The buildup of the much-awaited Ashes is dominated by the talks surrounding Australia’s formidable pace attack spearheaded by Mitchell Starc, arguably the best left-arm pacer in the world at the moment and whether England would be able to win the series?
However, England all-rounder Chris Woakes, who is gearing up for his first Ashes Down Under, is not only confident of a good show but has also discovered some weakness in the opposition.
Woakes, while admitting that the Australian pacers have ‘got some pace’, feels that the visiting bowlers can cause Australia enough problems despite not being as fast as their Australian counterparts.
“The Australian bowlers have got some pace, [but] Pat Cummins hasn’t played much Test cricket in Australia, so it will be as much of a test for him as for me,” Woakes said.
“Everyone talks about having to drag your length back in Australia, but I actually think if you look at the great bowlers who have done well there, Glenn McGrath was not express pace and bowled a full length in Australia and had great results. They’ve probably got more pace than us but in Broad, Anderson we’ve got two of England’s best ever bowlers, and along with myself and some of the other bowlers I think we have got enough to cause them problems,” he added.
Woakes went on to question Australia’s bench strength before insisting that the hosts are a batsman short. Citing the Australian pacers’ injury struggle and Matthew Wade’s poor performance in Tests, Woakes said:
“I don’t think they’ve got a huge amount of backup bowlers apart from those three guys who have got records of injury – if they break down during the series, what have they got coming through after that? They’re also missing a keeper-batsman at the minute; they’re short in that area, which is obviously quite a crucial position in every team.”
Woakes also gave his views on David Warner’s infamous ‘hatred’ comment. In an attempt to start the mind games before the start of series, the Australia opener used words likes war and hatred to describe the series and had ended up getting criticised. But while Woakes admitted that Warner’s word was ‘a bit extreme’, he said that the iconic series is going to be intense.
“The words he used might have been a bit extreme, but it is Ashes cricket, it’s going to be intense. It’s two teams coming up against each other who are desperate to win, and when you go to Australia, you’re taking on the nation as well, not just the team. They’ll feel the pressure of that as well. It’ll be two teams battling hard to win a Test match and win the Ashes. You’d expect nothing else I suppose. I’m sure it’ll be intense on the field, they’ll be a few things said as you expect in any other series,” he said.
“Maybe a little bit more intense with it being an Ashes series, a little bit more publicity, a little bit more press coverage, but it’s exciting, and we’re looking forward to it. I never have trouble getting into the battle. Everyone does it in their own way, David Warner might want to chirp and get stuck in, other guys do it in completely different ways. You have to find what works for you; some people might find getting stuck in a battle distracts you from doing your day job. It’s each to their own and David can do it however he wants, and we’ll just react by playing our best cricket, which is what I’m sure they’ll try and do as well,” he added.
The five-match series will get underway on November 23 in Brisbane.
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