Ashes 2015 1st Test at Cardiff: Australia must learn to thrive on flat decks

Ashes 2015 1st Test at Cardiff: Australia must learn to thrive on flat decks

Australia looked clueless for major part of the first day of The Ashes 2015 (and even that is an understatement) as England managed to register a minor victory by dishing out what looked like a poor wicket. If they have to retain the urn, Australia must learn to thrive on wickets that are not conducive to their bowling strengths, says Devarchit Varma.

The English are smart. No matter how abysmal they are in the shorter formats, they know their way around in the lanes of Test cricket, especially at home. Having flayed India back in 2011 on bowling-friendly wickets, they dished out absolute flat decks for the series against South Africa the next summer in 2012 knowing that the tourists can cause far more damage. Since then, England have been extremely smart in preparing wickets — green-tops for subcontinent teams like India and Sri Lanka and flat decks for the dangerous South Africans and Australians.

The first day of any series, let alone The Ashes, is always full with excitement, energy, enthusiasm and hopes. It is never a good sight to see all of that sapping out of strong bowling attacks a few minutes into the game. The look on the Australian faces to witness nothing on the Sophia Gardens pitch for them right from the start sucked out all excitement and energy as Alastair Cook and his men silently laughed at Australia’s misery. UPDATES: Ashes 2015 England vs Australia, 1st Test Day 1

England were sitting ducks on pace-friendly and bouncy wickets Down Under in 2013-14, but by dishing out such flat, unfriendly wicket for bowlers at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, they ensured their batsmen do not get similar treatment. In bargain, England also lost the advantage to have a track where Stuart Broad’s bounce and pace and James Anderson’s swing can bother the tourists.

Looking at Australian bowlers, no one actually has the abilities to thrive on batsmen-friendly wickets. Mitchell Johnson’s core skills are pace and bounce. Mitchell Starc deals in little bit of swing alongside pace. Yorkers are his forte. And Josh Hazlewood is someone who promises better results on bouncy tracks. The fallback option, Shane Watson, also relies on swing. Australia paid the price for not being dynamic in their bowling skills. ALSO READ: Ashes 2015 England vs Australia, 1st Test Day 1 report

And then, none of these men can actually force results on flat decks.

Going ahead into Ashes 2015, it will be very crucial for Australia to learn methods to thrive on flat decks. This shortcoming is the reason they lost to Pakistan in UAE in 2014-15 and in India in 2012-13. England are not going to present Australia any kind of advantage — especially to their bowlers. They trust the skill sets of Anderson and Broad, which has worked wonders for them while playing in their backyard and on such wickets.

And then, discipline is another crucial trait. None of the Australian pacers was disciplined today. The lines and lengths bowled on Wednesday never actually suggested these men were fresh and playing the first day of such an important series. Johnson strayed down the leg on many occasions; Hazlewood did not look like taking a wicket with the new ball (apart from the one that had Adam Lyth); and Starc lacked the spunk for the major part of the day.

Australia will have to go back to their drawing board and see where they went wrong. England’s first day score of 343 for 7 does not look as daunting as, say, 343 for 4 would have. Australia will have to ascertain where they went wrong, why they bowled wrong. The flat decks do not give too many chances to err.

(Devarchit Varma is a reporter with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)