England pacer Josh Tongue expressed satisfaction with the squad’s Ashes preparations and remains confident of securing a series win against Australia. The five-Test series begins on Friday at Perth’s Optus Stadium, with both teams eyeing the coveted urn.
England have not won an Ashes series in Australia since 2015 and suffered heavy defeats on their last three tours Down Under. Despite criticism for scheduling only a single warm-up match against the England Lions at Lilac Hill, the visitors insisted that their build-up had been solid.
“It feels very exciting. We’ve had a good build-up. A few of us were in New Zealand beforehand, prepping for this. I feel like we’ve had good prep. I feel like the group of bowlers that we got now, obviously the likes of Joff (Jofra Archer) and Woody (Mark Wood) being in our squad, the X Factor,” Tongue said on Tuesday.
“The pace, the bouncy wickets definitely help the faster bowlers and the skills that we’ve got as a group. I think we can give it a good shot.”
Australia will be missing senior pacers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood for the series opener, but wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith noted that the hosts still possess a formidable bowling unit.
“I’d still feel they’ve (Australia) got a dominant attack… Obviously, the two guys missing, obviously world-class players. But any time you play Australia, you know that the guys coming in are also fantastic players as well,” Smith said.
“You show a lot of respect to the guys that are missing out and the guys coming in just trying to focus on, you know what we can do well, leading up to this first Test.”
Cummins ‘ready to go’ after intense net session: Carey
Australia’s wicketkeeper Alex Carey said regular captain Pat Cummins appeared to be in excellent condition after completing a full-intensity one-hour net session at Optus Stadium. Cummins, who had been ruled out of the Ashes opener due to a back stress injury discovered following Australia’s 3-0 series win over the West Indies in July, now looks close to a return after bowling at full tilt in the nets on Monday.
“I’ve got to keep a lid on it a little bit. I saw him bowling in the nets yesterday… he looked ready to go!” Carey told SEN’s The Run Home. “I guess it’s the build-up now. It’s probably not so much bowling the ball at 140(km/h), because it looked like he did that pretty effortlessly yesterday. It’s probably the work around the game fitness, so to speak.
“Fingers crossed he keeps pulling up well and gets himself ready. We all know he is a professional, so fingers crossed we see him back sooner rather than later. There’s great depth in this group, so if it’s not next game, hopefully it’s soon.”
Cummins was spotted sending down deliveries repeatedly on the practice wickets at Perth Stadium, bowling for nearly an hour and sending down close to 10 overs, a strong indication that he could return in time for the second Test in Brisbane.