tinyurl.com Australia lost at the most famous ground in England, Lord’s, when they were bundled out for 215. Some of the players admitted to stage-fright.And now, with the urn on the line and expectations at fever pitch, the batsmen once again have cringed and crashed. To collapse from 0-73 to lose 10-87 in 138 minutes when so much was at stake was disappointing at best.Once again, it seemed, that the batsmen had stage-fright. They were tentative, suspicious of the pitch, overawed by line-and-length bowling.They played without natural flair, were bogged down in a fashion more renowned by Australian bowlers rather than the English.Excuses count for nothing at the end of the series. The pitch is sub-standard by normal Oval expectations. The ball burst through the surface on occasions, yes. But it did not career violently at the batsmen’s throats, or literally roll along the ground.To watch Shane Watson “gardening” suspiciously after almost every ball led to only one outcome – every Australian batsman’s mind was consumed by what might happen, instead of playing each ball on its merits.As a consequence, rarely was a shot played in anger and Australia allowed England to dictate terms. The loss of 15 wickets in a day suggests that runs will be harder to score as this match progresses and England rightfully is short-priced favourite to win the match, and reclaim the Ashes.ut all is not lost. Not yet. If Australia can fight back with the ball and restrict England’s lead to 300 …

Dhoni loses No 1 position to Hussey in ODI batsmen ranking
Dhoni loses No 1 position to Hussey in ODI batsmen rankingDhoni loses No 1 position to Hussey in ODI batsmen ranking

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