Reiffel adds to the Australian firepower

The arrival and immediate success of seamer Paul Reiffel means Australia will also have a strengthened pace attack at Lord’s. Reiffel’s presence not only means the bowling is better equipped to handle the conditions, but also more experienced in the correct length to bowl in England. The selectors can be thankful that injury to two pace bowlers has allowed them to rectify one of the many mistakes they have made in recent times.

The addition of Reiffel to the attack will also take some of the load off Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. Both bowlers were being weighed down by the knowledge that Australia was depending on them to take the bulk of the wickets. At Test level, wickets generally come through carefully following a planned attack, rather than forceful use of any bullying tactics.

McGrath suffered from such an approach at Edgbaston and someone needs to convince him that good batsmen will occasionally hit him to the boundary, but if he continues to bowl sensibly, wickets will come. Glenn has been deluding himself for some time now, and it is starting to have an adverse effect on his wicket-taking ability.

Warne, on the other hand, remained patient at Edgbaston despite minimal success. He started to spin the ball quite sharply in the second innings and this also resulted in more curve through the air. That improvement and his five-wicket haul in Australia’s win over Leicestershire will have built his confidence to the point where he is ready to play a major role in this Test if he receives the right kind of support from his batsmen.

Runs should be forthcoming in reasonable numbers now that Australia have sorted out most of their batting problems. In addition to Taylor’s resurgence, Greg Blewett’s emphatic century has answered all arguments about who is entitled to the No 3 spot. Matthew Elliott is also in good form, so the top order is now settled and with the classy Waugh twins to follow that only leaves one question mark in the order — the enigmatic Michael Bevan.

There is no doubt the left-hander is a wonderful one-day batsman and with his quick footwork is also capable of punishing spin bvowlers. However, he is not likely to see much of Robert Croft in this series and no captain worth his badge will ensure that wherever possible either Darren Gough or Devon Malcolm are bowling when he’s at the crease.

Bevan doesn’t handle the short-pitched ball well and good pace bowlers find the edge of his dangling bat regularly. Confronted by sensible fast bowling, there is little likelihood Bevan will make runs of any consequence and his spot should now go to Ricky Ponting who is an extremely capable player of pace bowling.

While defeat has forced Australia to make changes that has improved their side, England, by remaining faithful to the team that won at Edgbaston, have missed an oppurtunity to add strength for Lord’s. The inclusion of Adam Hollioake would have added youthful confidence and a pair of faster legs to a side that contains a lot of plodders in the infield. If England don’t address this problem at some stage, Australia will run them ragged in the field. This is one case where prevention is definitely better than cure.

If Australia do reassert some control in this series they will also be thankful for the retention of Andrew Caddick. He doesn’t bowl well to left-handers and he has suffered previously at the hands of the Australians. If there is such thing as a good time for an opponent to succeed, then Caddick’s five wicket haul at Edgbaston was perfect for Australia. Buoyed by a belated victory over a county, the form of Reiffel and a dominant record at Lord’s, the Australians should be confident, rather than deflated, going into the second Test.