Problems galore for Clarke
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England managed to win the Ashes opener by 14 runs in a Test match which went right down to the wire. England was the better team by winning most of the sessions but the Aussies will be kicking themselves for having thrown away the early advantage of a good start in the chase.The Australian middle order just collapsed like a pack of cards and apart from Brad Haddin, there was no real resistance from the middle order. It is one thing to get out early on when you are still trying to get your eye in and another thing when you get set and throw your wicket way. But for Phillip Hughes, everyone in the Aussie middle-order got off to starts only to throw it away by resorting to a loose stroke.England looks a far more balanced side, both in terms of bowling and batting but one should never write off the Aussies as we got a glimpse of it in the first Test match when Haddin with the tailenders almost managed to pull off a remarkable chase. James Anderson came to the rescue by dismissing the lower-middle order just when things were starting to slip out of England's hands.Australia needs to get its act together and reshuffle its batting order to get the best out of the resources available to them. David Warner should be brought back into the side as his naturally agressive instints can turn the tables on its head and can bring an air of freshness into a side which is most likely to play the catching up game for the rest of the series.Ed Cowan may have to sit out as he has had a terrible Test match and Usmain Khawaja can take his place and come in at no.3 or even Phillip Hughes can be promoted to the top of the order and Cowan can pave the way for Warner in the side.It is very important that Michael Clarke gets back among the runs as he is the pillar of this Australian middle order which will also help him to lead from the front. It will make him that much more confident when he has runs under his belt which in turn will reflect in his captaincy to make the positive decisions.The bowling looks pretty good with James Pattinson and Peter Siddle doing their jobs and Mitchel Starc chipping away at the wickets. Ashton Agar looks to be a promising cricketer and has a good future ahead of him. The Ashes might just turn him around as a cricketer.
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