72 Thursday January 13 2022 | the times
SportThe Ashes
Western Australian state government
and their unwillingness to loosen Covid
restrictions and then because of the
increase in Covid around Christmas
and the new year in Melbourne and
Sydney. It is a minor miracle that the
tour has reached this stage, with only
Travis Head among the players of both
sides having tested positive for Covid.
On Wednesday, the air was crisp and
cool, the pitch was invitingly green and
there was a sense of anticipation as
Hobart prepares to become the first
new Ashes venue in the country for
over 40 years. The ground has one of
the prettiest backdrops in cricket with
the mouth of the mighty River
Derwent barely 100 yards away. Head
south as the crow flies and Antarctica is
the next stop.
Hobart’s climate and the 3pm start
time means there will be a chill in the air
when each day comes to a close. The
combination of that and the pink Kook-
aburra should encourage seamers
more than usual over the next five days,
although three of the pitches so far
have been unusually seamer-friendly
and England have been outplayed on
each of them.
This is the land of Ricky Ponting and
David Boon, now happily recovered
after a bout of Covid and back as match
referee for this game, and of “Flat” Jack
Simmons, the Lancashire all-rounder
who was a legendary figure in these
parts in the 1970s and is one of 14
players in the Tasmanian hall of fame.
After his pre-series defenestration,
Tim Paine is on leave on the mainland
and will not be around for Hobart’s big
day, and there are no Tasmanians in the
Australian side this week. How many of
the England hierarchy will be around in
two months remains to be seen.NEW SOUTH
WALESTASMANIAAUSTRALIAMelbourneSydney300 milesBellerive Oval
Hobart
(Blundstone
Arena)When England next play a Test, in the
Caribbean in March, how different will
things look? New captain? New coach?
New managing director of men’s
cricket? New players, but how many?
All these questions must be tackled in
the wake of this Ashes debacle, but for
now, in the pleasant surrounds of the
Bellerive Oval, Hobart, a last chance to
win on Australian soil for many of those
involved.
Once upon a time, Tasmania was
where England gathered for a final
warm-up before the opening Test at the
Gabba. It was a typical ploy from Crick-
et Australia to stymie the touring team,
given the contrast between the climate
here and the steamy humidity of
Brisbane. Now, the city holds an Ashes
Test for the first time and for some of
England’s players, it may be the last
time they play in the country.
The core of this team is experienced
and ageing. Even the preternaturally
baby-faced Joe Root will turn 35 the next
time this tour comes around. If he is still
going strong by then, and has not been
ground down by the relentless schedule
(he has until the end of the week to put
in his papers for this year’s mega IPL
auction, something he indicated on
Wednesday he was undecided on), he
will be close to having played 200 Tests.
Root has played 13 of his 113 Tests in
Australia and has yet to end up on the
winning side in any of them. Only two
of them have not been lost, including
the desperate last-ditch rearguard last
week in Sydney. Stuart Broad, one win
from 14 Tests in Australia, and James
Anderson, three wins from 21 Tests, will
certainly not be back here again. Dawid
Malan, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow,
Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are all
the wrong side of 30.
This series has lost much of its edge,
with the Ashes no longer up for grabs
and the prospect of a whitewash no
longer motivation for Australia. But
each Test is an event in itself, placed in
the broader context of the series and
the World Test Championship, and for
every England player it is an opportuni-
ty to show that they retain the hunger
and desire to play Test cricket, as Bairs-
tow did so wonderfully in Sydney.
Judging by the sequence of events at
Wednesday’s practice, where Sam
Billings took up initial occupation in
the nets with the wicketkeeping gloves
and then spent a considerable amount
of time in the middle taking catches, he
looks set for a debut and will
become England’s 700th Test
cricketer. Bairstow and
Stokes are winning their
fitness battles but Bairs-
tow’s thumb would
inhibit his keeping and
Stokes is unlikely to
bowl, given the side
injury he suffered in
Sydney.
That makes balancing the
side problematic, as it was
throughout the summer against
India in Stokes’s absence. England
played five seamers in the pink-ball
Test at Adelaide and no spinner — their
worst selection of the tour — but may
now have to leave out Jack Leach if
Stokes cannot bowl. If Cameron Green
plays, it is England, for once, who will
look upon Australia enviously for an
all-rounder to balance the equation.
The attack may be freshened up by
the return of Ollie Robinson and
Woakes, with Mark Wood set to keep
his place for a third consecutive Test
and one of Anderson and Broad to be
omitted. With Broad having taken five
wickets in Sydney, Anderson is most
likely to give way having played three
Tests in succession. Haseeb Hameed is
likely to be taken out of the firing line —
his place going to Rory Burns —
which means as many as four
changes again to the side.
Like Anderson, Mitch-
ell Starc has been
pressed into heavy
service but the pink-ball
wizard (52 wickets in
day-night Tests at an
average of 18.23) indicat-
ed he was feeling fresh and
ready to go, despite looking
jaded at Sydney. The final
choice appears to be between Jhye
Richardson, who has not played since
taking a five-wicket haul in Adelaide,
and Scott Boland, who is recovering
from a blow to the ribs after a fall in the
Sydney Test. Usman Khawaja is
expected to keep his place, but at the top
of the order instead of Marcus Harris.
There was uncertainty for a long
period of time over the fifth Test, initial-
ly because of the intransigence of theFifth
Ashes Test
Starts tomorrow, 4am
Bellerive Oval, Hobart
TV: BT Sport 1
Radio: BBC 5 Live
Sports Extrawill be watching carefully for signs of
improvement after a tour in which
performances have been way below the
standard required.
There has been little sense in the past
few weeks that anyone is prepared to
take responsibility for a tour that has
gone horribly wrong. The players have
thrown their support behind the
captain, who enjoys the backing of the
ECB. Giles went into defensive, excuse-
seeking mode during his only press
conference in Melbourne, and now
Root has suggested that Silverwood
should carry on, despite the coach
sounding out of his depth. All very cosy.
When asked whether he would like
see Silverwood carry on after the series,Silverwood is backed but
Root said: “Yes I would. It was a difficult
week for the group of players with him
not being around and it must have been
very difficult for him. Given the per-
formances we put in during the first
three games, I feel we’ve let him and the
coaches down. We’ve not played any-
where near the level we’re capable of.
It’s a chance to do that this week.”
Silverwood has been in position and
worked with Root for a little more than
two years now, and of his qualities, Root
said: “He’s very calm and he has the
respect of the guys in the group; he’s got
a desperation to see everyone do well
and upskill the players as best he can.
“With the multi-format players try-
ing to prepare for an Ashes and a World
Cup, it’s been very difficult. For a long
time we’ve not been able to put our bestcontinued from back
One final fling for ageing
Mike Ather ton
Chief Cricket
CorrespondentHow Australian grounds compare
Average runs scored
per wicketPercentage of wickets
taken by pace bowlers
38.83
36.01
35.98
35.45
34.53
32.6864.53
70.22
80.33
78.4
76.13
76.92
Matches this century, minimum three TestsSydney Cricket Ground
Adelaide Oval
Waca, Perth
Gabba, Brisbane
Bellerive Oval, Hobart
Melbourne Cricket GroundSquads for fifth Test at Hobart
England Role Tests Runs Batting avge Wkts Bowling avge
Zak Crawley Batsman 17 849 28.30 — —
Rory Burns Batsman 31 1,763 30.92 — —
Haseeb Hameed Batsman 10 439 24.38 — —
Dawid Malan Batsman 21 1,039 28.08 2 65.50
Joe Root (c) Batsman 113 9,555 49.50 44 44.13
Ben Stokes All-rounder 75 4,858 36.52 167 32.34
Jonny Bairstow Batsman 80 4,575 34.14 — —
Sam Billings Wicketkeeper 0 — — — —
Chris Woakes All-rounder 41 1,494 27.66 122 29.90
Ollie Robinson Seam bowler 8 125 9.61 37 21.16
Mark Wood Fast bowler 24 536 15.76 72 33.61
Jack Leach Spin bowler 19 324 13.50 68 32.05
James Anderson Seam bowler 169 1,262 9.27 640 26.58
Stuart Broad Seam bowler 151 3,411 18.53 531 27.91
Australia Role Tests Runs Batting avge Wkts Bowling avge
David Warner Batsman 90 7,584 48.00 4 67.25
Marcus Harris Batsman 14 607 25.29 — —
Marnus Labuschagne Batsman 22 2,171 58.67 12 45.00
Steve Smith Batsman 81 7,757 60.60 18 53.88
Usman Khawaja Batsman 45 3,125 43.40 0 —
Cameron Green All-rounder 8 367 30.58 9 28.55
Michael Neser All-rounder 1 38 19.00 2 30.50
Alex Carey Wicketkeeper 4 110 15.71 — —
Pat Cummins (c) Fast bowler 37 765 16.63 178 21.53
Mitchell Starc Fast bowler 65 1,747 23.60 270 27.51
Nathan Lyon Spin bowler 104 1,142 12.41 415 31.79
Jhye Richardson Seam bowler 3 18 6.00 11 22.09
Scott Boland Seam bowler 2 6 6.00 14 8.64
Umpires R J Tucker and P Wilson. TV umpire P R Reiffel.
Reserve umpire D M Koch. Match referee D C Boon.
Series details: First Test Australia won by nine wickets. Second Australia won by
275 runs. Third Australia won by an innings and 14 runs. Fourth Match drawn.
Australia have retained the Ashes