The Ashes: England and Graeme Swann must go for the Lord's jugular

18 July 2009 22:44
Ending the 75-year jinx is not going to be so easy on dry, flat and unyielding ground that has produced six draws in the last seven Tests. This time last year England bowled on it for three days and still failed to dismiss South Africa twice, and they permanently – or at least until now – lost a bowler in the process.[LNB]Medical research has shown that the most dangerous time for a fast bowler's physique is when the follow-on is applied and he has to bowl for two or three days. Ryan Sidebottom was a case in point: he limped away from Lord's, suffered one injury after another, and has taken only four Test wickets since.[LNB] Related ArticlesStrauss now praying it doesn't rainTV heaven for sports fansChappell: Misfiring duo are a worryECB shameless in kowtowing to ModiFlintoff must chooseEngland lord itThe chances of James Anderson limping off with the left ankle which needed attention on Friday, or of Andrew Flintoff going off for another injection on his right knee, were thus reduced by England's decision to bat again. And not merely for medical reasons, captain Andrew Strauss made the correct decision, with the proviso that England batted with urgency in their second innings and kept their foot on Australia's throat.[LNB]Australia, however, still have to be bowled out. And this time it is Graeme Swann who will be the spinner with the onus upon him, not Monty Panesar who laboured for 60 overs in South Africa's second innings and did not take a wicket – not on the Sunday, and not on the Monday, either.[LNB]One advantage is that Swann, if he bowls from the Nursery end as Nathan Hauritz has mostly done, will have Mitchell Johnson's footmarks to bowl into against right-handers. But Swann bowled from the pavilion end against West Indies, turning his offbreaks down the slope, and it can be assumed he will do so again – if England's pace bowlers allow him the choice of ends.[LNB]Swann has been ruffled by the Australian pace bowlers – hit three times in one over at Cardiff – which was a fate he evaded against the West Indian quicks. It was the same when Robert Croft was targeted by Australia in 1997. Swann's response has to be to compartmentalise his game, to separate the batting and bowling, and not let the lack of confidence in one seep into the other.[LNB]Reverse-swing? A dry third day has served to make the pitch more abrasive, and England have one of the masters in Flintoff. A searing spell from him would go a long way towards achieving England's first Ashes win at Lord's since 1934, their second since 1896.[LNB]The only time that Australia have been made to follow on in the last 20 years – at Trent Bridge in 2005 – Michael Vaughan elected to do so on the basis that Matthew Hoggard and Simon Jones were swinging the ball conventionally, and all the bowlers were in favour, even if the coach Duncan Fletcher was not. Then Jones became another pace bowler to be injured in the follow-on, and subsequently he has taken even fewer Test wickets than Sidebottom: he has never played another Test, in fact.[LNB]Stuart Broad should be seen in a better light in Australia's second innings if the batsmen have to be winkled out with experiments, variations and cutters. Although he took [LNB]two wickets with his bouncers in Australia's first innings, Broad bowled far too short in line-and-length conditions. If England want someone to bang it in short persistently, they might as well bring back Steve Harmison.[LNB]England dawdled in their second innings yesterday afternoon. If they also meander when bowling today and tomorrow, that jinx may never be broken.[LNB][LNB] 

Source: Telegraph