PAUL M wrote:
Bad news about Broad although he has not been that threatening with the ball so it might help our attack in a weird way. I assume Tremlett would be favourite although Bresnan's batting might get him the nod.
I think Broad is too good to have continued below par for all five Tests. I’m certain, had he stayed fit, he would have wiped out a big chunk of the Aussie line up in quick time at some point or other as he did at The Oval last year.
I was reading a newspaper article before the series started which included a load of stats on average first innings scores at all the Test grounds in both Sheffield Shield and Test matches over the past ten years. Perth was by some distance the lowest scoring ground in both instances.
I don’t think the decision on who replaces Broad is totally clear cut. Tremlett is the most like-for like alternative, but now we’re ahead in the series the selectors may prefer Bresnan’s greater batting prowess; or depending on pitch conditions Bresnan or Shahzad may get the nod in any case. All three of them took a few wickets against Australia ‘A’ and with Anderson & Finn not desperately in need of overs I would imagine at least two of them, possibly all three, will feature against Victoria in the next match.
Our selectors seem to be fairly consistent and predictable, and Bresnan is the man to have played most frequently over the past year or so when a vacancy has arisen. He hasn’t taken huge numbers of wickets in his Tests so far, but he seems to have the stamina and discipline to bowl tightly without giving much away. However, the Aussies are in such disarray at the moment I'd like to think we'll go for the throat and pick the bowler we think is most likely to take wickets rather than worry about picking someone who might weaken the tail.
I saw a lot of Tremlett in his first season at Surrey last summer. He’s a lot more powerfully built than Broad or Finn and more resembles a taller version of Flintoff. Like Flintoff he doesn’t get a lot of five-fers, but he bowls a relentless back-of-a-length and gets batsmen hopping about uncomfortably by making the ball lift sharply at them from a great height. He’s accurate and consistent and doesn’t give much away, and rarely fails to pick up at least one top order wicket plus a tail ender or two. He’s not as good a batsman as Bresnan or Broad, but better than Anderson or Finn. He could slot in comfortably at nine with Swann moving up a place.
Shahzad seems to have excelled whenever he’s been asked to step in and make a contribution; my gut feeling is that, certainly in helpful conditions, he’d be the most likely to come good and make an instant impact in the way Gladstone Small did when he came in mid-way through our last successful Ashes tour 24 years ago.
