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As opposed to looking at the rich history of the English Cricket Grounds and Stadia that will host the 2013 Ashes series (you can read this anywhere else) I’ve instead looked at a way to share what you can expect from the pitch and the conditions that set the battleground for an Ashes clash at each ground.
For the Australian ICC Champions Trophy squad announcement, please visit the Baggy Green Blog Facebook page.
Now, not all Test venues stay true to their perceived reputation. Just look at the W.A.CA. The ground has been hailed as paradise for a fast bowler and a dreamy strip for a batsman, assuming you have zero fear come fast bowling. Over the last few seasons it has lost a bit of consistency for that traditional pace offered for the best of the quicks. Surfaces get relaid, some get exposed to unusual weather conditions, or even have curators being requested to deliver a track of a specific nature or format.
Having stated this, let’s take a look at the five venues hosting the Ashes. I’ve included a brief bit of history regarding each ground regarding most recent Ashes clashes and of course, for all the strategic nutters, what you can expect come the contest between bat and ball. As an Australia supporter you will be licking your lips in anticipation come our bowling effort, but have inner concerns regarding our batting, especially where application and patience is vitally important for survival.
Australian 2013 Ashes squad.
1st Test: Trent Bridge, Notthingham (County team: Nottinghampshire)
Briefing: It was encouraging to see both Chris Rogers (Ashes squad member/ Middlesex) and Ed Cowan (Ashes squad member/ Nottinghampshire) showcase form and score some good runs at Trent Bridge in their opening Division One game of the county season.
This is going to be providing a gripping contest between bat and ball, but it is going to be most challenging for our batsmen. An excellent opening venue for the Ashes. It will test all aspects a team and individual requires to survive in a Test match.
We last played a Test in 2005, losing by 3 wickets, but we did take the win in the 2001 Test, which has little relevance at this point in time with it dating back 12 years.
At this relatively low scoring ground, Michael Clarke is the only player in our squad who has been exposed to the challenges presented at Trent Bridge at the elite level. There is validity to look at playing Cowan and Rogers too given their county runs.
The pitch report: As mentioned, Trent Bridge is an ideal arena to kick off the Ashes series in a time where batting dominates the game. There is as good a guarantee as any that the ball will swing and should provide for a menacing contest. Trent Bridge has produced more win or lose results than drawn results in recent years, so it is definitely a good place to start a series with an outcome quite likely to occur.
A theory behind the high presence of swing conditions at the ground, which is likely to carry throughout all possible innings in a match, is that the increase in buildings around the ground – notably the Bridgford Road stand – creates an enclosure of sorts, meaning that whatever air enters the arena will circulate and not escape as easily as an open ground, logically. Add a packed crowd attendance and conditions that aren’t too chilly, you get an increase in friction resulting from the warmer air, which ultimately leads to a ball that responds greater to swing with greater emphasis needing to be placed on preserving one side of the cherry, while roughing up the other.
Have a read at this article explaining the scientific facts behind swing bowling. Read article on how a ball swings.
Given our batting inconsistencies in recent seasons, England may very well eye an opportunity to have a bowl at us with confidence should they win the toss. Statistically it seems better to bowl first based on your opponents batting line-up. The toss will be a massive talking point but it’s essential to have that luck go your way.
Even though it is apparent that in any Test match should you get bowled out on the first day you are in trouble, Trent Bridge makes recovery from a poor start in a match hard to come by. This is mostly given the presence of swing bowling, made even harder by good, natural swing bowlers. Sure, you could try and get one up on the opposition, but if they can handle the conditions slightly better, a lead of even fifty to one hundred runs could end your hopes.
Expect plenty of deliveries with the new ball to be pitched up on a line that will create some fearful uncertainty. I’d be ready in the slips and gully regions.
2nd Test: Lord’s Cricket Ground, London (County team: Middlesex)
Briefing: Best know as ‘the home of cricket’. Ah yes, we were also thumped there in 2009 as England went 1-0 up in the series. A poor first innings chase set us too far behind England’s first innings, where Andrew Strauss went onto score 161 after he somehow escaped a plumb LBW decision in the first over of the game delivered by Ben Hilfenhaus.
Michael Clarke will be the most enthusiastic to get back to the ground for two reasons. The first is that he will simply want to turn that loss into a thing of the past and play for a big victory and secondly, presently being in the form of his life, he played one of the most defining innings of his career in 2009 to get his name onto the centurion board in the visitor’s dressing room at Lord’s.
It’s exciting enough to watch a game of Test cricket at Lord’s on the television but being at the ground to watch an Ashes match must be spectacular.
The pitch report: Brad Haddin had a rough time behind the stumps in 2009. The slope at Lord’s makes a wicket-keepers job very challenging and slightly disorientating. Some bowlers have struggled to adjust their line to the unusual terrain.
If the sun shines over Lord’s cricket ground, the God’s smile down upon the batsmen. It usually results in little swing offerings for the bowlers with these conditions on a track that has a tendency to offer a relatively even contest between bat and ball. Bowlers haven’t appeared too short on pace in the matches I can recall in recent times. Should clouds put a blanket over the venue then the dynamic will change ever so slightly, meaning batsmen will need to show application and focus. These is generally applicable for most grounds in England as even the most mediocre of bowlers can find some assistance at times.
This is a bat first ground traditional, as is the ground itself. Even if conditions go in favour of the bowling side from a speculation point of view, Lord’s is a ground that should still tempt a skipper to try and combat whatever obstacles may arise, get his batsmen to show some commitment to the task at hand and get the runs on the board.
Read the rest of this article here.
This article is from The Baggy Green Blog!
Thanks for reading this article written by Ian.
To comment on this article, click here.
More...
As opposed to looking at the rich history of the English Cricket Grounds and Stadia that will host the 2013 Ashes series (you can read this anywhere else) I’ve instead looked at a way to share what you can expect from the pitch and the conditions that set the battleground for an Ashes clash at each ground.
For the Australian ICC Champions Trophy squad announcement, please visit the Baggy Green Blog Facebook page.
Now, not all Test venues stay true to their perceived reputation. Just look at the W.A.CA. The ground has been hailed as paradise for a fast bowler and a dreamy strip for a batsman, assuming you have zero fear come fast bowling. Over the last few seasons it has lost a bit of consistency for that traditional pace offered for the best of the quicks. Surfaces get relaid, some get exposed to unusual weather conditions, or even have curators being requested to deliver a track of a specific nature or format.
Having stated this, let’s take a look at the five venues hosting the Ashes. I’ve included a brief bit of history regarding each ground regarding most recent Ashes clashes and of course, for all the strategic nutters, what you can expect come the contest between bat and ball. As an Australia supporter you will be licking your lips in anticipation come our bowling effort, but have inner concerns regarding our batting, especially where application and patience is vitally important for survival.
Australian 2013 Ashes squad.
1st Test: Trent Bridge, Notthingham (County team: Nottinghampshire)
Briefing: It was encouraging to see both Chris Rogers (Ashes squad member/ Middlesex) and Ed Cowan (Ashes squad member/ Nottinghampshire) showcase form and score some good runs at Trent Bridge in their opening Division One game of the county season.
This is going to be providing a gripping contest between bat and ball, but it is going to be most challenging for our batsmen. An excellent opening venue for the Ashes. It will test all aspects a team and individual requires to survive in a Test match.
We last played a Test in 2005, losing by 3 wickets, but we did take the win in the 2001 Test, which has little relevance at this point in time with it dating back 12 years.
At this relatively low scoring ground, Michael Clarke is the only player in our squad who has been exposed to the challenges presented at Trent Bridge at the elite level. There is validity to look at playing Cowan and Rogers too given their county runs.
The pitch report: As mentioned, Trent Bridge is an ideal arena to kick off the Ashes series in a time where batting dominates the game. There is as good a guarantee as any that the ball will swing and should provide for a menacing contest. Trent Bridge has produced more win or lose results than drawn results in recent years, so it is definitely a good place to start a series with an outcome quite likely to occur.
A theory behind the high presence of swing conditions at the ground, which is likely to carry throughout all possible innings in a match, is that the increase in buildings around the ground – notably the Bridgford Road stand – creates an enclosure of sorts, meaning that whatever air enters the arena will circulate and not escape as easily as an open ground, logically. Add a packed crowd attendance and conditions that aren’t too chilly, you get an increase in friction resulting from the warmer air, which ultimately leads to a ball that responds greater to swing with greater emphasis needing to be placed on preserving one side of the cherry, while roughing up the other.
Have a read at this article explaining the scientific facts behind swing bowling. Read article on how a ball swings.
Given our batting inconsistencies in recent seasons, England may very well eye an opportunity to have a bowl at us with confidence should they win the toss. Statistically it seems better to bowl first based on your opponents batting line-up. The toss will be a massive talking point but it’s essential to have that luck go your way.
Even though it is apparent that in any Test match should you get bowled out on the first day you are in trouble, Trent Bridge makes recovery from a poor start in a match hard to come by. This is mostly given the presence of swing bowling, made even harder by good, natural swing bowlers. Sure, you could try and get one up on the opposition, but if they can handle the conditions slightly better, a lead of even fifty to one hundred runs could end your hopes.
Expect plenty of deliveries with the new ball to be pitched up on a line that will create some fearful uncertainty. I’d be ready in the slips and gully regions.
2nd Test: Lord’s Cricket Ground, London (County team: Middlesex)
Briefing: Best know as ‘the home of cricket’. Ah yes, we were also thumped there in 2009 as England went 1-0 up in the series. A poor first innings chase set us too far behind England’s first innings, where Andrew Strauss went onto score 161 after he somehow escaped a plumb LBW decision in the first over of the game delivered by Ben Hilfenhaus.
Michael Clarke will be the most enthusiastic to get back to the ground for two reasons. The first is that he will simply want to turn that loss into a thing of the past and play for a big victory and secondly, presently being in the form of his life, he played one of the most defining innings of his career in 2009 to get his name onto the centurion board in the visitor’s dressing room at Lord’s.
It’s exciting enough to watch a game of Test cricket at Lord’s on the television but being at the ground to watch an Ashes match must be spectacular.
The pitch report: Brad Haddin had a rough time behind the stumps in 2009. The slope at Lord’s makes a wicket-keepers job very challenging and slightly disorientating. Some bowlers have struggled to adjust their line to the unusual terrain.
If the sun shines over Lord’s cricket ground, the God’s smile down upon the batsmen. It usually results in little swing offerings for the bowlers with these conditions on a track that has a tendency to offer a relatively even contest between bat and ball. Bowlers haven’t appeared too short on pace in the matches I can recall in recent times. Should clouds put a blanket over the venue then the dynamic will change ever so slightly, meaning batsmen will need to show application and focus. These is generally applicable for most grounds in England as even the most mediocre of bowlers can find some assistance at times.
This is a bat first ground traditional, as is the ground itself. Even if conditions go in favour of the bowling side from a speculation point of view, Lord’s is a ground that should still tempt a skipper to try and combat whatever obstacles may arise, get his batsmen to show some commitment to the task at hand and get the runs on the board.
Read the rest of this article here.
This article is from The Baggy Green Blog!
Thanks for reading this article written by Ian.
To comment on this article, click here.
More...
