The irony will not be lost on those with a working knowledge of modern tours to Australia. England are starting what has been described by some as their half-baked Ashes preparation at Lilac Hill, where touring teams often began with what were, in effect, beer matches against invitational sides, often including long-retired greats of Australia’s past. England did not always win them.
Nor did this opening day go perfectly. There were six Beefy-esque wickets (all came from short balls) for Ben Stokes, who ran in as rhythmically as he had in the summer before injury struck. But the reported stiffness to Mark Wood’s left hamstring, which meant he spent the second half of the day off the field having bowled eight overs all told, was a reminder of just how fragile the fast-bowling stocks on both sides are.
Stokes had promised a “balls to the wall” affair this week between his first-choice comrades and reservists, to compensate for the lack of match practice elsewhere, but he could not prevent the Lions from plundering a decent haul. Good intentions notwithstanding, it is impossible to replicate Ashes-like intensity in an intra-squad game such as this, which meant that Wood’s failure to complete his first competitive day of the tour was doubly concerning.
The possibility of Wood, 35, partnering Jofra Archer, 30, in the opener in Perth always seemed a touch optimistic, given the former has not played competitively for nine months, and no red-ball cricket for 15. That fading hope now hangs on an early scan. That England, ideally, would have liked to play both from the off is obvious from the team chosen for this practice match, although Brisbane, with the long gap between the first and second Tests, may be a more realistic target.
Wood has not played first-class cricket for 15 months and managed only eight overs on Thursday
GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES
With Ollie Pope named at No3 in the England XI and no spinner, there were other potential clues in the offing. The intuition on Pope was strengthened when Jacob Bethell missed out for the Lions XI, miscuing a short ball before lunch off Stokes and departing for only two runs. My colleague Steve James noted in New Zealand that Bethell “really does need to get into better positions to play it [the pull shot], taking more weight off the front foot so that he can stand taller and control the shot better”, and this dismissal was further evidence. Chances are few and far between, but both here and in New Zealand, Bethell has missed his.
The short stuff suited Ben McKinney, Durham’s beanpole young opener, just fine. England think of McKinney, 21, in the same way they think of Zak Crawley; which is to say someone who may be better suited to the step up — where the game for batsmen is often played above waist height — as opposed to county level, where the knee-roll is more of a target. Tall and imposing, he played nicely.
All that said, the first day of this practice match was light years away from what England’s players will encounter next week. There were a smattering of spectators and think of the venue — home to Midland Guildford CC and Alec Stewart, framed by its eucalyptus trees and the gently rolling Swan River — as you would an English outground. Arundel, maybe — but not as nice, obviously. The atmosphere was as relaxed as next week will be intense.
Stokes’s bowling display in taking six wickets on the first day at Lilac Hill will give England encouragement
GARETH COPLEY/GETTY IMAGES
England’s preparation, or lack thereof, is the hot topic of the moment. It is self-evidently true that some players would be better positioned had they played more first-class cricket before the series begins, although there are enough examples of England teams of the past having played assiduously up to the first Test and then folding. Stokes certainly has a point that times have changed, that schedules are impossible and that his team have benefited from unorthodox preparation on other tours. Time will tell.
Any preparation would struggle to ready them suitably for one aspect of what is to follow; namely the tens of thousands who will come, full-throated, eager to see Bazball scalped on November 21. An Ashes contest in Australia is as intense an experience as any England cricketer will undertake. In particular, those who have failed to survive the initial skirmishes down under — think Steve Harmison and Rory Burns — will never forget the experience.
There are three elements to preparation: technical, physical and mental, the last being as important as anything. The battle with technique is a work in progress for most players, until you reach that state of Joe Root-like nirvana. Players are like mechanics attending to their engines and the aim is to keep things ticking smoothly. Only occasionally is an overhaul required. That is an individual responsibility to be taken on trust.
England are playing a much riskier game as far as physical conditioning is concerned: could one intra-squad match really be enough for Wood, or for Archer, who has not played first-class cricket since July? Crawley has had one innings since early September. Shoaib Bashir has not played since early July.
And the mental side? Burns, lest it be forgotten, admitted before the first Test on the previous tour here four years ago that he had given little thought to facing the first ball of an Ashes series. Trudging off, after having his leg stump nudged by Mitchell Starc’s delivery, he had plenty of time to ponder thereafter. It really is the kind of moment that requires a touch of, as they say in the trade, “visualisation”. Of the England XI for this match, only five have played Ashes cricket in Australia. It is entirely different. You have to steel yourself for it.
Australia have charted a markedly different path, with 14 of their squad involved in Sheffield Shield cricket this week and most having played their share of matches in the early season. There were runs on Thursday for Cameron Green, about five miles away at the Waca, but the difficulty of knowing how far to push things was highlighted by the injury to Sean Abbott and the nervousness over Josh Hazlewood’s hamstring. It is not an exact science and there is always risk attached, no matter how much or how little is played.
After days of unflattering headlines in the local paper, on this, the first day proper of Ashes prep, the touring side received a boost from an unlikely source, albeit one with a bit more cricketing pedigree than the West Australian newspaper. Talking to a local radio station, Ricky Ponting, in uncommonly generous mood, described Stokes’s team as “the best they [England] have had probably this century”.
Were his mind not on other more important matters, Andrew Strauss (who is getting married just before the Ashes kicks off) might have something to say about that, as would Michael Vaughan. Wood’s absence from the second half of the day added a further cautionary note. Still, in a week’s time, the preparation, such that it has been, will be over and the prognostications of all the — to use Stokes’s infelicitous phrase — “has-beens” will count for nowt.
The AshesFirst Test: Perth Stadium, Perth | Nov 21-25Second Test: The Gabba, Brisbane (Day/Night Test) | Dec 4-8Third Test: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | Dec 17-21Fourth Test: MCG, Melbourne | Dec 26-30Fifth Test: SCG, Sydney | Jan 4-8