England began their Ashes tour with grandeur by beating Western Australia by 6 wickets. England winning their 1st tour game in Australia is a rarity so this was an absolute delight, which Andrew Strauss expressed as well. England's mainstream bowlers James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Steven Finn were impressive in the first 2 tour matches, against Western Australia and South Australia. The 2nd tour match was drawn.
Here is how these fared in the 2 matches:
| James Anderson (58 overs)
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| Stuart Broad (49 overs)
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| Steven Finn (53 overs)
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| Graeme Swann (71.3 overs)
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In the 3rd tour match, England gave Tremlett, Shahzad, Bresnan, Panesar a chance while the best bowlers practised in Brisbane, the venue of the 1st Ashes Test. Australia A batted first, were bowled out for 230 which set the foundation for victory. All bowlers did well with Monty being the least successful. Tremlett flourished the most, followed by Bressie lad. Though I strongly recommend not playing Bresnan except perhaps when England plays 5 bowlers. The batsmen were the same and batted superbly except Trott I guess. Every England batsmen averaged above 50 except KP and Trott (excluding Prior). Bell is still in the form of his life whose 192 against Australia A was among his best for sure. Collingwood and Bell got England out of trouble who were struggling at 137/5. The bowlers finished their job by routing Australia A for 301.
Alastair Cook coming out for good was a an important positive for England, who have shown complete faith in him. He scored 111* against South Australia. A special mention of Paul Collingwood, who not only scored runs but also provided the breakthrough and broke a partnership of 87 runs, produced a run out against Western Australia (1st innings) and substitute Eoin Morgan (run out, Western Australia 2nd innings).
So, England have done quite well so far but the real test lies ahead.
The highlights of the tour games are available on skysports.com. The Ashes begins on November 25, The Gabba, Brisbane at 00:00 GMT. Until next time, take care. Cheers.
