Ahead of the Ashes series beginning in Edgbaston from 16 June, Australian batter Steve Smith has backed their pace attack to demolish the England lineup.
“I said it initially when Bazball (England’s attacking play) started that I’m intrigued to see how it goes against our bowlers. I’ve said that all along,” Smith said, as quoted by the ICC. Since England captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum adopted a bold attitude to batting and the red-ball format with amazing success, England has won 11 of their last 13 Test matches and will enter the Ashes series with momentum.’
Fast run rates and exciting strategies have helped England defeat opponents like New Zealand, India, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ireland, but they have yet to play Australia, the side that finished first in the ICC World Test Championship rankings and is favoured to win the Final.
“They’ve obviously done well against some other attacks, but they haven’t come up against us yet. So, we’ll see. It’s obviously been exciting to watch. I must say I’ve enjoyed watching the way they’ve played and the way that I guess they’ve turned things around in the last 12 months or so; we’ll wait and see how it comes off against us,” he added.
The Australia attack is fortunate to have choices since left-armer Mitchell Starc and skipper Pat Cummins continue to play regularly, while Josh Hazlewood’s injury has made room for other quicks.
Australian bowler Scott Boland has taken advantage of his opportunities, amassing 28 wickets in seven Tests with an average of 13.42 until his outstanding performance against India on day two of the WTC Final.