Ashes 2013: Five reasons why England will win the second Test at Lord's

England do not have much time to celebrate the victory they earned at Lord’s as the battle renews on Thursday. Australia will be a lot more confident going into the Test match despite the defeat as they managed to close the gap of win to just 14 runs courtesy the fight exhibited by the lower order.

The second Test will be critical to the fate of the series as it will be back to square one if Australia level the series with a victory whereas England will definitively close the door if they go 2-0 up in the series.

England have a few concerns to address prior to the second Test such as the form of Steven Finn who was rather expensive in the first innings. It seemed like Alastair Cook was reluctant to hand him the ball in the fourth innings as he only bowled a total of 10 overs. This adds to the workload of James Anderson and Graeme Swann.

England might choose to go with Tim Bresnan for the second Test although it would be slightly harsh on Finn. Joe Root did not have a dream Ashes debut but the team thinktank is likely to back him up. Matthew Prior seems to have hit a bad patch but he must make sure that he supports the frail tail-end batting as Brad Haddin did for Australia in the fourth innings.

Inspite of those flaws, England still have the better team on paper. Here is a list of five reasons why England will win the second Test at Lord’s:

5. Flawed opposition

Australia might have been close to an improbable victory at Trent Bridge but the matter of fact is that they were largely saved by a miraculous innings by 19-year-old debutant Ashton Agar.

Excepting his innings of 98 runs in the first innings, England could have easily packed up the Test match in three days. The Australian middle order exhibited no resolve, no application in hostile conditions and while Steven Smith was one player who looked like getting runs in both the innings, his inexperience and aggressive stroke-play means that he cannot anchor the innings for Australia.

Australia’s bowling attack is potent but England are already a step ahead in that department as well.

4. Key contributions

England’s batting might have collapsed in the first innings but almost every batsman eventually contributed in the space of two innings.

Jonathan Trott looked in good nick in the first innings, scoring a valuable knock of 48 whereas inexperience batsman Jonathan Bairstow chipped in with 37 runs in England’s meagre total of 215 runs.

Alastair Cook made amends for his early dismissal in the second innings by dropping anchor in the last session of day two alongside Kevin Pietersen to build a critical partnership. Kevin Pietersen’s knock of 64 does not augur well for Australia as he is a player who can get big runs when on song.

Ian Bell’s century was as instrumental to England’s win as James Anderson’s 10-wicket haul. This means that, with the exception of Mathew Prior whose last significant score came in March in the first Test against New Zealand, every batsmen has some runs to their name.

3. Captain Fantastic

The fact that Alastair Cook has been so consistent for England while opening the innings means that they have become used to depending upon his exploits. While that may be a weakness, Cook has the nerve to carry that huge responsibility.

His first innings failure exposed the English middle order that then crumbled to the swing bowling of Peter Siddle. The stark difference was visible in the second innings when Cook was able to wither out the first couple of bursts of the Australian bowlers allowing Bell to capitalize.

Cook’s runs add to the potency of the side and his past record suggests that the Ashes is his stage.

Moreover, he pipped Michael Clarke in the battle of wits by using his bowlers more carefully. He threw the ball to Joe Root and got a wicket. He preserved Finn in the last innings and depended upon Jimmy Anderson to do the job which proved to be the right move. He has had the better of the review system as well which was perhaps the hardest thing to do.

2. Count on Swann

There has been a bit of talk after the first Test that Graeme Swann’s performance was underwhelming as he failed to exploit the deteriorating surface on the last day of play.

However, it has to be kept in mind that he might not have given the desired results in terms of wickets taken but he was effective in plugging one end. He bowled a total of 44 overs in the last innings giving away just above 100 runs.

Trent Bridge has never been a happy hunting ground for the bowler and prior to this Test match, he took a mere three wickets for England at the venue. He bowled a critical spell for England at the end of day three claiming the key wicket of Phil Hughes, who had frustrated England in the first innings as well as that of Steven Smith.

He will be a wicket-taking option for Cook throughout this series and any complacency will hurt Australia.

1. James Anderson

Anderson claimed all four wickets that remained to be taken on the last day of the Test match and bowled longer spells than usual bearing the extra burden for the benefit of his team. His ability to be a threat at all stages of the match is exceptional.

He threatens with the customary swing of the new ball, by hitting the seam to derive a bit of movement off the surface before the ball starts to reverse swing. His combination with Graeme Swann has been compared to the combination of Warne and McGrath that Australia had when they monopolized the Ashes prior to 2005.

There is an argument that England are overtly reliant on James Anderson which might have some substance to it as Broad and Finn failed to make much of an impact in the first Test but that won’t hinder the bowling spearhead from doing his job at Lord’s.