Assistant coach Marcus Trescothick insisted spicier, bowler-friendly wickets in the Ashes could play into England’s hands.
Stand-in Australia captain Steve Smith pointed out conditions in the last three to four years are different to the flat pitches England have had on past tours and now tend to favour the pacemen.
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“It’s probably been as challenging for batters as we’ve seen in a long time,” Smith told reporters this week.
Steve Smith warned England could face different conditions in Australia to what they have had in past tours (Ben Whitley/PA)
“We’ve got some guys that will be able to exploit the conditions. The bowlers are experienced, very good at what they do. It’s going to make for hard work for the batters.”
During last winter’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, who won 3-1, India’s Jasprit Bumrah collected a remarkable 32 wickets in five Tests in a series that was dominated by the quicks on both sides.
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Trescothick, though argued England have the gameplan that can offset whatever Australia throw at them, highlighting Harry Brook’s majestic 135 in 101 balls in Sunday’s first ODI against New Zealand.
While the rest of England’s batting line-up floundered in seaming conditions in Mount Maunganui as they slipped 1-0 down in the series, Brook’s counter-attacking innings for the ages made it a close-run contest.
“When ball is dominating the bat, then to try to be aggressive and put pressure on is something that we do really well,” Trescothick said, ahead of Wednesday’s second ODI in Hamilton.
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Joe Root has never made an Ashes hundred in Australia (Ben Whitley/PA)
“I think Harry’s biggest strength is probably his bravery and his attitude to be in that situation and trying to be aggressive. To be able to make it happen in the fashion he does, it changes games.
“I don’t have a problem with (Australia producing bowler-friendly pitches) because it obviously makes for quicker games and entertaining cricket, which kind of suits us.”
Much of the early Ashes hype has centred on Joe Root’s Test record in Australia, where he has made no hundreds and averages a respectable 35.68, albeit lower than his excellent career figure of 51.29.
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A number of former Australia players have recently had their say on Root – second on the list of all-time Test run-scorers behind only Sachin Tendulkar – but Trescothick gave short shrift to the anomaly.
“It has no bearing on what people believe,” Trescothick, who was instrumental in England’s 2005 Ashes win but never made a Test century against Australia, said.
Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the first Ashes Test (Mike Egerton/PA)
“His record speaks for itself, he’s a wonderful player in all formats and in all countries around the world that he’s played.”
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Pat Cummins will miss the first Ashes Test in Perth, starting on November 21, with Australia’s fast bowling captain not recovering from a back injury in time, and Smith will deputise as skipper.
“It’s been in the news for a period of time but I don’t think it’s really made any difference with what we’re trying to do because we’re focused on the white-ball series (in New Zealand),” Trescothick added.
“As we get over to Australia in a couple of weeks then we’ll start prepping and looking after our own team and what we’re trying to do. I’m not too worried about what Australia are doing.”
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