England’s Test batters have once again failed to fire in the third cricket ODI against New Zealand, in a disastrous blow before the Ashes series against Australia. England have come under fire for their preparation for the Ashes, which includes three T20s and three ODIs in NZ, but not a single Test.
The tourists will have a three-day red-ball match against the England Lions (their A-team) in Australia ahead of first Test, but no official five-day games. The Poms often have a tour of New Zealand before an Ashes series, and it usually includes Tests.
But this time around it’s only white-ball games, and the curious decision has raised plenty of eyebrows in the UK. To make matters worse, England’s Test stars aren’t exactly playing themselves into form.
England’s batters (L) have had a disastrous lead-up to the Ashes, while Josh Hazlewood (R) is on fire. Image: Getty
On Saturday in the third and final ODI, their top order was decimated by the Kiwis. The Poms slumped to 5-44 as Jamie Smith (5), Ben Duckett (8), Joe Root (2), Harry Brook (6) and Jacob Bettell (11) were all dismissed cheaply.
All five batters are in England’s Ashes squad and desperate for some runs in the lead-up. But Smith has made 0, 13 and 5, Duckett 2, 1 and 8, Root 2, 25 and 2 and Bethell 2, 18 and 11. Brook made a sparkling 135 in the first ODI, before 34 and 6.
It’s hardly an ideal tune-up, especially as England have failed to win a single Test in Australia in the last three Ashes series. The last time they won the Ashes in Australia (2010), they played three red-ball games in the lead-up.
Joe Root was dismissed cheaply in all three ODIs against New Zealand. (Photo by MARTY MELVILLE/AFP via Getty Images)
England defend curious Ashes preparation
And despite playing more white-ball cricket this time around, they’ve defended the preparation. “It’s not like [the players] have had three months without playing any cricket,” said assistant coach Marcus Trescothick.
“It’s only a month since the last county game finished. They are prepping here [in New Zealand], all getting into it, and we have been good at adapting to different conditions in different places in recent years.
“If you take that time and add that to the trip and you are there for months, that is really tricky with the amount of cricket these guys play these days. It about getting that preparation right and getting the guys together has worked well before – keeping it short, sharp and intense and working in that fashion.”
Brook said of his team’s recent batting performances: “It’s disappointing we haven’t performed as well as we could. Everybody in that batting line-up is good enough to be able to face a swinging and seaming ball. In my eyes, that’s just an excuse, and they’re good enough to be able to cope with that and score runs.”
On Saturday, England cricket fans were understandably fuming. Their batting woes caused plenty of backlash, while many questioned why they’re playing white-ball games so close to the Ashes.
Josh Hazlewood on fire in scary Ashes warning
In complete contrast, just two members of Australia’s Ashes squad (Josh Hazlewood and Travis Head) played in the first two T20s against India. Hazlewood won’t play the remaining three, while Head is considering skipping the last two.
Mitchell Starc and Alex Carey played in the ODIs against India (along with Hazlewood and Head), but have now switched their focus to red-ball cricket. Starc, Carey, Head and Hazlewood will all play the last round of the Shield before the first Test, while Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green and Beau Webster have already been playing plenty of Shield cricket.
RELATED:
And even though Hazlewood has been playing white-ball cricket, he’s been absolutely on fire. The veteran seamer snared 3-13 off four overs on Friday night to lead Australia past India.
Hazlewood has struggled with injuries in recent years, and believes his white-ball prep and one Shield game will serve him well as he builds into the Ashes. “The intensity is obviously right up there, now it’s probably just getting a bit of volume in the legs with the Shield game next week,” he said on Friday night.
“Everything feels in a good place. Doing a lot of things off the field well, so I couldn’t be happier with how it’s going. Everything’s going swimmingly now. I can’t really say if it’s worked perfectly until probably after the summer. If I get through everything, it’s probably the template moving forward to put myself in the best position to play as many games as possible.”