{"id":288866,"date":"2025-11-16T19:30:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T19:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/288866\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T19:30:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T19:30:14","slug":"mike-hussey-reveals-the-plan-for-every-england-batsman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/288866\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Hussey reveals the plan for every England batsman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Early on, I\u2019d still be looking to make him drive, or defend on the front foot. He\u2019s not very strong at driving down the ground so you can be a little bit fuller to start with. If that doesn\u2019t work and he gets in, he can close himself off on the leg side, so you should be able to attack the ribs, and have a leg slip or a short leg, but also have protection out in the deep because he does love a hook shot and quite often they go up.<\/p>\n

\"England\u2019s<\/p>\n

England\u2019s Ben Duckett.Credit: AP<\/p>\n

Brendan Doggett could be the guy here. He likes to hit the pitch hard, he\u2019s tall so he gets extra bounce; he\u2019ll get up into that ribcage and make Duckett feel uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

3. Ollie Pope<\/p>\n

Pope is under pressure to hold his spot but I\u2019d stick with him ahead of Jacob Bethell for now. He\u2019s a busy player who likes to keep the scoreboard ticking, but he\u2019s vulnerable just outside off stump.<\/p>\n

He pushes at the ball, and with the extra bounce and pace in Australia, he could be found wanting. With two or three slips and a gully in place, you\u2019re in the game. With an average of 15.7 in 10 Test innings against Australia, he needs a decent score early in the series to hold his place in the team.<\/p>\n

\"Ollie<\/p>\n

Ollie Pope is castled by Mitchell Starc.Credit: AP<\/p>\n

4. Joe Root<\/p>\n

Joe is the key to England\u2019s whole batting order. If he can bat for long periods, it gives everyone around him the freedom to be aggressive.<\/p>\n

We all know Joe hasn\u2019t made a hundred in Australia. Why? He loves to play late, run the ball down to third man, and punch off the back foot, which in England you can get away with. Plan A is to attack his stumps early and challenge his defence, then once he gets in, bring your lengths back a bit and get him feeling for the ball, whether that\u2019s on the front or back foot. It\u2019s the Virat Kohli plan \u2013 a fourth or fifth stump but no wider; he\u2019s strong square of the wicket.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

The Aussies should dry him up, dot ball after dot ball. The pressure will start to build, and he\u2019ll think, \u201cHow can I score?\u201d That\u2019s when he\u2019ll go for those lower percentage shots.<\/p>\n

5. Harry Brook<\/p>\n

This guy sums up Bazball. He has a phenomenal record and he\u2019ll go hard early, but this is the one country he hasn\u2019t nailed, whether it be in the Big Bash or the T20 World Cup.<\/p>\n

He dominates when the pitches are lower, slower and flat. <\/p>\n

Mitch Starc is a great option to Brook. He can swing it back in through the gate and get him lbw or bowled, especially if he\u2019s looking to go big early with those drives.<\/p>\n

\"Brook<\/p>\n

Brook is a happy hooker. Credit: Reuters<\/p>\n

Brook is a compulsive hooker, so if he\u2019s looking dangerous bowl some bouncers at him. He gets away with it in other countries where the grounds are smaller, like England and New Zealand. On bigger grounds, you know he\u2019s still going to take them on. He might get one out of the screws that goes for six, but he just has to mistime one. A few of the English are compulsive hookers; I wouldn\u2019t go for the short stuff straight away, but have it in my back pocket for a wicket-taking option.<\/p>\n

6. Ben Stokes<\/p>\n

He\u2019s got the job done in some unbelievably tough situations. We all talk about that famous knock at Headingley, but the night before he blocked the living daylights out of it, so he can play two very different styles.<\/p>\n

Again, the initial plan will be to attack the stumps, try to swing the ball back in, run one across him and bring the slips into play. Then bring your lengths back a bit; he\u2019ll give you opportunities.<\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

Ben Stokes blasts his way to a brutal, and match-changing 80, on day two of the third Ashes Test at Headingley in 2023.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Nathan Lyon is the key. He\u2019s had success against him here, where Stokes has looked really unsure, especially where there\u2019s a bit of extra turn and bounce. It will be fascinating to see Stokes\u2019 tactics, whether he tries to be more assertive and put pressure on Lyon, or tries to wear him down. It didn\u2019t work for him last time.<\/p>\n

7. Jamie Smith (wk)<\/p>\n

A talented player in the \u201cGilly\u201d mould, he\u2019ll try to change the momentum of the game. That\u2019s his strength, but it could also be his downfall. Another compulsive hooker, so the Aussies, potentially through Cam Green, will have a crack at him with two or three fielders back.<\/p>\n

I have questions about the management of the bowling attack, too. I still can\u2019t believe England got cute and rested Broad and Anderson for the first Test in the 2021-22 Ashes. What the heck were they thinking? They\u2019ll have a different mentality under Stokes and Brendon McCullum, to take the game on and go for wins. But I\u2019m tipping an Australian 3-1 series victory.<\/p>\n

Mike Hussey played 79 Tests for Australia and will commentate for Fox Cricket and Kayo this summer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Early on, I\u2019d still be looking to make him drive, or defend on the front foot. He\u2019s not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-288866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}