Ashes 2015: Five things we we learned from Lord's
Steve Smith stars at three and Mitchell Johnson is spooky...
Monday 20 July 2015 14:35, UK
England were brought back down to earth with an almighty bang after a humbling 405-run defeat in the second Investec Ashes Test at Lord's, after winning the opening Test lest week.
So, what changed from Cardiff? Where did England go wrong? And how did Australia turn things around so impressively?
David Currie looks at what we learned from Lord's...
England's top order needs sorting
In Tests in 2015, England's top three wickets have fallen for less than 75 runs 11 times in 14 innings. On eight of those occasions, the first three wickets have fallen for less than 50, and six times a fourth wicket has fallen before 100 has been passed.
One such Test was this one at Lord's where England's top-order sunk to even lower depths - reduced to 30-4 in the first innings, and 48-4 in the second on a flat pitch.
There is talk that England must change the order or the personnel of their batting line-up, perhaps even both. But whatever move they make, whoever lines up at Edgbaston, England simply need a better start, otherwise they'll lose this Ashes series comfortably.
Mitchell Johnson is back
The wicketless Johnson from the first innings in Cardiff has been replaced by the 2013/14 Ashes model. Not quite the devastating force he was then perhaps, but somewhere close to it.
Johnson returned match figures of 6-80, with his extra pace and bounce making life extremely uncomfortable for England's batsmen on a fairly lifeless pitch. Sky Sports' David Lloyd reckons England are "spooked" by Johnson, and that certainly seemed to be the case in the second innings as Johnson took three wickets - and ran out Ben Stokes - as England crumbled to 103 all out.
Both sides were disappointed by the pitch at Lord's but England should be careful what they wish for, because if the Edgbaston surface in the next Test does serve up a bit more for the seamers, Johnson is only going to get spookier.
Steve Smith is a Test match No 3
While England debate at length - and likely will continue to - on where their golden boy, Joe Root, should bat, Australia's was moved up to three before the series and was far from fazed by a couple of low-ish scores at Cardiff.
Smith scored a double century at Lord's as Australia amassed 566-8 declared in their first innings, a position of power they would not relinquish.
Smith also hit a half-century off just 43 balls in the second innings and pre-series predictions of his technique struggling to stand up at three in English conditions now look pretty foolish, but not quite as foolish as his Matthew Hoggard-esque haircut from his time on a 2006 tour to England with the Australian youth team.
England need to produce better wickets
Given their 3-0 win on such surfaces in the 2013 Ashes series, and their success in the first Test at Cardiff, many suspected England requested the flat deck we were treated to at Lord's, in an effort to negate the treat of Johnson and the other Aussie seamers.
Talk about a plan backfiring.
But England insist that the pitches in the first two Test have not been made to order. Regardless of who is responsible, the series needs a more even contest between bat and ball in the next Test at Edgbaston.
Aussie selectors well done
What a difference four days can make. It was Australia with all the questions surrounding their side and how it would line up at Lord's following defeat in the first Test. Would Shane Watson keep his spot after his struggles in Cardiff, or young Mitchell Marsh come in? And how would wicketkeeper Peter Nevill fare in deputising for senior statesman and oft-England's tormentor, Brad Haddin, after he ruled himself out of the Test for personal reasons?
Australia made the bolder, braver, and admittedly riskier move to bring Marsh in and he more than repaid their faith with three wickets - including the crucial dismissals of Alastair Cook and Ben Stokes in England's first innings - plus pitched in with a quickfire 27 off 19 balls as Australia pressed for a declaration in their second innings.
Marsh smashed two sixes in that knock, and bowled with good pace with the ball, roughing up Root in particular, while Nevill displayed some nifty work behind the stumps, and pitched in with 45 first innings runs.
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