by that haven't been widely discussed.
Firstly, Slater should have been dropped on form. I think he is almost
certainly a player for the future, and has more potential than any
other Australian opener I've seen for a *long* time, but it was
totally unfair to leave Hayden out in the cold like that after his
performance relative to Slater during the last couple of months.
Secondly, and more importantly, I think Australia's bowling line up
was simply too tired and jaded. I have made my opinions on
Australia's effective world ranking quite clear in earlier articles
(behind the Windies, but oh so close), but I have to admit that
McDemott's injury at the start of the tour left me a bit worried.
Merv played like we all knew he would, but his body was definitely
breaking down before the third test. Australia needs its bowling
back. Reid, Whitney, McDermott are all brilliant bowlers, and I think
the uninjured presence of one (or preferably two) of them would have
made this team look pretty invincible. Julian and Reiffel are not of
this class, although I did expect Reiffel to do well in England.
In the sixth test, England completely replaced their bowling line up
with the right one, as the respective bowlers hit form. Australia did
not, and this is a major reason why England outplayed Australia. The
tour was simply too punishing for th Aussie team. Congratulations to
England on a well earnt test victory.
I still think Australia's batting is the best (don't bother with
flames, you know the arguments), and also has great depth, but the
bowling needs putting back together before Australia will play
properly. This is a matter of getting McDermott back to his match
winning form, giving Hughes a rest, and grooming a third world class
quick bowler from the many hopefuls.
Carn the Aussies.....
Joe.