While I think Australia are still well-placed to record a convincing win against England, today's batting performance suggested that the omission of Mark Waugh has for the time being, made Australia's middle-order look like more of a liability.
Considering the way they play, I don't think having Martyn and S. Waugh at 4 and 5 is going to work. Both, especially Martyn, are slow starters even when in form are slow starters and when they batted today they killed the momentum of the Australian innings stone dead.
The concern would be particularly worrying because I think that Waugh is in permanent decline - it is just too easy for opposition bowlers to slow up his scoring rate as all they have to do is to bowl short - no way he's going to play a hook or pull shot these days. Far more significant though is that for the first time in years, Waugh is getting out to the short ball on a semi-regular basis.
Martyn's form in his last few Tests would be a concern as, like today, he has trouble turning over the strike when the ball is consistently pitched outside off-stump. He needs to find a way that he can turn over the strike with singles more often.
And I wasn't particularly convinced with Lehmann's innings either. He, unlike Martyn, knows how to turn over the strike virtually at will but he looks the sort of batsman that will always give fast bowlers a chance outside off-stump, the sort of vulnerability that the likes of Hayden, Ponting and Martyn haven't displayed in recent times. And considering Lehmann is a well-regarded player of spin, his dismissal was a very soft one.
Whatever the outcome of the series, I suspect there will be some tough times ahead for Lehmann and particularly Waugh. If Waugh continues to bat like he did today, this will most definitely be his last series.
Considering the way they play, I don't think having Martyn and S. Waugh at 4 and 5 is going to work. Both, especially Martyn, are slow starters even when in form are slow starters and when they batted today they killed the momentum of the Australian innings stone dead.
The concern would be particularly worrying because I think that Waugh is in permanent decline - it is just too easy for opposition bowlers to slow up his scoring rate as all they have to do is to bowl short - no way he's going to play a hook or pull shot these days. Far more significant though is that for the first time in years, Waugh is getting out to the short ball on a semi-regular basis.
Martyn's form in his last few Tests would be a concern as, like today, he has trouble turning over the strike when the ball is consistently pitched outside off-stump. He needs to find a way that he can turn over the strike with singles more often.
And I wasn't particularly convinced with Lehmann's innings either. He, unlike Martyn, knows how to turn over the strike virtually at will but he looks the sort of batsman that will always give fast bowlers a chance outside off-stump, the sort of vulnerability that the likes of Hayden, Ponting and Martyn haven't displayed in recent times. And considering Lehmann is a well-regarded player of spin, his dismissal was a very soft one.
Whatever the outcome of the series, I suspect there will be some tough times ahead for Lehmann and particularly Waugh. If Waugh continues to bat like he did today, this will most definitely be his last series.
