Shane Bond knows a thing or two about Australia. The former New Zealand pace spearhead had made his international debut in Hobart and has been in Australia for the last couple of years with Brisbane Heat.
With so much knowledge of Australian condition at his disposal, England roped in him as the bowling consultant after the departure of fast-bowling coach Ottis Gibson and the impact of the former Kiwi pacer was very much on display on the first day of the ongoing warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI in Townsville.
Chris Woakes starred with the ball, picking up six for 54, as England reduced the home side to 249 for nine at stumps. On the other hand, Stuart Broad (economy of 2.06) and Craig Overton (1.78) piled the pressure on the opposition with their miserly bowling. Delighted with the bowling performance, Bond said the bowlers latest effort should be the template for the England bowlers on how to bowl during the Ashes.
With the Australian pitches unlikely to offer as much swing as the English pitches, Bond made it clear what the England bowlers need to do to excel in the upcoming series.
“The ball doesn’t move as much,” Bond said. “The pitches are harder. You have to set your fields differently. Listening to the boys about England, they know there’s always something in the wicket. Here, you won’t get that sideways movement or massive amounts of swing. If it swings, it won’t be there all the time. You have to find different ways to skin a cat. Our bowlers are quality, and they get the bounce, which is massive. If we can get it to go off the straight just a little bit, we are accurate enough that we can cause trouble.”
“I’ve got a pretty good understanding of the way the game is played over here, and it’s about instilling little bits of that in the guys. England plays the game differently to what we do in this part of the world. It’s about getting them to understand that. They need to understand what attacking looks like and align our strengths to different fields and match them up against their batsmen,” he added.
Bond also spoke on what to expect from the Australia pace attack which is likely to pepper the visiting batsmen with pace and bounce.
“You know what you will get out of Australia,” Bond said. “Starc will try to swing it back in and bowl over and across you, then go round the wicket and try to knock your off pole out. [Josh] Hazlewood will be accurate, then Cummins will mix his length and bowl short. We are different. We have to control their run rate and chip away at their batting lineup, and take it to day five.”
Also Read: (The Ashes 2017/18: With Ben Being Away All Of Us Have Got To Step Up: Chris Woakes)
(Ashes 2017/18: Michael Hussey Feels Ben Stokes Should Stay at Home)
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