Exclusive Michael Clarke Ashes column: Former Australian captain examines first Test in Perth
How do you bring down Bazball? Former Australian captain Michael Clarke is confident it can — and will — happen in Perth and offers his insight into the tactics Steve Smith must use.
The day has almost arrived — game day.
There wouldn’t be a player in either squad that isn’t excited about today. All the build up, all the media, all the training sessions, all the sponsor commitments - all you want as a player is to start the series.
Let me put my captaincy hat back on, it’s been a minute…
The most important thing for Australia is to back themselves and play their way. Do not fear the intent of England. Stay focused on what we do best, and that is play an aggressive brand of cricket, show intent, take on your opposition and do not fear losing.
An example of this could be if England comes out aggressively with the bat, Steve Smith and the Australian bowlers need to continue to look to take wickets.
I can certainly understand if bowlers would like some protection but catchers must remain in place in Australian conditions. You have to take 20 wickets to win a game of Test cricket.
If Steve Smith wins the toss, I think he will elect to bat even though there will definitely be something in this Perth Stadium wicket on day one.
It will bring Nathan Lyon into the game later on in this Test match. Exactly like Mark Taylor used to do when he had Shane Warne in his arsenal.
Australia will need to combat a red hot Jofra Archer with this new ball where he will bowl 140km/h plus and get the ball to move off the seam.
The Australian top six are going to have to deal with speeds a lot of these players wouldn’t have seen in domestic or international cricket since the last time they faced Mark Wood. How they combat the aggressive approach of the English quicks is going to be a battle I can’t wait to see.
The key to batting early in your innings in Perth is to look to play dead straight and hit the ball back past the bowler.
Yes, the Perth pitch has pace and bounce in it but this can also make for great batting as the bounce is so consistent. This top seven has the skill to play 360 degrees so using the extra speed of this English attack could be very important.
The other key to batting in Perth is your shot selection - knowing when to play and when to leave. Australia will be hoping that England bowl too short seeing the extra pace and bounce in the surface and a great indication of this will be if the Aussie batsmen play and miss, instead of nick the ball. Generally when you play and miss consistently the length is a foot too short.
England on the other hand will play four fast bowlers and no spinner. Ben Stokes will elect to bowl first and back his speedsters to rip through the Australian top order in what could be tough batting conditions on day one.
I think England will use Mark Wood in short fiery spells to maximise his speed, like I did with Mitchell Johnson in the 2013-14 Ashes series.
The key for England is to get Steve Smith to the crease as early as possible as they will want the ball still seaming around when he walks out to bat.
When Australia gets the chance to bowl the slight advantage we have over England is our bowlers know the length to hit in Perth. We have three fast bowlers and an allrounder that all like to attack the stumps and that is the most important thing when bowling in conditions like these. It brings in all forms of dismissal.
Cameron Green can be used as Australia’s X-factor. He doesn’t need to bowl long spells. I would probably bowl him in three to four over spells, get him on, get a wicket and get him off. I think he can be used quite early with a new ball, even at first change against this England batting unit.
The other important factor in this series is how both teams catch, you cannot afford to give good players a second or third chance. In Perth you expect a lot of those opportunities to be behind the wicket.
When it comes to England’s batting, for them to combat this Australian attack they are going to need to change the Australian bowlers’ length and try and get them to bowl half a foot shorter than they would like. The best way to do that is to bat a metre outside the crease.
Scott Boland is a genius at hitting the right length. If England try and run down the wicket to him, I think he will still have a lot of success. When you are coming down the wicket a lot of the time you are not as balanced as you need to be, your head is not as still as it needs to be and your eyes are not as aligned as they need to be.
They will be better off standing outside their crease and looking to play normal positive cricket shots.
Harry Brook is the most destructive player in this England team, he does not fear getting out and will definitely look to put the Aussie bowlers under pressure. How early Brook comes to the crease will be very important for Australia’s success. If he is coming in at 3-20 it is a lot harder in Australian conditions to walk out and smack it from ball one. 3-150 is a very different story.
Nathan Lyon’s record in Perth is exceptional. The second innings of a Test match is just as important as the first and this is where I see him coming into play. I would always pick a spinner in my team as the Test is over five days and he can be used in a number of different situations, especially when they are as good as Lyono.
England will use Joe Root who is not the worst part-timer but he is exactly that — a part timer. The Aussies will look to take him on as soon as he comes into the attack and force Stokes to bring a fast bowler back on.
Again remembering this is a five-Test series, so making the quicks bowl as many overs as possible in the first couple of Test matches could be the defining factor come the back half of this series.
I’m backing Australia to win the first Test even though we don’t have the experience of Cummins and Hazlewood and that is based on preparation. The Aussies have game time under their belt whereas England, in my opinion, could be a little ‘game rusty’.
As I mentioned above, length is everything when it comes to taking 20 wickets in Perth and the Aussie bowlers know this all too well and have been doing it for a long time.
Best of luck to both teams. We are in for one of the all-time great series. Sit back and enjoy two brilliant cricket teams going head-to-head in a battle that we all can’t wait to be a part of.
Originally published as Exclusive Michael Clarke Ashes column: Former Australian captain examines first Test in Perth
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