The most predictable news in the world of sport was confirmed on Sunday when a news release from the media office of the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed that the England squad for the second Ashes Test at Lord's, which begins on Thursday, would be unchanged from the first.
As the old maxim goes: if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, and it is one that England’s management are adhering to after the team crushed Australia by 169 runs inside four days at Cardiff in the first Test.
History is on England’s side: only three times in the past 20 Ashes series have a side come from behind to win after losing the first Test, but new coach Trevor Bayliss will not be taking anything for granted despite the impressive nature of his side’s performance in his first game in charge.
The key to England’s success was making best use of the conditions and keeping scoreboard pressure on Australia. Captain Alastair Cook won the toss and wisely chose to bat first on a pitch where the best day to bat was the first.
But you still have to make full use of it, and England were wavering at 43 for three during a worrying first session. The game-changer was Joe Root, but even he had a slice of good fortune. The No 3 batsman nicked Mitchell Starc’s second ball to Brad Haddin, who failed to hold onto the chance behind the stumps for Australia. If Haddin had taken that catch it would have been 43 for four, with the vital wicket of Root out the way and the tourists fully pumped up in the field – it would have been hard for England to come back from that.
Instead Root took full advantage of his good fortune, played beautifully for his 134 and led a quick-scoring charge to 430.
Australia were always on the backfoot from then on.
With a decent score behind them England bowled well. Stuart Broad and Mark Wood’s hostile spells caused Australia’s batsmen problems, and while he was expensive, Moeen Ali did take wickets.
So a lot of plus points for England, though I am sure you can sense a big “but” on the horizon.
The one major question mark on this team is whether they can produce performances like the one in Cardiff on a consistent basis.
England were terrific in forcing a victory at Lord’s against New Zealand in May when they found themselves in trouble on several occasions but showed tenacity and spirit to fight back and triumph.
They failed to build on that display a few days later at Headingley though as their bowlers wilted in the face of some aggressive shot-making from the Black Caps and then the batsmen failed in an attempt to bat the game out when a draw was all that was required to win the series.
It was the same story on the tour of the West Indies in April: England played two good matches, winning the first, but then put up a poor display in the second Test to allow the hosts to earn a share of the spoils.
Great teams do not just play well sporadically, they are on it every time they take the field.
The victory in Cardiff was a very good display from a young England side. The test for them now is to repeat it at Lord’s as they can expect a strong response from Australia.
Darren Lehmann’s side are not the No 1-ranked team by accident, and while a lot of their batsmen had games to forget, any line-up containing David Warner, Steve Smith and Michael Clarke cannot be taken lightly.
Australia bowled better than England’s first innings score of 430 indicated, with Josh Hazlewood and Starc both bowling good spells, while Mitchell Johnson, despite being hurt by the lack of serious pace in the wicket, still caused England’s batsmen some difficulties, particularly in the second innings.
Nathan Lyon was arguably the biggest surprise. The off-spinner bowled superbly it will be telling how England cope when it is they who are under pressure and Australia have men parked around the bat when Lyon is bowling well.
Having got their noses in front England have a great opportunity to win back the Ashes and put the memories of the traumatic 5-0 whitewash in Australia in 2013/14 well and truly behind them.
We have been here before with England though. It is now up to Cook’s men to demonstrate they are the real deal and not just a flash in the pan.
gacaygill@thenational.ae
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