England’s performance on the opening day of the first Test in Perth shows their preparation has been sufficient for the Ashes, says former assistant coach Paul Farbrace.
Ben Stokes’ side played England Lions – their reserve side in effect – in a three-day warm-up on a slow pitch at Lilac Hill last week and former players including Lord Botham, Michael Vaughan and Graham Gooch have been critical of the preparation.
Stokes responded by calling them “has-beens” and said that “cricket has changed so much”.
England were bowled out for 172 at Perth Stadium on Friday, but fought back brilliantly with the ball to reduce Australia to 123-9 at stumps, a deficit of 49.
“All the talk of England not being prepared for this series, they are absolutely prepared and the bowlers in particular have set a fantastic standard,” Farbrace, who toured Australia as Trevor Bayliss’ assistant in 2017-18, told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Farbrace praised England for the way they battled back after a disappointing batting innings and believes their “world class” bowling attack puts them in a strong position for the rest of the series.
“It is the best I’ve seen an England attack bowl in my time watching cricket,” he said.
“The way they fought back, there would have been disappointment in the changing room but they know they’ve got such a high-quality group of fast bowlers.
“The trick now is keeping as many of them fit for the entire series and if they can do that then the series is there for the taking.
“Australia’s top-order batting is poor, they look out of form and look like they are struggling. They are not quite sure what order to have their batters in and that is always a dangerous game if you’re trying to fit players into your team.”