I Would Be Salivating Facing England - McGrath
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For Australia to fight back and win the opening Ashes Test as decisively as they did, one questions what scars will be inflicted upon the England team.
What are they going to do for the rest of series?
Surprising Comeback
I do not think anyone anticipated what transpired on the weekend. When you look at the number of overs taken to finish the game, it was the longest format on fast forward.
England were well on top at the midday break on the second day, leading by 105 runs with most wickets in hand. The playing surface was still doing plenty. It looked so tough for Australia to re-enter the match.
Batting Mistakes
From that point, England's shot selection was their big undoing. Scott Boland put in arguably his poorest performance in an Australia shirt in the initial batting, then completely reversed in the second to be the catalyst for the comeback.
England's batsmen were out trying to hit balls wide of off-stump, on the up, towards cover region.
Attempting runs off those bowls, with those shots, is the precise action you just should avoid as a batsman in Australia.
Adaptation Issues
It showed that England had failed to complete their homework, are not able to adapt or are reluctant to adapt.
There is much discussion about England's method, their aggressive style. I witnessed it up close during the recent series in the UK. Under their captain and Brendon McCullum, they can be quite rigid when it comes to sticking with that method.
It is acceptable on slow, low pitches. On the fast, bouncy pitches of Australia it is a approach fraught with danger. If England do not reassess, they will face difficulties for the whole series.
Pacer's Viewpoint
As a bowler, I would have consistently believed in the contest against this England team.
I relied on my precision, backing myself to land the identical area on or outside off stump, with a bit of bounce and nip.
Even if this England team was going well, I'd be eagerly anticipating at the idea of bowling to them, aware a single error could result in multiple wickets.
Skill and Resilience
There are occasions when England can be a high-quality team. They have good players. Good players have skill, but great players have the psychological strength and mindset to be adaptable enough for the situation.
They would been shellshocked at the way things unfolded at Perth Stadium, devastated at the way they were beaten. Now we will see what they are capable of. Even as a true blue Australian, I somewhat wants to see them adapt, just to show they can get better.
Bowling Concerns
It was almost the same with their pace attack. England's attack was very good on the opening day, then lost the plot when they were attacked on the following day.
In the longest format, all disciplines require a Plan B. Quite often it feels like England have one method, then nowhere to go if that does not work.
'Where has this come from?' - The dismissal as England collapse in six balls
Head's Masterclass
In defense to England's bowlers, they were hit by one of the memorable Ashes innings by Travis Head.
His 69-ball hundred was the second fastest by an Australian batsman in the historic rivalry, 12 balls behind Adam Gilchrist at the Waca 19 years ago – a game I played in.
My former teammate Gilly said Head's innings was the better of the two. I concur. Considering the challenging nature of the wicket and the situation of the match situation, Head's knock will go down as a moment of Ashes history.
Strategic Decisions
It was a bold and brave move for Australia to elevate the batsman in the lineup for the second innings.
The opener has copped it for being unable to open in both attempts. He had back spasms after playing golf the day before the Test, but I don't think the two were linked.
When the batsman missed out on the opening day, Australia advanced Marnus Labuschagne and got stuck.
In promoting Head, who has the confidence of starting in limited overs, Australia were able to go on offensive to England.
Upcoming Decisions
Now there is the issue of what Australia will do for the next match. I'd like to see them stick with the approach of attacking play at the top of the order.
That could mean Head remains, meaning someone like the all-rounder comes into the middle order, or Head could go back to number five and the all-rounder or the keeper could go to the top. It would be difficult for Khawaja, but occasionally you have to do what the rival team would find most uncomfortable.
Tournament Perspective
After the opening match was controlled by the pace attack, some are wondering if the remaining series will be short, low-scoring Tests.
Perth Stadium is essentially the quickest, liveliest pitch in the global cricket, so the batsmen should get a some respite from here onward.
It is not all about the pitch. Recognition has to be awarded to the bowlers for delivering the ball in the correct areas so often. In general, batters on both sides will need to analyze how they got themselves out.
Pivotal Match
Now we progress to Brisbane, and the completely distinct day-night conditions for the following match.
In the historic series, I was a member of the Australia team that overwhelmed England to achieve 5-0. Ashes series in this nation have a tendency of slipping from England quickly.
At the present, England are just one match down. There would be no recovery from 2-0, which is why the venue is such a massive game.
They need to adjust, or the historic urn will be lost again.
