Fraser: Still life in Ashes veterans
ENGLAND selector Angus Fraser is convinced veterans Alastair Cook, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad will still be enlisted to fight the next Ashes war.
Fraser believes it would be wrong to make sweeping changes to the team despite the performances Down Under which helped Australia regain the urn.
There have been growing calls for England to take drastic action once the series is over and change Broad, 31, Cook, 33 and Anderson, 35, for some fresh faces in the new year in time for the Aussies’ next visit in 2019.
Some believe it is the perfect time to blood some different players for the tour to New Zealand in a couple of months before going into the home series with Pakistan and India.
But as far as Fraser is concerned there is no question about whether Cook (bottom), Anderson (right) or Broad (below) should be taking part in another Ashes campaign.
Middlesex director of cricket Fraser said: “I hope to see Cook opening the batting then and Anderson and Broad doing the same bowling wise. Because in any Ashes series you need your big figures to stand up and perform.
“They are not going to last forever but they have certainly got enough in the tank to continue in the next Ashes series.
“Last summer Anderson bowled as well as anyone I have ever seen in English conditions.
“Broad is someone who still produces it when everybody has given up on him.
“One of the biggest things for English cricket is that, while we are fortunate to have Anderson and Broad, over the next few years they are going to need to be replaced.
“So what we do need is some good young bowlers coming through. We’ve seen with the batting we’ve struggled to replace Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell.
“We need to sit down at the end of the series and discuss what changes, if any, are needed.
“There was a lot of talk at the start of the series questioning James Vince, Dawid Malan and Mark Stoneman but all three have performed well.
“Are you going to drop Root or Cook? Definitely not! So I can’t see there being huge changes.”