Section:GDN 1N PaGe:43 Edition Date:190731 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 30/7/2019 20:24 cYanmaGentaYellowb
Wednesday 31 July 2019 The Guardian •43moment I feel my batting confi dence
is at its lowest. Negative comments
can aff ect you and they probably
have. I know I play some horrendous
shots at times but, when I do, I feel I
attract more stick for it than others.
I have batted everywhere in the
England team and it has probably
caught up with me. It’s not easy for a
player who considers him or herself
to be a proper batter to then adjust
down the order. Put anyone there
and the scores won’t necessarily
come. You can lose a bit of love for
it, too.
But after the Ireland Test I
decided to consult some of my most
trusted advis ers: my dad, Munir, my
brother, Kadeer, and Paul Farbrace,
who was the England assistant coach
up until recently. I have had a little
reset and the plan is to go out there
and simply enjoy my batting again- to not get consumed by negative
thoughts and try to play with more
freedom than I have.
The fact is, my bowling is why I
am in the Test team right now and on
form, rightly so. Runs are important,
don’t get me wrong, but it will be
wickets that I will be judged on.
But again it comes back to how
you can contribute to the cause in
any way possible and that is to win
back those Ashes – to make 2019 a
famous double-winning year.
The four tops
Opening home
Ashes Tests
to remember
Joti Birdi2005 Lord’s
Australia won by 239 runs.
Fierce, hostile and bloody.
Seventeen of the 40 wickets fell
on day one. Ste ve Harmison’s
second ball smashed into Justin
Langer’s elbow ; a repeat spell fi ve
overs later left a permanent mark
on Ricky Ponting’s right cheek. By
lunch Australia were 97 for fi ve and
later 190 all out. Up stepped Glenn
McGrath and England were soon
21 for fi ve. They rallied to within
35 runs of Australia’s total but lost
by 239 runs on the fourth morning,
McGrath fi nishing with nine for 82.
England won the series 2–1.2009 Sophia Gardens
Match drawn
The match forever to be
remembered as the great escape. In
the fading light on the fi fth day of
the fi rst ever Test in Wales, England
clung on for a draw having been 233
for nine by 6pm. Monty Panesar’s
miraculously defi ant blocking with
Jimmy Anderson w ould remain a
thorn in Australia’s side as it gave
England a platform to eventually
win the series at the Oval. England
had earlier been bowled out for
435; Australia in turn had raised a
mammoth 674 for six, Ricky Ponting
surpassing 11,000 runs on day
two. Ultimately his landmark went
scarcely noticed as England’s last-
wicket partnership survived 11 overs
and three balls in 47 minutes.
England won the series 2–1.1972 Old Traff ord
England won by 89 runs
Tony Greig was to be England’s
saviour on debut, top scoring in
both innings for England with
his 57 and 62 giving them control
of a game they won by 89 runs.
Geoff rey Arnold’s swing and length
helped limit Australia to 142, 107
runs behind. Despite Dennis Lillee
claiming six of the last seven
England wickets and Rodney
Marsh’s subsequent 91 (ninth man
out, caught off Gr eig), they came up
short with 252 in the second innings.
Series drawn 2–21985 Headingley
England won by fi ve wickets
In high spirits off a 2-1 comeback
series victory in India and bolstered
by the return of Ian Botham, Graham
Gooch and John Emburey , David
Gower’s men were a force to be
reckoned with , the only concern
the captain’s form. Australia had
won the toss, mustering 331 runs,
limited by Botham. England in
reply concocted 533 thanks to Tim
Robinson’s 175. There was a rest day
on 16 June. Australia were looking
to regroup only for Botham ( four for
107) and Emburey ( fi ve fo r 82) to run
through them to win by fi ve wickets.
England won the series 2–1‘Warner can take
games away from
you,’ says Stokes
Bancroft’s return would
be a great story – Langer
Ali MartinJustin Langer says Cameron Bancroft
returning for Australia would be a great
comeback story, even if the head coach
has admitted his response to the gla-
diatorial atmosphere of an Ashes series
in England remains a great unknown.
While David Warner and Steve
Smith both played in the recent World
Cup and went about their business
unaff ected, Bancroft – the third player
banned after the ball-tampering scan-
dal last year – has not represented his
country since volunteering to apply
the infamous sandpaper in Cape Town.
The 26-year-old was suspended for
nine months by Cricket Australia – a
refl ection of his role as the stooge in the
plot , given the other two served a year
out – but he is now vying with Marcus
Harris to open alongside Warner in the
fi rst Ashes Test starting tomorrow at
England’s Edgbaston stronghold.
Langer has long been fond of
Bancroft since their time together at
Western Australia. And having seen
the right-hander bounce back with
runs against the Duke ball in the lat-ter half of the Sheffi eld Shield, while
captaining Durham in the County
Championship this summer and
during the inter-squad match last
week – he made 93 not out on a spicy
pitch – this backing remains.
“It would be a great story if he
comes back into the team, from where
he’s come from – his learnings over the
last 14 months, ” Langer said after Aus-
tralia’s training session was cut short
by rain yesterday. “His development
after what happened in Cape Town has
been absolutely extraordinary. We’re
that proud of him. If he gets the nod
he’ll be very excited about playing for
Australia again. ”
Bancroft played all fi ve Tests of
the 2017-18 Ashes but struggled for
impact. Bar an unbeaten 82 to put
Australia 1-0 up in Brisbane, his
only notable moment came in the
post-match press conference when
relaying Jonny Bairstow’s curious
“head-butt” greeting in a Perth night-
club at the start of the tour.
But while sitting out nine months
of top-level cricket, Bancroft expe-
rienced something of a personal
rebirth. He threw himself into yoga
and took the unusual step of writingan open letter to himself on the eve of
his return in which he spoke of “having
faith ” and “embracing uncertainty ”
while “healing ” from the incident that
nearly derailed his career.
On Bancroft’s ability to block out the
expected crowd hostility this summer,
Langer said: “I know what the recep-
tion is going to be. We’ve been to lots of
Ashes series and they’re all the same.
That’s just the environment we’re in.
It’s like being in the Gladiator movie.
“Steven and David have had a pretty
good dress rehearsal during the World
Cup. I thought they were brilliant.
We’ll fi nd out [with Bancroft]. He’s a
good kid, a really good kid. He’s physi-
cally as tough as anyone you’ve seen
in your life. Mentally, he’ll have to be
strong. But to endure the scrutiny of
the last 14 months, I think he’s had a
pretty good dress rehearsal as well. ”
Nudging out Harris would be tough
on the incumbent – the left-hander
looked the part during his fi rst six Tests
against India and Sri Lanka, even if
only two half-centuries resulted – but
Australia appear in no mood for senti-
mentality as they look to secure their
fi rst series win in England since 2001.
Langer confi rmed James Pattinson
will play alongside Pat Cummins, the
world’s No 1-ranked bowler , leaving
two Ashes winners from 2017 -18 in
Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood
slugging it out for one spot along with
the experienced campaigner Peter
Siddle. Nathan Lyon will complete a
four-man attack with his off -breaks.
Warner is all clear to play too, having
recovered from a blow to his thigh in
the nets on Monday. Langer said: “He’s
fi ne. He would not miss this for any-
thing in the world. Steve Waugh’s in
the changing room [as team mentor]
and there’s no way David is not walking
out to bat. ‘Tugga’ would kick him out
the door. He’s a bit stiff this morning,
but he’ll be 100% ready to go. ”
Asked if retaining the Ashes would
represent redemption for Warner and
Smith in particular, Langer replied:
“There’s a lot of attention on Davey and
Steve. [But] I don’t think it’s redemp-
tion. They want to beat England and
England want to beat us. That’s why
the Ashes is so great, isn’t it? ”very well.” Asked how important it
will be to get on top of David Warner,
the fi rebrand opener who served a
12-month ban for his part in the Cape
Town scandal, Stokes replied: “ He is
a player who can take games away
from you. He is a phenomenal bats-
man and very dangerous opener. So
to tie him down and not let him estab-
lish his authority against us would be
a really big plus.
“We don’t want to give anything
away to any of their batsmen. We
want to let them know we are here to
be serious and everyone in the chang-
ing room is desperately trying to get
that urn back because it’s not good
them having it.”
Such drive and passion from Stokes
was absent from England’s Ashes
campaign 18 months ago, when Root
appear ed slightly isolated as a leader.It led to Ricky Ponting, the former Aus-
tralia captain, claiming he was like a
“little boy” and “soft” when speaking
publicly.
Stokes, who missed last week’s Test
win over Ireland to recharge at home,
has returned to the vice-captaincy.
It is a reward for both his World Cup
heroics and 18 months of hard work,
with the all-rounder looking to repay
his old friend.
He said: “What I’ve always tried to
do is in the past is to take all the lit-
tle pressures off Joe’s shoulders. He’s
captain and all the pressures he has▼Cameron Bancroft takes a net
session with Steve Waugh, who has
been mentoring Australia’s players
ANDREW BOYERS/ACTION IMAGES VIA REUTERS
With the fi rst
Test tomorrow,
England go
through indoor
training at
Edgbaston;
Moeen Ali
(below) will wear
No 18
ANDREW BOYERS/
ACTION IMAGES VIA
REUTERSMy primary role is
with the ball and
since returning
against India last
summer my record
has been strong
Continued from back pageare ginormous. In an Ashes series that
goes up 50%. There are other little
things that can aff ect a captain men-
tally, so it’s a case of anything I can do
to help him.”
Asked if he feels ready to step up
and lead should Root go down injured
in the series, Stokes said: “Touch
wood, nothing does happen but I’ve
played enough cricket now with this
group – especially Jimmy Anderson
and Stuart Broad – to understand what
works for them. If anything happens I
know I have a group of senior players
who can help me through that.”Marcus Trescothick, a member
of the 2005 Ashes-winning team,
was back in an England shirt
yesterday in his role as a guest
coach for the fi rst two Tests.
Trescothick, who is retiring from
Somerset at the end of the season
aged 43, played in 76 Tests. He
scored 90 on the fi rst day of the
famous 2005 Edgbaston Test – a
match England won by two runs.Trescothick brings the spirit of 2005 ...
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