Australia has identified some of the flaws shown by England in the warm-up game and would look to cash in on the opportunities revealed their coach Darren Lehmann. The first Test of the five-match series begins at the Gabba from 23rd November. The tourists bagged just a solitary wicket in their last warm-up game against a Cricket Australia XI on Saturday. Lehmann said that they have shown the flaws and would look to exploit.
“They have been solid. But we’ll certainly target some players in that regard,” said Lehmann.
England holds the Ashes urn after winning the previous home Ashes 3-2 but were whitewashed 5-0 the last time they toured Down-Under. It was a sensational piece of fast bowling by Mitchell Johnson which tormented the English batsmen all through the tour. The left-arm seamer bagged a whopping 37 wickets in the series.
Australia’s pace attack will be led by Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins who both have the capability to clock over 90m/hr on a consistent basis. The English batsmen are expected to be tested with a barrage of short deliveries.
“England have been solid and are preparing for whatever they expect us to do,” said Lehmann. “They have got what they needed and have had some good performances.
“But we’ve seen a couple of things that we like and hopefully we can play on that.”
England’s warm-up matches haven’t been played on bouncy wickets so far, and the bowling they have faced hasn’t been express pace. Batting coach Mark Ramprakash urged the English bowlers to try and replicate the Aussie bowlers in the nest to give the English batsmen the perfect match practice ahead of such a gruelling tour.
“If you have a few gentle throw-downs that will not prepare you for the Australian attack,” Ramprakash was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. “If an English player is going to get 450 or 500 runs in this series, they are going to have to play the bowling of Starc, a 90mph left-arm bowler who may swing the ball, and Cummins, a 90mph right-armer, off-spin from Nathan Lyon and accurate pace bowling from Josh Hazlewood.”
Ramprakash uses a throwing tool to replicate the fast bowling of the Australian pacers and thrown downs often comes at a distance less than 22 yards.
“It’s not easy to do, but the players have to buy into it and put themselves under pressure with the pace of the ball,” added Ramprakash.
I use some balls that are not as hard as cricket balls, so I can get them around the chest or head area without fear of injuring any of the players.
“It took a little bit of time to convince them it was the right thing to do, but they responded well to that session. They know that having it really quick in practice will serve them well for the Test matches.”