Australia bowlers’ controlled brilliance in the opening overs set the tone and England and their captain had no answerSix weeks ago, in a basement snug in friendly, rainy Manchester, Joe Root had talked about fine margins of angle and bounce, about Australian soil, Australian leather, Australian height; the cultural geometry of Australian fast bowling.Root had already spent a month indoors visualising bowlers and plans. He talked about the way his own learned movements betray him, about reprogramming that voodoo-ish understanding of the planes of movement around off stump; and about the fact Australia’s bowlers would be focusing on the same space, the same angles, the route to the edge of his bat. Continue reading...
In the first of a series of columns, the former England player and batting coach identifies the men who could make a differenceWhen I was on the Ashes tour in 1998-99 we had three four-day games against state opposition before the Test series started, tough games against sides packed with big-name players where you had to be absolutely at your best. When I went back to Australia as batting coach four years ago there were three four-day games but against weaker opposition and on pitches that tended to be slow.This time England’s players have had two full days’ play, against their own second-string side, and it is not the best preparation for what they are about to walk into. A...
The opening delivery of the Ashes often sets the tone for the entire series with pressure resting on the shoulders of the bowler’Tis the season to be reading everything into the first ball of an Ashes series, while an army of memers awaits on Twitter. So, pity the poor soul thrown the scarlet Kookaburra at Brisbane on Wednesday morning: may his sinews be stiffened and his radar strong. Here are three memorable first balls from previous Ashes series which proved prophetic, at least in parts. Continue reading...
However rushed and sweaty the buildup, this is still the same premium substance that sparks Australia v England Test seriesNo fans, no form book, no tour games, no trash talk, no grand swooping narrative arcs to be completed – no real idea what might happen next.There may have been more stripped back, low pulse preludes to an Ashes series than the weeks leading up to Wednesday 4am UK time, and day one at a damp, slightly wary Gabba. But none that spring to mind. And certainly none in the past three decades, the digital years, during which Test cricket’s premium series has become a steroid-fed leisure brand: tourism magnet TV rights beano, not to mention maker of legends, definer of...
Former Australia seamer Stuart Clark believes Cummins will be able to balance the demands placed on him during the AshesHe’s the blue-eyed boy whose elevation to the Australian Test captaincy has been met with universal approval among the locals but Pat Cummins still largely steps into the unknown and the challenge of combining leadership with the demands of bowling fast.Not since Ray Lindwall in 1956 has a seamer performed this dual role for Australia and even that was a one-off Test match forced by injury to Ian Johnson. Instead a succession of flinty-eyed batsmen have held sway in modern times until Tim Paine’s unexpected reign from behind the stumps most recently. Continue reading...