As England laboured to victory in their second warm-up fixture of this Ashes tour, commentators and supporters were quick to pick up on the negatives.
More injury concerns, a fragile batting order exposed by an average attack, no viable alternative to Ben Stokes showing through and a worrying lack of form for arguably the most important batsman in the side, opener Alastair Cook.
England beat a Cricket Australia XI by 192 runs. The positives, not that you’d have heard, included Chris Woakes - injury-hit for much of the year - claiming 4-17 in the first innings and newboy Craig Overton pick-up 3-15 in innings two.
It followed a draw as England opened their tour against a Western Australia XI. There is now just one more tour match before the real action begins with the first Test at the Gabba, in Brisbane, on 23 November. Should England win, draw or lose that warm-up fixture, what impact does it really have on how the series develops?
It’s important to find some fitness and adapt to the conditions when playing away, particularly on such a tough assignment as the one currently facing Joe Root’s men as they bid to retain the Ashes urn.
There are question marks over a number of players in Root’s squad, be it in terms of form with James Vince, Gary Ballance and Mark Stoneman having much to prove, or fitness with Moeen Ali and Jake Ball facing a race against time to be fit. Time in the middle is surely valuable for all. Indeed, given the inexperience of the squad picked, not helped given Stokes’ self-inflicted absence and injuries to Steven Finn, Ball and Toby Roland-Jones, there is plenty to ponder before Root and coach Trevor Bayliss can pick their Gabba starting lineup.
Not scared at all! 😂
That fact alone makes it important to have these warm-up matches. Of course, just because Cook has struggled in his three innings so far, it doesn’t mean he’s going to be a walking wicket once the serious stuff starts. And just because Stoneman appears to have found his feet in an England shirt, it doesn’t mean he’s finally ready to become the answer to the Three Lions’ opener headaches.
You simply cannot replicate the heat of the battle in warm-up fixtures. Certainly not Ashes battles.
However, there is precedent in using tour matches to have a real say in the Tests. Ahead of the 2010/11 series, England captain Andrew Strauss spoke of his desire to treat every fixture on the tour as if it was a Test. The warm-up games, he said, were vital. He was desperate to get that winning feeling in his side and to show the Australian public they meant business from the off. He knew a defeat to a provincial side or made-up XI would leave his men open to criticism and expose a weakness that Australia could seize upon.
England followed Strauss’ words, lived up to their billing, and swept all before them in the build-up to the Test series. Historically, they want on to win 3-1, their first triumph Down Under since 1987. In the aftermath, Strauss again paid tribute to the focus of his squad from the moment they landed in Australia. With him now Director of Cricket for England, you’d be surprised if the same mantra isn’t being applied this time around, which may give England cause for some optimism.
And there is still time for an Ashes hero to emerge. Memorably, Kevin Pietersen was selected in 2005 for his Test debut having starred in the One Day Internationals that preceded the Ashes series. Graham Thorpe was the incumbent of the Test jersey, but Pietersen’s limited overs form made him impossible to ignore. He went on to top score as England regained the urn for the first time since 1987. Though the ODIs were of course more competitive than standard warm-up games, it illustrated that a pre-Ashes run of form can be important.
England have of course named their squad already. But with the identity of their starting XI still up in the air, the stage is set for somebody to grab their chance in the final warm-up. Will it be Gary Ballance or Dawid Malan in the lower order? Can Overton play his way into the fourth seamer spot for an England debut? Is Tom Curran a late wildcard?
There is all to play for and every minute matters.
