‘Startled cat’: England’s dirt file on Aussies as ‘disarray’ claims turn up heat on Poms — UK View
Former England cricketers and leading UK cricket journalists have made their view clear to Ben Stokes’ side: the time is now to win in Australia.
Only a week ago, doom and gloom was predicted in the Old Dart for England’s Bazballers based on their sole warm up game consisting of a three-day glorified centre wicket practice on a lower and slower pitch than what they will be greeted with at Perth Stadium on Friday.
The injury blow to Josh Hazlewood, on top of Pat Cummins’ absence, has changed their tone, however. One former England player, Steve James, has even compiled a dossier of how to get every Australian batter out.
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Writing in The Times, James gave a verdict down to wicketkeeper Alex Carey at No.7. Here were a few key points.
1. Usman Khawaja: “He has struggled recently against high pace, which will alert Jofra Archer for sure.”
2. Jake Weatherald: “Weatherald crouches low in his stance, almost as low as Eoin Morgan once did, meaning his head often topples to the off side and he whips across straight balls … England will undoubtedly target his pads.”
3. Marnus Labuschagne: “Labuschagne is at his most vulnerable when his back hip squares him up … England will be doing everything they can to see more of that back hip and shoulder, with edges to slip the intended consequence.”
5. Travis Head: “It looks as if he simply cannot play the short ball, often hopping around at the crease like a startled cat and contorting his body into some impossibly awkward positions … but, boy, is he effective … England will surely try the short-ball tactic again, but they must ensure its line is accurate, tucking Head up as he often closes himself off too much when attempting to fend off such deliveries.”
6. Cameron Green: “He can be a little too defensive early on in his mindset and hands … ‘Nose and toes’ is a clichéd, primitive plan involving bouncers and full balls, but it may be worth pursuing with Green.”
7. Alex Carey: “The good news for England? His average in ten Tests against them is 21.27, with only two fifties. And the bowler that is still playing to have dismissed him the most? Joe Root, who has taken his wicket four times (as has the retired Chris Woakes). So, get Root on!”
One man James notably didn’t have an answer for: Steve Smith. And not every English scribe is feeling entirely confident, given that the Poms’ last Test win here came nearly 15 years ago.
“We like to imagine a great rivalry but the fact is the last time the tourists won a series here was also the last time they won a Test: January 7, 2011,” Martin Samuel wrote in The Times.
“Great Britain was being run by a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government led by David Cameron. Donald Trump wasn’t even affiliated to the Republican Party let alone a presidential candidate. It feels like another age.”
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Yet the perfect storm has blown in across the west coast for the touring side, handing England a golden opportunity to land an early blow on their Ashes rivals, according to other ex-England stars.
“This England group will never have a better chance to win Down Under than this. Now grasp it,” 2005 Ashes winning skipper Michael Vaughan wrote in his column in the Telegraph.
Vaughan stopped short of declaring England favourites, however, saying the absence of two of Australia’s premier fast bowlers removes some of the freedom the tourists’ may have felt coming into the series opener.
“In a funny kind of way, the news about Cummins and Hazlewood raises the pressure on England a bit,” Vaughan wrote.
“Australia losing two bowlers that good makes you think they should win, rather than could win. Underestimate this Australia side at your peril, because they have generally got the job done at home in recent years, whoever is playing.
“Nevertheless, England have an amazing chance. It is a glaring opportunity to win a Test on Australian soil for the first time in any of these players’ careers.”
Vaughan’s former teammate Mark Ramprakash was far more cocky about England’s chances.
“I feel punchy about England’s chances: the team are strong, settled, and I think that if Ben Stokes plays all five Tests they will win the Ashes and win them comfortably. I can’t remember ever being so confident before an away Ashes,” he wrote in The Guardian.
“I can’t remember seeing an Australia side in such disarray: it looks like a 31-year-old debutant will open the batting alongside a 38‑year‑old in decline; the absence of Cummins means they are without their hugely influential captain, an excellent bowler who can bat, a leader who sets the tone for the side; and now they have also lost Hazlewood, their Mr Consistent, who rarely leaks runs, who gives them control,” Ramprakash added.
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Despite Ramprakash’s confidence, there is an overwhelming consensus that England must start well in Perth – at a venue they have never played at and in a city they have not won in since 1978 when World Series Cricket decimated the Australian side.
Falling 1-0 down does not spell curtains, Australia lost the opening Test last summer before storming home to defeat India 3-1.
Recent history is against the side that stumbles early in Ashes cricket, however, with Australia in 2005 that last team to win the first Test but lose the urn.
“I think they have to win the first Test in Perth to win the series. They are good at bouncing back, but it would already be a long way back,” Vaughan wrote.
Former England fast bowler Chris Tremlett, who took 17 wickets in three Tests in the visitors’ 3-1 series win in 2010/11, shared similar sentiments to The Independent.
“I’ll be praying for them when the series starts. I think it’s very hard to predict what might happen, not just in Perth but in the rest of the series,” he said.
“What I do know, though, is – if you go 1-0 down in Australia, you’re generally toast.”
Vaughan’s advice for the England team was to focus purely on the opening hour to begin with.
Be it with bat or ball, make sure they avoid a disastrous beginning that has become emblematic of a failed tour.
“Just remember: you cannot win the game in the first hour. You cannot even score a hundred in the first hour. But you can lay some foundations,” Vaughan wrote.
“Being blown away on day one would be a nightmare for England,” he added.
“They need to use their brains, which they should not confuse with playing negatively. Remember that even though the Kookaburra ball does more now, it will still be easier to bat between overs 25 and 80.
“England could cause absolute chaos between overs 25 and 80 overs, but that’s not possible if they have already shot themselves in the foot.”
The Telegraph (L) and The Times (R).Source: FOX SPORTS
Beyond the first hour, the series as a whole offers great symbolism in England.
Of course, many a touring team having struggled on these shores, but former England captain Michael Atherton spelled out in an article for The Times exactly how difficult it has been for English teams in the past century, and the opportunity that history presents to Stokes.
“The measure of this particular challenge is that, in the past hundred years, only two of his predecessors, Ray Illingworth and Douglas Jardine, have done so to regain rather than retain the Ashes on Australian soil,” Atherton wrote.
“Undoubtedly, Stokes has the leadership qualities to join those two distinctive characters who, despite their contrasting backgrounds, were similarly tough and stubborn and shrewd. Stokes is a remarkable cricketer who leads in his own forthright way and, as such, has transformed the mentality of this team.
“Whether he has the players to do it will be revealed over the next two months but with Australia shorn of their captain and two outstanding bowlers, and filled with indecision over the make-up of its team, he has been granted a golden chance to make a winning start.”
The outcome of the series is also tied to the legacy of England coach Brendon McCullum as well as Stokes’.
The duo started the Bazball project three and a half years ago, and they have made no secret that they have built towards winning in Australia.
“This is going to be a special series because it does feel like the culmination for this regime,” Nasser Hussain told The Athletic.
“Not the end, but this is what they’ve built up to.
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“They came in not long after an Ashes drubbing and the whole game plan for the last three and a half years has been about how to win in Australia. Rightly or wrongly.
“You feel the Australian players, public and media have been waiting for this England side to go there. They don’t like Bazball and haven’t done since the Jonny Bairstow incident at Lord’s (when the England batter was controversially stumped in 2023), which rightly made them cross.
“I’m a firm believer that Alex Carey (the Australian wicketkeeper) did nothing wrong that day. He was very sharp and saw Jonny was out of his crease and ran him out. The reaction in the Long Room at Lord’s and of past and present England players wound Australia up. They’ve been desperate for this side to get out there since.”
The Guardian’s Andy Bull disagreed with the former England skipper about this series potentially being the end of the Bazball era.
“This Ashes series, for which they have been preparing for so long, already feels like the outcome they can’t get away from,” Bull wrote.
“It is Bazball’s make or break moment.
“And there are too many “I told you so’s” in English cricket for the team to get away with it if they do suffer another bad defeat in the next few weeks. Stokes’s approach has been predicated on proving everyone wrong, and the flipside is it feels as if there are plenty of people who would be delighted to be shown right.
“Given that, it’s a good moment to point out that the important question isn’t just where this all ends up, but whether or not we enjoyed it along the way.”
