With a few spare days after England's three-day demolition job on West Indies, thoughts inevitably turn towards the Ashes. In the Sunday Telegraph, Scyld Berry picks his eleven to face the Australians and says that a five-man attack is the way to go, but England need a Plan B for when things don't go to plan.
The trouble is that, as a result of being given only a couple of months to implement their Ashes plans, England will have no tried and tested Plan B in reserve. England's strategy for this summer is similar to 2005, with more emphasis on spin this time as Australia have none of their own. But, before then, England have always regained the Ashes at home in one of two distinct ways.
Firstly, when England have had the outstanding bowler in the series: Ian Botham in 1985 and 1981, Bob Willis in 1977, Jim Laker in 1956. On those occasions England won with relative ease. But they do not, as the teams stand, possess the outstanding bowler: if anyone merits the term in advance, it is Australia's fast, left-arm bowler who now swings the new ball and reverse-swings the old ball, Mitchell Johnson.
A few months ago the feeling was that Ricky Ponting was struggling to rebuild the Australia side, but recently results have shown a marked improvement and Ian Chappell, also in the Sunday Telegraph, says he has grown as a leader.
Ponting is able to experience a reversal, evaluate what needs to be done to fix the problem and very quickly turn it into a positive. He did it again in this past southern summer when a home series lost to the Proteas was followed by a surprising victory a month later in South Africa. The Australian side under Ponting have received sharp criticism at times for being abrasive, but no one can ever accuse them of not being highly competitive and making the opposition fight for every inch of ground.
Meanwhile, in the Sunday Times, David Gower believes Ravi Bopara could be the long-term solution at No. 3, but firm judgement will have to wait until he has performed consistently against tougher opposition.
There were a lot of good things about the innings and what it told us of Bopara. He showed a calm confidence throughout and for the most part kept control of his natural ambition to dominate and entertain. He lapsed soon after he had reached three figures and played some loose shots, one of which should have brought his dismissal with a catch at slip.
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Bopara has it in him to play the swashbuckler, as his fans at Essex know all too well, and there will be times when he will be given full rein to do so. When the day comes that both he and Kevin Pietersen are in full flow together, that will be a fine sight for all but the bowlers. However, Test cricket demands more and rewards those with the nous and skill to remain at the crease for a long time.
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