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A week ago, the talk was about England’s new found aggressiveness and confidence. The talk was about Australia’s struggles on slower pitches. The talk was about whether Australia could bounce back as a team after losing by 169 runs at Cardiff. All that went out the window as Australia completed a huge turnaround to thrash England by 405 runs at Lord’s.

The good news for England is that there are only three issues they need to deal with.

The bad news is that those three things are their batting, bowling and fielding.

They were completely outplayed in all departments. Australia were ruthless, never letting their foot off England’s throat since winning the toss on the first morning. Smith and Rogers combined for a record partnership, and their bowlers bowled with what Shane Warne would call “great wicket taking intent” and further exposed England’s top order woes, which have been prevalent for a while now.

England sit last in terms of averages for wickets 1-3 in Tests in 2015. The English media has made clear of this, particularly pointing out Bangladesh, who average 58.86 (including a triple century opening stand against Pakistan) compared to England’s paltry 26.86. The English media is unforgiving and they’ve been just that after the Lord’s thrashing, only days after praising the side in Cardiff. When you’re winning, as England did at Cardiff, it’s easy to overlook the obvious weaknesses England have in the side. In addition, England is a side that can falter under pressure quite easily and look rattled, as evident with Ben Stokes’ dismissal on what turned out to be the final day.

It wouldn’t be wise to make wholesale changes in a series of this magnitude, especially in positions so important (top order). Adam Lyth, Gary Ballance and Ian Bell are under increasing pressure. Gary Ballance is the player reported to be under the most pressure and rightly so as he looks the least likely to threaten Australia out of the three in question. Even though Ballance scored strong runs against India and the West Indies, his technique still didn’t inspire confidence for tougher tests against New Zealand and Australia to come. That has proven right. To be frank, Australia will hope he’s selected for Edgbaston because he looks as if he will get out each ball he faces. Lyth and Bell might very well survive for Edgbaston but they’ll need to step up.

For Australia, this was a perfect performance. Steve Smith was brilliant, amassing 273 runs for the game. Chris Rogers, who went off with dizziness on the fourth morning, scored 173 and 49* and looked in ‘total control. Australia will hope that the long layoff can help Rogers be ready for the 3rd Test. The likes of Warner, Clarke, Nevill and Marsh also enjoyed some time in the middle as Australia amassed 820 for the loss of only 10 wickets in the whole game.

And how good were the bowlers? This was such a huge improvement from Cardiff, constantly challenging every single England batsman who walked out to the crease. The Aussies saw weaknesses to be exploited and exploit those weaknesses they did. This Aussie attack is building up to be a very good one after the retirement of Ryan Harris, with each bowler (even Mitchell Marsh took key wickets) playing their role and most importantly, each bowler is different which adds further variety.

Some key stats which further show how one sided this game was:

– Australia averaged 82 runs per wicket (820/10) whereas England averaged 20.8 (415/20).
– Chris Rogers and Steven Smith (495 runs) outscored the entire England team over two innings (415).
– The margin of 405 runs was Australia’s third biggest Ashes win and England’s fourth heaviest in their history in terms of runs.

Lastly, the talk about the pitch suiting Australia is odd. The Lord’s track was created by England to negate the pace of Mitchell Johnson and the Australian attack, and this is a fair point because of how slow the Cardiff track was as well. If you’re worried about the opposition’s quick bowlers, you would do what you can to negate them. This backfired for England, because their bowlers were the ones who looked toothless for the most part and their batsmen looked all at sea against an attack that was threatening but disciplined. Australia found a way to bounce back, England will need an even bigger turnaround if they are to bounce back in Edgbaston.

It was said that if England win the first Test over Australia, we could be in for an Ashes series classic. England did just that, producing a clinical performance from the depths of 43/3 on the first morning to win by 169 runs. This was an England performance far improved from their tour of the West Indies as well as New Zealand’s recent two Test tour of England, and seem the more settled side heading into Lord’s. The scene is set at the Home of Cricket.

The disappointment about the first up defeat and speculation about the makeup of the Australian side for the 2nd Test has dominated the headlines in Australia. Shane Watson has been rightly dropped in place of Mitchell Marsh and Brad Haddin has withdrawn due to personal reasons. Shane Watson’s front pad will probably be the most relieved about the selectors’ decision to drop him, a decision which has surely been long overdue. Brad Haddin hasn’t been in the best form but as Ricky Ponting said, the Aussies will miss his presence because of how central he has been to Australia’s plans over the last few years. Add to that, Mitchell Starc’s ankle gave him trouble in Cardiff but he seems alright to play, bowling off a long run up in the lead up to the Test. England are far more settled, with doubt only over Moeen Ali, who has a side strain. He is tipped to play but if he is to miss out, they have an attacking option in Adil Rashid waiting.

England were excellent at Cardiff, playing that attacking cricket that their disastrous World Cup exit has triggered. Joe Root was superb, Gary Ballance chipped in with first innings runs, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Ian Bell also scored runs. If Cook and Lyth can have a stronger opening partnership at Lord’s, Australia will be facing the heat. In addition, England’s bowlers were excellent and they’ll be looking for a repeat of their team effort in breaking down Australia’s batting line up.

Australia, the pre-series favourites, need a big performance to bounce back. They will know that 2-0 would mean Ashes pretty much gone so Mitchell Marsh and Peter Nevill, the two players coming in, will need to contribute well which increases the pressure. Marsh was superb against Essex and Kent before the first Test and should have played ahead of Watson at Cardiff. Nevill had a huge Sheffield Shield season, with 764 runs at 76.40 so he deserves his spot. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, Australia would want their more established batsmen (i.e. Clarke, Smith) to contribute more and would also want their bowlers to bowl with a little more consistency. There were too many boundary balls in the first Test.

Players to watch:

For England, it’s that man Joe Root. His importance was reflected on the first day at Cardiff, where he made Australia pay for dropping him on 0. His form of late has been unbelievable and worse for Australia, he averages 85.88 in five Tests at Lord’s.

For Australia, Steven Smith had a quiet first Test by his recent standards. England believe to have worked him out around that off stump so he will be eager to get back in the big runs after losing his no.1 Test batting ranking. He didn’t reach that position for no reason though, and Australia will be hoping that the likes of Warner and Clarke can bat around an in form Smith.

Likely teams:

England: Adam Lyth, Alistair Cook (c), Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson

Australia: Chris Rogers, David Warner, Steven Smith, Michael Clarke, Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon

Some key stats:
– Australia were undefeated at Lord’s from 1938 to 2005 but have lost their last two Tests there, including a huge defeat in 2013.
– James Anderson and Stuart Broad have 136 Test wickets between them in 31 Tests at Lord’s.
– Toss will be key at Lord’s, as the team batting first has averaged 39.04 in Tests at Lord’s since 2010. The team batting second has averaged 30.10.

Prediction: Should be a great game. England held series leads in their recent series against West Indies and New Zealand and while they look better now, there are still a few weaknesses Australia can exploit. Remember, England should have been 43/4 with Joe Root gone for 0 on the first morning. Australia will want to prove that they can fight back and I think they will at least avoid defeat to get back into the series.

Pretend it’s July 2014. Bangladesh had just lost an ODI series 2-0 to a second string India, which included a 58 all out capitulation. On top of this, they had lost to Sri Lanka after having them 67/8 in February 2014, then lost to Afghanistan in the Asia Cup about a month later then lost to Hong Kong in the World T20 at home also about a month later. Fast forward a year, they face South Africa coming off the back of a 5-0 home win over Zimbabwe, a quarter final appearance at the World Cup and series wins over Pakistan and India. What a turnaround.

If thoughts about this series being Bangladesh’s biggest challenge so far in 2015 were true, this was justified looking at how the T20 series went. Bangladesh were thoroughly outplayed and captain Mashrafe Mortaza has expressed concerns over his team’s ability to play South Africa’s spinners. You would’ve thought it’d be the other way around. South Africa have come to Bangladesh fully focused after no international cricket since the World Cup and despite not being at full strength, Bangladesh face a big task in beating this side.

However, this is Bangladesh’s favourite format and they have been brilliant in recent times. Since South Africa’s heartbreaking exit at the World Cup, Bangladesh have had 5 huge ODI wins against Pakistan and India, while unearthing a great talent in Mustafizur Rahman. Bangladesh’s bowling has been super impressive and while they will really miss Taskin Ahmed, they have enough variety to test South Africa. The challenge is to go from “testing” South Africa to “beating” them. Mashrafe Mortaza is the right man to help Bangladesh attempt this.

For South Africa, they look in sharp touch if the T20s were anything to go by. They made Bangladesh look ordinary at times and that is not easy to do at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, a stadium which Bangladesh “owns” according to Ravi Ashwin. There is no AB de Villiers which will be of relief to Bangladesh, but there is enough talent in the side to get their preparations up and running for the major tournaments coming up in the next four years.

Key player for Bangladesh: The best part about this run of success for the Bangladesh team is that they haven’t relied on one player to win. In the past, if Shakib Al Hasan had a quiet game, Bangladesh would not win. In the recent Pakistan series (won 3-0), Shakib only faced 31 balls all series. However, a key player is Mustafizur Rahman. He burst onto the scene with some brilliant performances but how he backs up will be interesting to see. A few more seam up deliveries would be nice to see so he continues to have that unpredictability about him.

Key player for South Africa: Imran Tahir was superb in the World Cup and boasts a great ODI record (70 wickets in 38 ODIs). He’s the perfect candidate to exploit Bangladesh’s nerves against spin. Bangladesh will need to play him with authority and keep the strike rotating against him. Dot balls will increase pressure, and Tahir has excelled in this area with an economy rate of only 4.35 in his career.

My Bangladesh team: The team would depend on the pitch and how slow it is but either Rubel Hossain or Jubair Hossain could have a big role to play, depending on who the selectors pick. Mahmudullah is a welcome return.

1. Tamim Iqbal 2. Soumya Sarkar 3. Mahmudullah 4. Mushfiqur Rahim (w) 5. Shakib Al Hasan 6. Sabbir Rahman 7. Nasir Hossain 8. Mashrafe Mortaza. 9. Arafat Sunny 10. Rubel Hossain/Jubair Hossain 11. Mustafizur Rahman

Some stats:

– South Africa have only lost 1 match to Bangladesh out of 14. That came in the 2007 World Cup.
– On South Africa’s last bilateral series visit to Bangladesh, they thumped the hosts 3-0. Bangladesh have come a long way since then.
– Bangladesh will look to erase memories of their last ODI against South Africa, which was in the 2011 World Cup. They were bowled out for 78 and lost by 206 runs.
– Shakib Al Hasan needs two more wickets for 200 in ODIs and Mashrafe Mortaza needs four.

Prediction: This series promises to be exciting as Bangladesh have been in great form and South Africa have a point to prove. There are new ODI rules in place so the team who adjusts to the conditions best will have the best chance. I believe Bangladesh can definitely push South Africa all the way and even win the game, despite missing Taskin Ahmed. South Africa don’t like being placed under pressure, so it’s Bangladesh’s job to ensure they put as much pressure as possible right the way through the match. Bangladesh to cause an upset.