This tour is the start of an important year in English cricket with The Ashes in the summer. Prior to the 2005 Ashes win the England side picked itself with the only debate revolving round the selection of either Kevin Pietersen or Graham Thorpe. However in 2009 there is less certainty over the England side.
This tour has to be used to assess what the best eleven is. It is important for Strauss to have a successful start to his captaincy as the Australians are renowned for targeting the captain. It is important for those whose places are under threat such as Ian Bell and Monty Panesar to have a good tour otherwise Owais Shah and Graeme Swann will be taking their place in the side.
With the breakdown in relations between Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores it is important for England to regain some stability. The ECB have bought time by stating that Moores’s successor won’t be named until after this tour.
It is essential, however, for Andrew Strauss to maintain, at minimum, a good working relationship between Andy Flower and his coaching team as well as the senior players like Pietersen. If he fails to do that then England might as well forget winning back the Ashes this summer.
England must hope that Pietersen gets on with his job of scoring runs. If he sulks then it will damage team morale. England have to hope that promising talents such as Alastair Cook can make the step up. Cook made eight half-centuries in 2008 from twenty-one innings but has failed to reach three figures in 2008.
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