This showed that he has courage and strength of character as England toiled for much of the match.
 
 
Australia tackle England’s famed bowling attack
 
Entering the Ashes 2013-14 series, it was England who supposedly had the better bowling attack. Their overall and past record in Australia would suggest that would be true. There were question marks about Australia’s batting and the home media and fans were skeptical about how the batsmen go about tackling England’s bowlers. When Australia were bowled out for 295 in the first innings, the fans and media became fickle and lambasted their batting line-up. But when England were all out for 136, things were brought into perspective. In the second innings, Australia batted England out of the match as they declared at 401 for seven. They then skittled England out for 179.
 
For a major part of the game,  the Australian batsmen made the England bowlers look ineffective and many of the wickets that fell were to poor shot selection rather than good deliveries. James Anderson and Graeme Swann could only manage two wickets each in the whole Test. That is how good that the Aussie batsmen played against some high quality bowlers. The England think-tank have some important issues to discuss if they are to retain the Ashes.
 
 

Jonathan Trott scored total 19 runs from two innings in the first Ashes Test at the Gabba, Brisbane © Getty Images

England’s batting woes exposed
 
England’s batting has not been the best in the last few series. Collectively they have failed to post big totals on a regular basis. Some of their premier batsmen in Cook, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior have not scored enough runs with the bat for a while now. Although Cook came good in England’s second innings with a stoic half-century, the rest crumbled under relentless pressure from Johnson and co. Kevin Pietersen did not do much with the bat either, but there is no pattern in how he gets out and it is only a matter of time before he scores a big ton. The main issue is Trott and Prior. When England toured Australia in the 2010-11 season, both Trott and Prior were amongst the runs and helped their team win the Ashes 3-1.
 
Australia’s plans for many of the England batsmen were very obvious to see, yet they got out accordingly. There is no quick fix to their batting woes and they would need to rely heavily on Cook and Pietersen to come up with the goods.
 

The loss at The Gabba was Alastair Cook’s only second loss in 17 Tests as England captain © Getty Images

Rethink required as Alastair Cook loses 2nd Test as captain?
 
Shane Warne has led a group of ex-players in thinking that Alastair Cook is not a good captain. But if the old adage of ‘A captain is only as good as his team’ goes, then Cook is one of the best in recent times. The loss at The Gabba was only his second loss in 17 as England captain. People have criticised him for a lack of innovation and attacking intent as a captain. But when one is winning most of their matches, the need to experiment grows lesser as one would get used to a fixed pattern. The same could be said of captain Cook. His batsmen underperformed twice in Brisbane and the bowlers were ineffective. There is no need to panic as this can be seen as just an aberration in an otherwise impressive record. If the batting clicks, then things can start working again for Cook.
 
(Shrikant Shankar is a writer/reporter at CricketCountry.com. Previously he has done audio commentary for various matches involving India, Indian Premier League and Champions League Twenty20 for ESPNSTAR.com. You can follow him on Twitter @Shrikant_23)