Bopara and Cook rack up the runs

So England continue their build up to the Ashes series with an excellent start against a very lackluster West Indies. It is encouraging that we are scoring runs again, and although the Windies are among the weaker sides in Test Cricket these days, you can only beat the opposition put in front of you.

It appears England have finally found a solution to the problematic number 3 batting position. I’ve blogged before about the options available at number 3, but I must admit I got this one wrong. I never saw Bopara as a potential number 3, more an alternative Collingwood if anything, but you can’t argue with 3 successive hundreds in that position. True, he doesn’t have the air of a world class number 3, but he certainly has the potential to grow into one. His future in that role will no doubt be decided by his performance in this year’s Ashes series. With his place now cemented, he will be keen to test himself against the best.

Another newcomer staking his claim for Ashes inclusion is Graham Onions. A headline writers dream, he produced an excellent display on debut, and if he can produce a similar performance at the Riverside this week, he should also be considered a shoe-in for the first Ashes test. He has already drawn comparisons with the great Glenn McGrath, and his action is certainly very similar, but it is far to early to suggest that he is even in the same league. How fitting it would be, however, if he proved himself against Australia this summer.

So with Flintoff to return, you’d expect Tim Bresnan to make way (unless he performs miracles this week). Even if Flintoff is not at his best, he remains a fantastic competitor, and a potential game breaker. Exactly the sort of person you want when playing the Aussies. Graham Swann is another whose position is safe. He offers a much more aggressive bowling style then either of his predecessors (Ashley Giles and Monty Panesar), and offers a bit with the bat too.

So our test team for the first Ashes test is looking like this:
Strauss, Cook, Bopara, Pietersen, Collingwood, Prior, Flintoff, Broad, Swann, Anderson, Onions.

Back in Australia, they are very much expecting England to conform with our usual style and fall back on experience, even if that experience is drastically short of form. I read with interest this morning that Ponting fully expects Vaughan and Harmison to feature. He has a point though, it’s very much an English trait to favour experience, the 2007 Ashes series being a perfect example, with Giles and Jones being preferred in the first test. That tactic spectacularly backfired though, and we should have learnt from it.

Hopefully though, the new and delicate England that is emerging from the car crash of the Moores-Peitersen saga, will see the light and go for youth and form over experience. Tread carefully mind, even the slightest upset could cause this delicate balance to come crashing down, and we will end up with the selectors going for the ‘safe’ option, for fear of making mistakes.

The only way we will be successful against Australia is by being ‘Australian’. If we go into the series with players who have confidence, and are willing to back themselves, then we have every chance of winning.