Adelaide Test preview
Wednesday, November 20, 2002

Australia's victory at Brisbane was an awesome performance. They hurt South Africa in a similar fashion last year, and at the time they were reportedly the second-best team in world cricket, so it can happen to anyone.

As it happens, I think that the current England side - at full strength - are No. 2 in the world, but it was no surprise that they were heavily beaten in the first Test. It all happens so quickly at the moment - with McGrath and Warne in the side, runscoring opportunities are limited, and they have the ability to get you out as well. I think a little more was expected of England on that final morning, but they were never going to save the game.

Quite possibly, England are putting too much faith in the Trescothick and Vaughan partnership. But it is for the right reasons - if your openers can see off the new ball and put 100 on the board, the rest of the batters - in any side, but especially this England side - will grow in stature. They've carried their expectations well for the last 12 to 18 months, but when you play against good sides, such guys are going to attract a lot of attention from the bowlers.

Alec Stewart recorded his first-ever pair in the Brisbane Test - you can't go through a career of that length without your fair share, so I'm sure he's got another failure or two up his sleeve before the series is out! I don't know quite how he managed to get out of the tour match at Hobart, but it's too early to judge whether this is one tour too many for him. He's good and experienced, and I'm sure he can come back well from an average performance, especially when it most matters.

If John Crawley really is set to miss Adelaide, then that is a real nightmare for England. He would have learned a lot from Brisbane and Hobart, while Ashley Giles was effective at holding up an end, and they really didn't need to lose him either. But, having said that, England must now believe that things really can't get worse. If they still try to compete toe-to-toe with the Aussies and put pressure on themselves, then they'll get wiped.

At least Robert Key might get a game. I haven't made a whole lot of him so far, expect for that one fantastic day's batting at Hobart. He approached both of his innings there in the right frame of mind - he watched the ball, and he hit the ball. In the first innings, he maybe played one stroke too many, but second time round his shot-selection was better. All tourists should approach Australia like that, but unfortunately for England, Key has stood out way too high, because no-one has followed his lead.

England must hope that his example will inspire the others. I've always said that the young guys have to stand up on tours like this. If they make an impression, they'll drag other guys with them. If Vaughan and Trescothick make a start, that will get the best out of Hussain and Stewart, and so on, and there's no better place to start than at Adelaide.

But one guy who looks beyond inspiration is Craig White. He's got a mental block when it comes to playing the Australians, and I really don't like his prospects at No. 7. He's playing like his figures suggest - 50 with the ball and nine with the bat - and he just looks like getting out each time he's in the middle. And, after losing all his pace with the ball, he's not even putting it in the right areas. But, with a clear head, anything can happen. Sometimes, when you think you're playing your last Test, you just go out there to have fun and everything clicks. But, a bad Test here, and I don't think Craig White will be spotted again this series.

England's seam attack should be made up of Andrew Caddick, Matthew Hoggard and Alex Tudor - a very decent line-up, no question. But Nasser has not done his bowlers any favours by sounding off about how to stop Matthew Hayden. That sort of talk just increases the pressure. England need to have enough confidence in their plans not to have to go public about them.

I've got a higher opinion of Tudor than many of the Englishmen. He's done it before in Adelaide, and now he needs to show everyone that he is strong enough to break up two innings in a row, and make runs as well. He'll need to bowl better than he did in Hobart, but I hope he'll play, and play pretty well.

Caddick's short balls need to be head high, but other than that he needs to keep it up to the stumps. As Mike Gatting has suggested, Caddick has to tuck Hayden up a bit, and get him pushing and prodding from the crease. And Hoggard, he needs to find the areas once the swing has gone, or else he'll be in trouble again.

When there's not a lot of expectation on a side, that's the time they can often be at their most dangerous. England need to do the basics better than they did in the first Test, while Richard Dawson might be underestimated by the batters so he might capitalise on that. If they win the toss, they need to bat and bat well, put a score on the board and take it on from there. And when they bowl, they need to get into the top order, and see what the middle's got. Australia have to beware the team that no-one expects.

Ian Healy, who kept wicket for Australia in six winning Ashes series, will be providing his Expert View at the end of each day's play in the Tests. He was talking to Andrew Miller.

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