England must explore contingency plans to cover for Kevin Pietersen in case his sore calf rules him out of their bid to clinch the Ashes at Old Trafford next week.
Alastair Cook’s team are on the verge of winning the urn for a third successive time – something last achieved by England more than 30 years ago – after their 347-run trouncing of Australia at Lord’s yesterday.
That resounding success was completed in the absence of the injured Pietersen, off the field during the tourists’ second innings after a scan revealed he had strained his left calf.
He is considered doubtful already for the third Investec Test in Manchester.
Unfortunate history is therefore threatening to repeat itself for Pietersen, who also missed the final three matches of England’s last surge to home Ashes series victory with an Achilles injury in 2009.
England batting coach Graham Gooch is not prepared, and unqualified he insists too, to publicly discuss the potential replacements for Pietersen – who had a lean time in England’s middle order at Lord’s, where he made only seven runs in his two innings.
“I know he’s got a problem with his calf, a strain,” said Gooch.
“Whether he will be fit for Old Trafford … he’d be in doubt.
“I’m sure there will be some cover supplied.”
The potential replacement personnel remains open to conjecture, with several plausible candidates but none presenting an obviously compelling case.
Among the feasible contenders, Nick Compton is the one who most recently inhabited an England batting position – but that was as a specialist opener before he was dropped in favour of Joe Root, whose second-innings 180 helped England into their 2-0 lead.
Speaking specifically about Compton, Gooch said: “I’m not a selector, so I couldn’t give you an indication to whether he would be the next cab off the rank or not.”
Unlike others, the Somerset opener has not been seen around the England team on practice days.
A clutch of others have, and Gooch implicitly acknowledges the significance.
“We’re looking not just at the players we’ve got but also the ones coming through. “We introduce them to the other players, and try to prepare them a little bit for maybe if an opportunity comes.”
A case in point is Root, who made his Test debut in the middle order only seven months ago after appearing to be a back-up opener behind Compton and captain Alastair Cook in India.
Border criticises Aus batsmen
Allan Border, the tough Australian who helped transform the fortunes of the national side in the 1980s, said he would have been embarrassed to be one of the top three batsmen of the current team after their humiliation at Lord’s on Sunday. “Watching today I could honestly say the nine, 10 and jack (number 11) looked more competent than our one, two and three. If that was me in the top three I’d be embarrassed,” Border wrote to Cricket Australia’s subscribers as he delivered a brutally honest assessment.
England won the second Ashes test within four days to hand Australia their sixth test defeat in a row. It was the first time England have won the first two tests in a home Ashes series since W.G. Grace’s side in 1890.
Border, who took over from a tearful Kim Hughes while Australia were being repeatedly beaten by a fearsome West Indies’ side, added that Australia needed to give players a chance to prove themselves rather than experimenting with a new line-up at every test. “We need to settle on our best 11 and stay with it. I’m a believer in the pick-and-stick method, so we need to find our best 11 that’s suited to the conditions,” he said.
Lehmann warns Aussie flops
Australia coach Darren Lehmann has warned his under-achieving stars that no-one is safe from the axe ahead of the must-win third Ashes Test.
Lehmann’s side trail 2-0 after Sunday’s defeat in the second Test at Lord’s, meaning Ashes-holders England can clinch the five-match series when the sides next meet at Old Trafford on August 1.
The lacklustre Australians have been out-played for much of the series and Lehmann admits they deserve all the criticism currently coming their way.
Australia captain Michael Clarke also made no attempt to hide the fact that his team are struggling when assessing the 347-run loss at Lord’s, which came hot on the heels of defeat in the first Test at Trent Bridge.
With the Ashes in danger of slipping away, Lehmann will use the three-day tour match against Sussex at Hove, starting on Friday, to look at potential changes to the team for the third Test.
He has pledged to give reserve wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and spinner Nathan Lyon the chance to impress against Sussex.
