Balanced England can win Ashes: Du Plessis
England have the right balance to beat Australia at this year’s Ashes series, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has said after his team’s 3-1 series defeat by Joe Root’s side.
Hosts England completed their series victory with a 177run win at Old Trafford on Monday in a keenly contested series.
Australia will host England for five Tests in one of the world’s most famous sporting rivalries with the first match beginning on Nov. 23 in Brisbane.
England’s opening bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad are expected to bear most of the burden of keeping Australia’s batsmen in reins and the pace duo received a lot of praise from du Plessis.
“If you have assistance and skill, which England’s bowlers have, you can target Australia’s batting line-up,” du Plessis told the BBC.
“They are relentless and our batting line-up wasn’t strong enough for them.
“Australia have fiery and quick batsmen so England will need to get through them. (But) I think England could be Ashes winners. They have a balanced team.”
Du Plessis captained his side to a famous 2-1 series victory Down Under last year, prompting wholesale changes in the Australian squad under Steve Smith. The 33-year-old said England would have an even better chance of succeeding if the wickets provide some assistance to the quicker bowlers.
“I think it’s dependent on the conditions,” du Plessis said.
“I’ve always felt Australia as a team play really well on flat wickets, bouncy flat wickets, (but) if the conditions allow a bit of seam and swing and spin, then I think England will be favourites.”
England coach Trevor Bayliss has promised a 3-1 Test series win over South Africa won’t “paper over the cracks” in his side’s fragile top order.
“It’s always a good thing that you’re winning but we’re not papering over the cracks,” said Bayliss. “We know there are some spots which haven’t been cemented down and we’re still looking for those guys to prove their worth at this level,” the Australian added.
Asked if England were now any clearer about the composition of their top order than they had been at the start of the South Africa series, Bayliss replied: “To be honest. no.
“We’ve got a selection meeting later this week but I’m not going to speculate who might or might not be in the team.”
Moeen Ali has paid tribute to Saqlain Mushtaq for his role in helping him enjoy a record-breaking Test series against South Africa.
Under the guidance of spin-bowling coach Saqlain, Moeen Ali’s bowling has improved markedly.
“Saqqy has been amazing for me in terms of helping with my fields, helping me understand my bowling a lot more than I had done previously,” said Ali.