 Australia will face England in the fourth test match of the Ashes series
at Leeds in Headingley, and will know that being down 0-1 in the series, they
cannot afford to lose this game. A loss here will end their Ashes campaign for
this year, as there will only be one game remaining after this. On the other hand,
if Australia does win the game, it will set up an exciting finale for the
fifth and the final test match to be played at Oval.
Click for Live Score Card of Australia vs England
The Aussies will know what their problem is; their inability to pick up 20
wickets in a test match. Their bowling has lacked the teeth, and with the absence
of Brett Lee and the major loss of form for Mitchell Johnson, the Aussies
have been going into the matches with two and a half bowlers only. having said
that, if Ricky Ponting has to be believed, the Aussies seem to have turned
the corner, what with the chances of Lee playing the fourth test match looking
bright enough, and Johnson also improving ever so slightly in the previous game.
The question that will be on everyone's lips will be who Lee will replace if
he does get fully fit, and the choice may be between Johnson and Peter Siddle.
Amongst the batsmen, Australia would have been happier with the return to form
of Michael Hussey, but for some reason, he hasn't been able to convert
his half centuries into bigger scores. The other Michael Clarke, has
already hit his second century of the series and is looking good, while Marcus
North seemed to have sealed a permanent spot in the side with his 96 to follow
the century at Lord's. The experiment with Shane Watson as an opener looked
to have worked too, and for now, it does look like the top-order will continue
as it.
For England, there was bad news in the previous test match, as Andrew Flintoff
struggled through his fitness. He did have a fall while bowling a spell and
that could have led to a problem that not a lot of fans in England could be
too excited about. If Flintoff does not play the game, it remains to be seen
whether the selectors replace him with someone like Steve Harmison, thus
strengthening the bowling, but leaving the batting a trifle undercooked, or
they get in a batsman in the middle order and replace the toothless Stuart Broad
for Harmison. Either ways, it looks dangerous for the English team who had earlier
lost Kevin Pietersen.
There is one other problem and that is to do with the form of Ravi Bopara,
who has been batting at the number three position but has barely looked like
he will go on to convert his low scores into something bigger. His lack of runs
has been buffered so far, but the time has come for him to step up the gas.
To me, this looks like Australia's best chance of winning, however, the swing
at Headingley could be of a huge concern to the tourists, as they haven't looked
too comfortable handling it.
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