ODI / Vin Lowe / 14 September 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now

There isn't much one can comment on when a team loses a seven-game ODI series as early as in the fourth match itself, writes Andy Morris.

And then, probably, there is a lot that can be spoken of! On the other hand, the victors, Aussies, would have derived at least a part of their Ashes-loss' revenge from the results so far, the attribution may not be complete till they achieve a 7-0 whitewash in the series.

The first of the remaining three games will begin on Tuesday at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

Australia:

Everything seems to be coming together well for the Aussies. In fact, everything that seemed to be going wrong during the test series looks to have been corrected. Unlike the tests, Brett Lee's fitness is holding up, Mitchell Johnson has regained his form fully, the middle-order has been buffered up by the presence of Cameron White and Callum Ferguson, while there is no threat from Andrew Flintoff either!

Michael Clarke, who had suddenly lost his form and looked as scratchy as he had ever in his career, also regained his form back in the previous match and with Ponting coming into the fold - with the bat and with the captaincy - the task only gets arduous for the opposition. Lee's spell in the fourth game seemed to be a culmination of his efforts to get back to full fitness and amongst wickets, and having tasted blood it would be interesting to see how he goes against the English batsmen at Trent Bridge.

England:

Listless and disgraceful are the two words one can associate with the English performances in the series so far. How would they be able to turn around things is a big question-mark for starters! Especially against a side which hasn't let up ever since they won that first game of the series.

The batting has failed to hold up, and apart from Andrew Strauss, there haven't been too many contributions around. Matt Prior has not really lived up to his form in the test matches despite batting in the top four in all the games, and it may be time to try out an Owais Shah or even Luke Wright up the order, to give a bit of a dash. This is not to say that the middle order is too protected at the moment, and one gets the sense that a batsman like Jonathon Trott could most certainly be a welcome addition to the playing eleven.

The bowling, by itself, has been modest, and with James Anderson rested for the fifth game as well, it will be difficult for the English to get the penetration. They have rectified the mistake of not picking Adil Rashid, but whether the leg-spinner now has the confidence to bowl against a side bubbling with confidence, remains to be seen!