All in the game

As the 2nd England vs Australia ODI is about to kick there appears to be a change of mood across the summer. I remember the ashes summer of 2001 where England failed to win a single ODI match against Australia or Pakistan, this lead to a serious crisis of confidence within the team and they had already lost a couple of tests in the mind. But this time around there appears to be genuine belief within the team about their prospects. Witness this statement by Steve Harmison

“Why would England hide me? Would Australia hide Glenn McGrath or Brett Lee?”

This brims with the confidence of player who has shaken his loss of confidence in South Africa to really hit top gear this summer. However, the caveat has to be that such confidence can turn in a single moment. I suppose that’s why momentum is such a crucial thing in cricket or any other sport. England have serious advantages going into the game. Their bowling appears faster, the batting more powerful (a la Pietersen) and the fielding sharper. I think the worrying thing from the aussie point of view is that I can’t see where they are going to be able to gain on England this summer. Comments have been made about how badly they are playing, and although the batting hasn’t fired like it can do, I can’t see any improvement forthcoming from the bowling department. The addition of Shane Warne will make a difference but if the pace bowlers are struggling to take early wickets and maintain pressure, then his effectiveness will be reduced.

Finally, back to today’s game, I am hoping for an Aussie thrashing, but I really hope that Chester-le-Street provides a fast pitch that allows Flintoff and Harmison to rough up the Aussie batsman. But most of all I hope Flintoff can recapture his batting form and really hurt the opposition with his unique combination of skill and brute force. His batting seems to be going through a bit of an extended slump from the end of the last English summer, when he was just imperious. His form in South Africa and through this summer hasn’t been great, but if he is able to use the next match against Bangladesh and the few ODI’s against Australia to recapture some of the form of last summer, the Aussie could have a serious problem on their hands.