Michael Vaughan: Trott and England to finish on a high

Michaels On The Money / Michael Vaughan / 01 January 2011 /

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Jonathan Trott is in the zone and should be backed to top score for England

"There’s always the danger that England could lose their focus and relax a little but this England side look too professional and too determined to allow that to happen and my money is on Andrew Strauss’ side really rubbing it in and guiding his side to a comprehensive 3-1 Series win."

The Ashes have been retained but England will want to finish on a high and in the absence of Ricky Ponting for the Aussies, Jonathan Trott can build the foundations from which England go on to win yet again.

I think we'll get a pretty spicy wicket at Sydney and the prospect of cloud cover and some moisture around will just increase the chances of the bowlers being on top here. That said, we've seen some decent first innings scores at this ground over the years so whoever wins the toss won't have a straightforward decision to make.

There will be no Ricky Ponting for Australia of course and this will be a big chance for Michael Clarke to make an immediate impact. He'll bring plenty of energy and enthusiasm to the role and if he were to lead Australia to a shock win here he would not only be seen as the eleventh hour hero who stopped the hosts losing an Ashes series on home soil, he will also have made an instant impact in his first big opportunity as Test captain.

Personally I can't see that happening though. Australia will have to ring the changes once again because of injuries whilst England will have the luxury of being able to field the same players who won in Melbourne, bring Eoin Morgan in for Paul Colingwood or even bring back Steve Finn, possibly at the expense of Tim Bresnan. There's always the danger that England could lose their focus and relax a little but this England side look too professional and too determined to allow that to happen and my money is on Andrew Strauss' side really rubbing it in and guiding his side to a comprehensive 3-1 Series win.

Jonathan Trott looked the part again in that superb first innings knock in Melbourne and he's one of those batsmen who is extremely hard to get out when he's 'in the zone'. He has a good technique, plenty of patience and loads of different scoring areas so I'm backing him to finish as England's top runscorer in the first innings.

For Australia, Shane Watson has made a few starts before getting out but he's a far better player than what he's shown so far over the last month and I'm backing him to come good here and top score in the Aussies' first knock.

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