Australia appear to have momentum on their side after a crushing win at Lord’s but the series is poised at 1-1 with three Tests to play
Daniel Brettig at Edgbaston28-Jul-2015It was Peter Siddle, back home after the miniature epic two-Test series against South Africa in 2011, who described the result as “a good one-all series win”. Having humiliated the Australians in Cape Town, South Africa walked away unfulfilled. Having scrambled to a cathartic victory in Johannesburg thanks largely to Pat Cummins, Michael Clarke’s team were understandably chuffed, even if they did not win the series.Entering the Edgbaston Ashes Test there is a similar sense of the scoreboard not reflecting how the two teams see themselves. After a surprise defeat at Cardiff, Australia’s demolition of England at Lord’s carried the air of natural order restored, and the confident strut of the tourists appears to be that of a team in the ascendant. England, meanwhile, are the men on the run, having changed their team and batting order while also looking warily towards the fitness of the third seamer Mark Wood.It would be easy then to be lulled into the impression that Australia will rumble on smoothly to the retention of the urn, having responded to England’s opening salvo with a riposte more or less twice the size. A certain sense of the triumphal accompanied Australian celebrations at Lord’s, which is always a major event match for the number of Cricket Australia management, board directors and corporate backers present. In the midst of the post-match revelry, one or two sober observers could have been forgiven for thinking “hang on, isn’t it only 1-1?”Not only is it 1-1, it is also 8-3. That’s the ledger in Ashes Tests in England over the past decade, with the hosts stretching out a major advantage over that time by winning three series in 2005, 2009 and 2013. Lord’s was a vast Australia victory, but it was also a rare one. Similarly lopsided victories at Headingley in 2009 and Lord’s again in 2005 proved to be statistical outliers. The Cardiff result was far more representative of those recorded by Australian cricketers on these shores.More broadly, Australia sides have struggled for a long time to win consecutive Test matches away from home. Taking out the struggling West Indies this year, they have not followed an overseas win with another in the same series since New Zealand as far back as March 2010. That is not a record to be proud of for a team that speaks with plenty of awareness about consistent overseas success as the measure of a top team.Famously, England came to Edgbaston in 2005 having lost heavily at Lord’s and in desperate search of a way to get back into the series. Glenn McGrath duly trod on a ball, Ricky Ponting took leave of his senses at the toss and a classic encounter ensued. Clarke was the youngest member of that Australian side, and learned more in that one defeat than he had in any of the four series wins he had been a part of prior. A decade on, the memory lingers.”I think the most important thing I’ve learned over my career is you have to start again,” he said. “Whether that be as a batter coming off 100 or 200 or as a bowler you feel like you’re on top of your game, when you walk out there you start again. It’s a brand new game, so that’s really important for us as a team that we come with the same attitude we had at Lord’s, that same hunger to want to have success, but realise that we start on zero.”This team from what I continually see, the way the guys trained and prepared in Derby to their attitude here yesterday when it was raining, and guys still found a way to get done what they needed to, there’s no doubt that hunger’s in the system. It’s important for us to run with this momentum while we have it, take confidence from Lord’s but also remember how disciplined England were in Cardiff and we know how good an opposition they are.”The momentum Clarke spoke about has had to cope with various potential speed bumps on the way, as the team finds itself evolving and regenerating in the middle of an Ashes series. Clarke has had to deal with the demotion of his longtime lieutenant Brad Haddin for this match, having already watched as Ryan Harris retired and Shane Watson was dropped. There will be a lot of experience on Australia’s drinks bench this week, and a lot of young Ashes combatants needing to know this series is far from over.”When you’re on tour I see the success as being about every one of the guys who are here, not just the 11 who take the field,” Clarke said of the changing face of his team. “I’m not too concerned, obviously there’s some things that have been out of our control, but it’s about playing your best cricket. I said before this tour I was really happy with the squad we have because it was about options. Hopefully the squad continues to perform like we did at Lord’s.”Australia achieved a fine victory at the Home of Cricket, but it will mean little if they cannot follow it up here. Most reasonable measures of the two sides would have them doing so, particularly after Chris Rogers was passed fit to lead the line at the top of the order. But the consistency for which Australia have successfully striven down under in recent times has been absent for more than a decade in England. The test of their resolve is clear.