Lessons from Headingley......

There are numerous lessons to be learnt from Headingley, for the English team. After losing by by an innings and 80 runs, the series leveled, the tie breaker at the Oval, the English have plenty of homework to do. Especially on team balance.


The English in the Ashes have won a match because of their bowlers. The English have been let down hugely by their batsman. This can be seen by the result of the Headingley test. Apart from Strauss and Cook in the top order and Prior down below, the other English batsman seem to have forgotten what batsmanship means.

The English middle order with Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara and Paul Collingwood (nos. 3, 4 and 5) have managed to score only 16 runs between themselves in the last match. The top order is expected to put the runs on the board but with 3 top order batsman not among runs, this cannot be expected. Collingwood is going through a lean patch. But Bell and Bopara have been among the runs ahead of the Ashes. What happened to their sublime form they had before the Ashes?

On a track where the Australians scored 445 runs losing only 10 wickets, any team would need to be extremely talented to lose 20 wickets for just 365 runs.


If the English now with no top order batsmen, put enormous pressure on the bowlers. The bowlers are expected to attack and take wickets while at the same time they can't give away any runs. The bowlers are also expected to bat and score for the lack of runs from the batsman. Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann top scored in the Headingley test being only 2 of the 3 English wickets that scored more than 50 runs in the test.

The lack of runs by the English batsman is also seen in their hundreds tally. The century tally after four Tests is 7-1 in Australia's favour. Marcus North and Micheal Clarke being the main contributors. While the Aussie middle order is humming sweetly, the English are in dire straights.

This unequal balance tilts even more in the Australian side. The Australian camp has five of their batsmen averaging over 50 while the English camp has no one averaging over 50 runs. Andrew Strauss is the only England batsman with a series average higher than 40.

If the above shows anything, it shows that the English batsman better start finding their form before the Oval test.

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Posted in: Andrew Strauss,Ashes,Australia,Cook,cricket,England,Ian Bell,Marcus North,Michael Clarke,Paul Collingwood,Ponting,Prior,Ravi Bopara,Stuart Broad,Swann