There has been plenty of ranting and raving about the rejuvenated Australian bowling attack. A firing Peter Siddle and new found length inspired by bowling coach, Craig McDermott are being praised for recent wins. Despite all this, I still have my doubts about the strength and form of the Aussie quicks.
Since finding his way back into the side in South Africa, Siddle has taken 19 wickets at an average of 27.32. Admirable no doubt, but when we take a deeper look, his form is not as great as initially thought. During this period, the remainder of the Australian attack has managed an average of 23.15 with the ball. This highlights the bowler friendly wickets Siddle has had at his disposal, and when you look at the figures, he hasn't been on par with his fellow bowlers.
The talk of the new length being bowled by Australia is also unfounded. It doesn't take a scientist to observe the pitch map and see that all of the bowlers are still bowling 'back of a length'. While this has been highly effective on seaming bouncy tracks, it will only take one flat batting pitch for the Australian attack to crumble. Poor batting and juicy wickets have had a larger factor in the Australian bowler's recent success than the length they've bowled.
Ben Hilfenhaus came back into the side from the cricketing wilderness and walked away with the impressive figures of 5/75. However, many of his wickets were less convincing than one might have thought. His first was essentially Gambhir getting himself out and many others fell in a similar vein. Hilfenhaus may have taken his best test figures in the match, but I believe he is still a long way from his finest. By no means do I call for his dropping from the side, I merely mean to keep the journalists who praise these players so blindly, as honest as possible.
Furthermore, there are left-field calls for changes to the side. To play four fast-bowlers and leave out Lyon at the expense of Harris. While Harris should certainly be a walk-in back into the Australian team, a more appropriate player to leave out would be Siddle, or if the Australian selection panel are serious about their rotation policy, they should be brave enough to rest James Pattinson. After all, isn't the reason for their rotation policy, to protect the younger players from burnout?
There remains much to ponder, and that's without even mentioning the batting. While there is no question that the future looks up for the Australian side, there is far more room for improvement than the 'experts' are taking note of. Provided the Australian players, coaching staff and captain can see this, then the team will continue to improve and get on the move back towards number one.
Since finding his way back into the side in South Africa, Siddle has taken 19 wickets at an average of 27.32. Admirable no doubt, but when we take a deeper look, his form is not as great as initially thought. During this period, the remainder of the Australian attack has managed an average of 23.15 with the ball. This highlights the bowler friendly wickets Siddle has had at his disposal, and when you look at the figures, he hasn't been on par with his fellow bowlers.
The talk of the new length being bowled by Australia is also unfounded. It doesn't take a scientist to observe the pitch map and see that all of the bowlers are still bowling 'back of a length'. While this has been highly effective on seaming bouncy tracks, it will only take one flat batting pitch for the Australian attack to crumble. Poor batting and juicy wickets have had a larger factor in the Australian bowler's recent success than the length they've bowled.
Ben Hilfenhaus came back into the side from the cricketing wilderness and walked away with the impressive figures of 5/75. However, many of his wickets were less convincing than one might have thought. His first was essentially Gambhir getting himself out and many others fell in a similar vein. Hilfenhaus may have taken his best test figures in the match, but I believe he is still a long way from his finest. By no means do I call for his dropping from the side, I merely mean to keep the journalists who praise these players so blindly, as honest as possible.
Furthermore, there are left-field calls for changes to the side. To play four fast-bowlers and leave out Lyon at the expense of Harris. While Harris should certainly be a walk-in back into the Australian team, a more appropriate player to leave out would be Siddle, or if the Australian selection panel are serious about their rotation policy, they should be brave enough to rest James Pattinson. After all, isn't the reason for their rotation policy, to protect the younger players from burnout?
There remains much to ponder, and that's without even mentioning the batting. While there is no question that the future looks up for the Australian side, there is far more room for improvement than the 'experts' are taking note of. Provided the Australian players, coaching staff and captain can see this, then the team will continue to improve and get on the move back towards number one.
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| A Peter Siddle short ball is upper-cut for six by Sachin Tendulkar |
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