Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg has told England what they need to win the upcoming five-match Ashes against reigning world champions Australia. The highly-anticipated Test series is scheduled to get underway on Friday (June 16) at Edgbaston.
Australia are riding high on confidence after recently clinching the World Test Championship (WTC) title by thrashing India by 209 runs. The Pat Cummins-led side warmed up for the Ashes with a stunning dominant performance against India. Both their batsmen and bowlers performed well to fire a warning to England ahead of the five-match series.
England, on the other hand, will be confident too as they look to reclaim the Ashes since losing it during the 2017/18 season. Under Ben Stokes, England have played fearless cricket and will be keen to come up with another good performance against the bitter rivals.
Brad Hogg on England’s chances:
As England look to reclaim the Ashes, Brad Hogg has said that they need their talismanic skipper Brad Hogg to be fully fit to win the series against Australia. Speaking in a video that he posted on his Instagram account, Hogg said Stokes’ fitness will be crucial for England to win the upcoming Ashes. Stokes has been struggling with his fitness for quite some time now.
“For England to win, Ben Stokes has to be fully fit to add to that bowling depth. He is aggressive, fast and bowls that short-pitched ball at the body that troubles most of the Australian batters. He will be crucial with his fitness,” said Hogg.
Speaking further, he lavished praise on England head coach Brendan McCullum for the work he has done with England so far. The former left-arm spinner also said that England have been the best Test side over the last 12 months.
“McCullum has got his team operating like a well-oiled machine. England have been the best Test team over the past 12 months and there’s no doubt about that. He has got the perfect lithium batteries to charge his troops,” Hogg said.
Ashes 2023 schedule:
First Test: Friday June 16-Tuesday June 20, Edgbaston
Second Test: Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s
Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley
Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford
Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval
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