Australia will be looking to the heavens in the build-up to the Ashes opener, after another showery morning increased the probability of a seaming wicket for the first Test at the Gabba
Andrew Miller in Brisbane22-Nov-2010Australia’s batsmen will be looking to the heavens in the build-up to Thursday’s Ashes opener, after another showery morning in Brisbane increased the probability of a green, seaming wicket at the Gabba. Despite their formidable record at the venue, at which they haven’t lost a Test since West Indies’ heyday in 1988-89, the Aussies are already braced for one of their stiffest Gabba challenges of recent times, with Simon Katich and Marcus North both earmarking James Anderson as England’s most potent wicket-taking threat.Both men know his capabilities all too well, for Anderson played a crucial role in England’s 2009 Ashes victory, instigating consecutive first-innings batting collapses at both Lord’s and Edgbaston. However, Anderson’s reputation in Australian eyes remains tarnished by his inglorious role in the 2006-07 whitewash. On that tour, he claimed five wickets at 82.60 in three appearances, and proved especially ineffective in the opening Test in Brisbane, in which his solitary wicket cost 195 runs.This time around, however, the improbably damp weather in Queensland, coupled with Anderson’s burgeoning maturity, have ensured that he receives a cautious degree of respect from his opponents. At times during the recent home series against Pakistan he was unplayable, claiming 23 wickets at 13.73 in his four Tests, including his maiden ten-wicket haul at Trent Bridge, which he bagged only days after Australia had themselves been dismissed for 88 by Pakistan in the second Test of their neutral series at Headingley.”I wouldn’t look at what he did four years ago, that’s a long time ago,” said Katich. “It was against different players, he’s a much improved player since then, and you’ve got to give guys credit, they can improve. Four years is a long time in cricket, and he’s now at an age where he’s more mature, and knows his game better. Hopefully the conditions here will pose different problems for him, but he’s had a great 12 months so I wouldn’t read too much into what he did four years ago.”Anderson’s tour to date has been effective without being earth-shattering, with six wickets at 28.33 in the first two warm-up games in Perth and Adelaide before he, along with his fellow frontline bowlers, was rested for the four-day game against Australia A in Hobart last week. However, the arid conditions he faced in those two matches were a far cry from the humid environment that he can expect at the Gabba in the coming days, and that is a factor that Katich recognises only too well.”[This summer’s] been totally different to usual, it’s been really wet, and without a doubt I expect movement,” he said. “There’s been a lot of talk here that the ball won’t swing around as much as in England, but there’s no doubt the ball does swing here, otherwise bowlers would get pretty frustrated. That’s particularly true in places like Brisbane where it’s humid. It’s nice when the sun’s out but that’s been few and far between. There’s no doubt that can play a part with conditions. In Australia we’re used to playing in the sun, so hopefully it will come back out for us.”Aside from taking him on in the 2009 Ashes, North has an inside track on Anderson’s game having played alongside him during a brief stint as Lancashire’s overseas player in the summer of 2005. Anderson at the time was out of favour at international level, and played no part in that summer’s epic Ashes campaign, but North is in no doubt how far his career has developed in the intervening period.”I think Jimmy has proven to be a world-class bowler,” said North. “When the conditions swing he’s very, very dangerous. I guess he has had a big impact in English conditions, although back [here] in 2006 it didn’t really go his way. I guess if the Kookaburra ball doesn’t swing he’ll be under pressure, but he’s proven himself in all sorts of conditions. You can’t really judge somebody on the strength of one series. We’ll see how he goes over the next five Test matches and get a better understanding of how he can adapt to Australian conditions.”Up here the ball tends to stay pretty good,” he added. “It doesn’t get roughed up, it’s a beautiful outfield [at the Gabba] and in the humid conditions you can try to get it to swing. If the sun stays out it might be difficult for both teams, but if he’s going to enjoy swinging conditions, then this is one of the grounds around the country.”Katich, who has now recovered from the broken thumb that he sustained during the tour of India in October, is steeling himself for a war of attrition against England’s bowlers, whom he recognises have the ability to put dents in a batting line-up that has proved susceptible to dramatic collapses in recent months.”It’s a matter of trying to bunker down for half an hour or an hour to limit the damage, and if you can do that it’s amazing what happens,” he said. “The sun can come out, the game can change, particularly in England. Here in Australia, it’s a bit different because we generally play in sunshine so you don’t get those evil conditions so much. But it could happen at the Gabba because the weather has been so patchy. If it is like that, we’ll just have to bunker down for whatever time it takes to get through those periods.””If it’s an overcast day the ball will definitely swing, so in my mind I’m prepared for a tough battle,” he added. “The Kookaburra does swing, probably not to the same extent as the Duke but it still does. It’s easy to say the ball doesn’t swing in Australia, but that’s not entirely true.”There is, however, one unquantifiable factor that will play into Australia’s hands, regardless of the conditions, and that is their thirst for revenge. Four years ago, arguably their greatest team of all time made England pay for their 2005 victory by routing them 5-0 in the return series, and while that sort of a scoreline is wildly improbable this time around, the desire of the current Australian generation to win back the Ashes is no less ardent.”It’s definitely a motivation,” said North. “There’s nothing negative about [the 2009 defeat], it is what it was, and disappointing as it was for us and supporters, it’s been turned into a motivating feeling. As a professional sportsman you remember the good times but you also remember the times when it hurts, and you use that to better yourself, and your team.”But it promises to be a tough challenge, nonetheless. “I respect all their bowlers,” said Katich. “There’s no doubt they’ve all got ability, they wouldn’t be playing for England if they didn’t, and they all bring different things to the table. [Stuart] Broad and [Steven] Finn are quite tall so get bounce and can move the ball about, Anderson is an out-and-out swing bowler who can bowl at reasonable pace, and [Graeme] Swann is one of the best spinners in the world, if not the best. It’s a very well-balanced bowling line-up and we know we got tested last year in England. Hopefully in our conditions it will be a little better for us, but time will tell.”