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You could play into Australia’s hands!

Aussies could blow England away – on the benign tracks they asked for

Jason Gillespie FOUR-TIME ASHES WINNER

AS A Test-cricket lover, it’s been immense fun to watch the way England have gone about things over the past 12 months and it will be fascinating to see the clash with an Australian attack who will be ready for their onslaught. What we’re hearing is that England want grass shaved off pitches to promote aggressive batting, but I just wonder if this particular tactic plays into Australia’s hands a bit more.

Australian bowlers are probably better suited to bowling on those types of surfaces than the English bowlers, whose strength lies in their own conditions, playing with the Dukes ball.

If you negate the off-the-surface movement with benign pitches, Australia have the air speed and height in Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green to take full advantage and are clearly better stocked than England, who have only two tall bowlers in Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson.

If Jofra Archer was fit, he would have potentially altered things, and it’s really disappointing to see a lad who’s desperate to perform not able to play.

Having been a fast bowler myself and missed key series through injury, I know it’s a heartbreaking feeling. You just want to be part of things, so he’ll obviously be devastated.

It’s disappointing for the game of cricket too because in huge series you want players with genuine pace creating great theatre, as Jofra did in the 2019 Ashes — although, I don’t think the Australians are complaining too much that he’s not there.

Bowlers win matches, they say, and here is my assessment of the two attacks trying to come out on top over the next two months.

JAMES ANDERSON Age: 40 Caps: 179 Ashes record in England: Matches 14 Wkts 44 Ave 33

HE has been at the very top for 20 years and to have the discipline to maintain such a long career and still be like a kid in a candy store, excited about everything that goes into being an elite cricketer, is extraordinary.

It’s not just what you see when he is bowling that is key here. You don’t see is what it takes to get on to the parks. Things get a little bit more challenging as you get older but the way he has kept himself physically right at the age of 40 shows how strong he is mentally.

We all talk about him being the Swing King and expert in English conditions and combating that type of bowler has been the Achilles heel of Australian batting for 30 years because we don’t get a lot of them back home. He tests the front-foot defence of batters by getting the ball to go both ways at good pace.

STUART BROAD Age: 36 Caps: 161 Ashes record in England: M 20 W 84 Ave 26.19

THE pantomime villain of Australian cricket. Everyone loves to hate him but a lot of his off-field stuff is just great banter designed to create a stir.

But you don’t get to the age of 36, and close to 600 wickets as a Test player without a huge appetite for competition. In his long career there have been lots of phases. You have to recreate yourself at times to survive.

At one stage, he looked to pitch the ball up and swing it, then he had a period when he came wider of the crease and bowled leg-cutters to the right-handers. During the last Ashes in England, he had a lot of success around the wicket to left-handers, and to David Warner in particular. Doesn’t get a huge amount of movement, but when you are 6ft 6in, the ball only needs to do just enough.

OLLIE ROBINSON Age: 29 Caps: 16

THE one Australia will be most wary of, without a doubt. I gave him his debut for Yorkshire but he got a bit homesick and needed to be down south. Later, I was with him for a couple of years at Sussex and he’s matured as a cricketer since. That hasn’t surprised me.

He’s a real thinking bowler, nibbles it around at a good pace and releases from a massive height. He’s consistently a bit quicker than both Broad and Anderson, hits the pitch pretty hard and although he gets movement through the air, it is mainly off the track that batters must worry about.

He’s a really street-smart operator who researches his opposition a lot and comes up with really clear plans on how he’s going to take wickets, and certainly having guys like Broad and Anderson around him to learn from will only have helped him further. He’s also got the confidence that comes with playing a bit of Test cricket and dominating on the county scene.

MARK WOOD

Age: 33 Caps: 28 Ashes record in England: M 4 W 10 Ave 39.10

IT would be a shock if he plays more than a couple of Tests as an impact bowler.

Various ailments over the years have prevented him getting a good run of games together and I think England will try to use his genuine pace strategically rather than across a full series. Maybe, he will come in when Broad or Anderson is rested. His action puts a lot of strain on his body, particularly his front-foot landing. That’s the price you pay for bowling quick. Minimal grass on surfaces may lead to the Dukes ball reverse swinging as well and that could play into his hands.

CHRIS WOAKES Age: 34 Caps: 45 Ashes record in England: M 5 W 11 Ave 38.81

I AM inclined to look at Broad, Anderson and Robinson as the big three but injuries can throw a spanner in the works so England will also have a strategy on how they want to use their back-up bowlers, and at which grounds.

Because it’s probably the most condensed Ashes series in history, a squad mentality will be necessary for England’s seam attack. Woakes is at his best when he looks to swing the ball, not bowling it too full but at a length that the Aussie batters will be thinking they can score off from front-foot strokes. If you can get that right as a bowler without getting into driving length, it introduces jeopardy.

Tennis

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2023-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

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