After their most devastating home defeat to England for half a century Ricky Ponting faced the press as he is obliged to do and he stared them in the eye as he always does. But he could not say much. The English team were praised and he acknowledged a “bad loss”.
He assured us that there was no lack of endeavour or fight in his team but the “execution of our plans and the execution of our skills were not good enough”. This was a mantra to which he returned time and again. He's a country boy from Launceston, Tasmania.
Of course, there is a lot of nebulous talk about “attitudes” and “challenges” and “skill execution” on these occasions but we can never be privy to the discussions that really matter. Ponting said that he was meeting up with Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, later in the afternoon. That is when the debate moves away from all the abstract qualities that every team craves to the nitty-gritty of personnel.
Australia are expected to announce their next Test squad on Friday and it will not be a case of “same team, different performance, please”. They are in disarray. Any side that concedes 1137 runs while taking six wickets has fundamental problems.
In any case they know that their opening batsman Simon Katich is unfit. Phil Hughes, the unorthodox left-hander from New South Wales, is expected to replace him. Ponting acknowledged as much. “Hughes is the first name to come to mind,” he said. “I'd be surprised if it's not him”.
Hughes played against England at Hobart for Australia ‘A' and scored runs in the second innings. He was also in the Test team at the start of the 2009 Ashes series when he was quickly sorted out by the English pacemen and then dropped with surprising rapidity.
England know their plans for him. He likes to hit square on the off-side, which he does with surprising facility for an opening batsman. So they bowl tight at his body, often from around the wicket and they pepper him with the odd bouncer. They — and Hughes — also know that this plan worked rather well last time.
One other batsman will be under intense scrutiny: Marcus North. “He will be disappointed with his week's work,” said Ponting. “He looks like scoring runs but inconsistency has plagued his first class career — not just his Test career.” Hang on, this sounded as if Ponting had already reached a conclusion, so he added quickly: “He's in the same boat as me this week.” (The Australian captain mustered nine runs on a flat one).
There will be pressure for changes so the genial North could easily go. Perth is his home town but the Australians are not in a sentimental mood just now. There are experienced alternatives around, Michael Hussey's brother David is a feisty cricketer.
So is Cameron White from Victoria. Both have prospered in one-day cricket for Australia. Theoretically the next cab off the rank should be Usman Khawaja from New South Wales but it may be that the selectors will be more interested in a short-term fix via one of their craggier Shield players ahead of a long-term building programme. That can wait until the Ashes are well and truly gone.
Big headache
But it is the bowling that will cause their selectors the greatest headaches. There were two changes after Brisbane. There will surely be just as many after Adelaide. Xavier Doherty will always be able to boast about his baggy green caps — he may not acquire any more. It has been tough for him; he has not bowled dreadfully. But he was pitched into an Ashes series, almost on a whim, and just conceivably because he propels the ball with his left-hand, which was supposed to terrify Kevin Pietersen. Selection via the plucking of rabbits out of magical hats seldom works.
Doherty will go for certain but there is no certainty over who might replace him. Nathan Hauritz? Well, he has just been dropped and there is the suspicion that he is not the grittiest of cricketers.
But Hauritz is probably the best spinner in Australia. However a U-turn is required for his selection. There is the charismatic option, the wrist-spinner Steve Smith. Smith is a gifted cricketer; but in truth he is a batsman who bowls.
It would be remarkable to see Doug Bollinger running in at the WACA. At Adelaide he looked like an unnatural athlete, who is not very fit. His chief contribution in the game was to create some rough for Graeme Swann outside the right-hander's off-stump, a fact that did not escape Ponting's notice.
Nor can Peter Siddle, the hat-trick hero of the first day of the series, be certain to play in Perth. At the WACA it always makes sense to have a swinger, who has to run into the Fremantle doctor. But that breeze can help the ball to deviate away from right-handed batsmen. In the past Damien Fleming, no great speedster, flourished there.
Ben Hilfenhaus, dropped after Brisbane and not so accomplished a swinger as Fleming — or Jimmy Anderson — is still the likeliest of the contenders to find that swing. Traditionally the great consolation at the WACA for swing bowlers is that the nicks carry to the slip cordon.
It may be that Ryan Harris will be the one paceman to survive, his dodgy knee permitting. He was the best of the Australian bowlers at Adelaide and the worst of their batsmen after acquiring a king pair via two reviewed lbws (that could be a record). Nobody wants to bat at eight in this series. So far no one has scored a run from there.
So who else is there? Well, this could turn into a soap opera. What will they do about Mitch? In their desperation they might easily bring Mitchell Johnson back even though the scars of his Brisbane mauling and his subsequent rejection are still fresh. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010
