All square and poised to go to the wire

So I awake this morning to news that I already feared before I tucked myself in for the night, the Aussies won a test match.

Firstly well done, you cannot take that performance away from them. They out played England in every department and our two innings scores of 187 and 123 were not good enough against any half decent test side.

I use the words ‘half decent’ because that I’m afraid is the long and the short of it for Australia. Let’s not forget that this side were in disarray a few weeks ago with sections of the media calling for Ponting’s head and the ludicrous wish to bring Warne back. Had the Aussie press taken lessons from the British tabloids?

Johnson could do little with the ball in Brisbane and was rightly dropped for Adelaide, but in Perth where the pitch is one of the quickest in the world and where most bowlers can get it to swing, he hit form at the right time.

This is probably one of the most competitive Ashes series for some time with both teams having dominated a test and a 1/2, if you count Australia’s first few days in Brisbane and then England’s second half to pull back a draw.

The key thing for England now is “don’t panic Mr. Mannering”, we may have been guilty of some complacency but what people forget is there are two tests to go. Some fanatics (Aussies) are walking around like they have one hand on the urn but that is the arrogance that goes with them I’m afraid.

England will no doubt make some changes and take a look at the damage report. Anderson put family first to fly back to the UK for the birth of his child, and rightly so. However, to think he wasn’t going to be a little tired from a 24,000 mile round trip was an understatement.

KP needs to stop winding the Aussies up with his poor attempts at sledging and concentrate on his form with the bat. His antics fired up the Aussies in particular Mitchell Johnson and what resulted was a tremendous bowling display from the paceman.

So far England’s batting has relied heavily on the top order, and although Bell has chipped away with some good batting Prior and Collingwood are lacking in form right now. Coach Andy Flower will surely look at his options and there may be one or two changes in both batting and bowling, but it will be needed.

One player who will surely get a serious look will be Eion Morgan. The Middlesex left hander will no doubt draw on more jokes from the Australian’s for his Irish heritage but he is a batsman of real composure and skill.

He is a big hitter and his 67 off 34 balls against South-Africa shows he could be a viable replacement for Collingwood in the middle order.

Going to Melbourne is like heading into Rome’s Colosseum but it will be a chance to set the score right and that Perth was just a blip in form and that like any true champion England can bounce back.