Australia are preparing to fight fire with fire in the Ashes, vowing not to be trapped into solely trying to slow England down and instead hoping the hosts’ aggression will cost them wickets.
The tourists have turned their focus to Wednesday’s World Test Championship final against India at The Oval, where a shot at a maiden long-format crown awaits Pat Cummins’ men.
Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the final after succumbing to side soreness and has been put on ice for the Ashes.
Coaching staff have one eye on June 16 and attempting to find an answer to the Bazball revolution.
England sent a final reminder of their dynamic style in last week’s 10-wicket win over Ireland, as they rattled along at 6.36 per over with the bat.
With Brendon “Baz” McCullum as coach, four frontline English batsmen have scored at a strike-rate of more than 80 in the past 12 months.
Josh Hazlewood. (Photo by Ryan Pierse-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
Australia’s coach Andrew McDonald would not detail the exact plan for England, but said his side would approach that Test series with “totally different” tactics to those they’d employ against India.
But one thing they won’t be lured into doing is going on the defensive and adopting a Twenty20 cricket approach of trying to solely dry up England’s runs.
“There’ll be a lot more dismissal options than a T20 game, where sometimes towards the back end it’s executing yorkers when the ball is travelling straight,” McDonald said.
“The red ball and in particular a Dukes ball will offer something, so we’ll be able to be creative enough with with the way that we use our fields.
“Their modes of dismissal haven’t changed a lot. There hasn’t been a real big shift in the way that they get out.
“So their vulnerabilities are still there. And we’ll look to expose those.”
Options could include having men on the boundary square of the wicket, or using unconventional field placements as genuine wicket-taking options.
Andrew McDonald. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
Australia have been the world’s most economical bowling team in recent years, regularly operating at between 2.7 and 3.0 runs per over as they strangle oppositions.
But in England, they are prepared for that rate to increase.
“We pride ourselves on being relentless with the ball and controlling the tempo is one of our big themes,” McDonald said.
“The tempo may go up purely on the ground sizes, the speed of the outfield and the wickets flattening out.
“So it may look slightly different to potentially the 2.8 that we usually operate at. It might go up. We’re prepared for that.
“But it’s all going to be within the context of that game.
“No doubt the scoring rate will be a little bit higher with the way that they play, but we’re hoping the balls-per-dismissal come down and then that way that evens out.”
Hazlewood had hoped to play his first match for Australia since early January and only his fifth in two years against India at The Oval, after a run of side issues and an achilles problem.
The seamer has been back bowling at close to full tilt for a fortnight and completed three separate spells in a centre-wicket session on Saturday.
However, he was seen in close consultation with coach Andrew McDonald after the last of those spells, before being officially ruled out on Sunday.
Michael Neser will join the 15-man squad in his place, acting as the fourth pace option behind front-liners Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland.
“Josh was very, very close to being given the green light but we are cognisant that our upcoming schedule means this is not a one-off Test match for us,” chief selector George Bailey said.
“Michael’s county form has been strong and knowing that he was going to be close by allowed for him to keep playing and for us to be able to call on him.
“He is a great strength to have as part of the fast bowling group.
“This will give Josh an ideal preparation leading into Edgbaston. With six Test matches in a little over seven weeks we will need all of our fast bowling assets.”
Leach sidelined long term with back injury
England have suffered a major blow with the Ashes looming with key spinner Jack Leach ruled out for the entire series with a stress fracture in his back.
The loss of the 31-year-old will force captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum to have to seriously rethink the approach to their bowling line-up with the first Test at Edgbaston against Australia less than two weeks away. They are already entering the series without pace spearhead Jofra Archer, sidelined with an elbow problem.
Leach, the unassuming figure who became an instant national hero when playing the stubborn support role to Stokes in the miraculous Headingley Test win of 2019, has gradually turned into something even more important to England – a model of spinning solidity amid their hectic ‘Bazball’ revolution.
And he had seemingly shown his readiness for the fray with four wickets in England’s 10-wicket victory over Ireland at Lord’s in the week.
Jack Leach is mobbed after taking the final wicket of a Test win in Pakistan. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
But it transpires that he had developed problems with his lower back symptoms during the match and a scan on Sunday showed up a stress fracture in the lumbar region of the spine, which will rule him out of all five Ashes Tests.
It’s seriously bad news for England as the 31-year-old left armer has played in all 13 of England’s Tests since Stokes and McCullum took the reins, taking 45 wickets, and they’ve not been shy to trumpet Leach’s importance after his performances on the tours to Pakistan and New Zealand.
He’s only grown stronger in the international arena after a tough last Ashes campaign in Australia in which he took just six wickets for 390 runs and he’s started the county season in impressive form with Somerset, snapping up 18 wickets in six matches.
“England will announce a replacement for the Ashes series in due course,” an England statement said on Sunday.
But who exactly? There’s no obvious ready-made replacement for Leach, the only spinner included in the 16-man squad for the first two Ashes Tests that was named on Saturday after the Ireland win.
England could risk the exciting leg spin and batting of 18-year-old Rehan Ahmed, the youngest man ever to play a Test for them in Pakistan when he teamed up with Leach, while offspinner Will Jacks also impressed two Tests in that series.
Could they even try to woo one of the experienced duo of Moeen Ali or Adil Rashid out of red-ball retirement?
It’s certainly a bowling setback England didn’t need as they try to nurse their best attack, already without the injured pace star Jofra Archer for the summer, safely towards the June 16 Ashes opener in Birmingham.
James Anderson and Ollie Robinson were rested for the Ireland Test because of injury niggles and questions remain over the workload with the ball that captain Stokes can carry.
And, of course, there’s always Leach’s symbolic importance to England after his fabled defiant one not out against Australia in that epic Headingley Test win.
Somebody suggested to him in the press conference after that Test that he may have become a cult hero.
To which Leach shrugged: “That’s nice. I don’t know what it is. It’s probably because I look like a village cricketer out there in my glasses, the bald head. Maybe people think: ‘That could be me!’ All the others look pretty professional.”
So England may miss their unlikely totem, who’s also had to overcome his own health issues, while suffering from Crohn’s disease, to make the grade. They’re losing a fighter.
Root ready despite limited preps
Joe Root says he will relish the chance to deliver for England and focus purely on playing in his first Ashes series in eight years without the captaincy.
England made it 11 wins in 13 Tests under the leadership of skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum with a 10-wicket victory over Ireland at Lord’s on Saturday.
All eyes now turn to the Ashes opener on June 16 and Root, who was man of the series on home soil in 2015 with 460 runs, is excited after leading England during the last three red-ball battles with Australia.
“I think my batting has been fine for a while, but, mentally, to be able to just turn up and play and have fun, just chat batting with some of the younger guys.
“Obviously I’ll try and help out where I can but Ben knows what he’s doing. He’s got enough behind him now to give himself the encouragement and confidence to make those big calls on his own, as you’d expect him to anyway. He’s doing a far better job than I did.”
Root’s own preparation for this monumental series had been far from ideal before his 56 against Ireland.
Joe Root. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
The Yorkshire batter decided against playing county championship cricket during April and May after he secured a first Indian Premier League contract, but Rajasthan Royals only selected him on three occasions and he batted just once in the tournament.
Nevertheless, the 32-year-old was philosophical about his experience in India.
“Championship cricket is the bedrock of our domestic game and I am not trying to bag it with what I say here,” Root explained.
“I am not saying it’s not important or a good standard. For where I am in my career, am I going to learn more about myself in that environment?
“Am I really going to be prepared better for an Ashes series facing lower pace bowling on some nibbly wickets when hopefully we will play on good pitches against high pace and a high quality spinner? I don’t think so.
“By learning and experiencing something new, discussing the game with greats like Kumar Sangakkara and Brian Lara, I thought that not just for the Ashes, but the rest of the year it would set me up best to get the best out of myself. I feel ready.”
Ashes countdown: Days to go …
11
The record for the most ducks in Ashes contests held by Australian batter Syd Gregory, who failed to score 11 times in 92 innings from 1890-1912 while also scoring four hundreds and eight half-centuries. James Anderson and Stuart Broad have eight apiece heading into this series.
On This Day …
June 5 – A leg-spinner who played only one of his 13 Tests against Australia was born in 1912. But boy did he make it a memorable one.
Eric Hollies did not score a run in two innings in the 1948 Ashes Test at The Oval, but bagged 5-131, including the wicket which was the most famous duck in cricket history, Don Bradman, in his final innings, bowled after playing around a wrong-un second ball.
with AAP
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