ENGLAND SHAKE-UP
Archer out and Broad fighting for his place And Siddle’s set for shock Aussies recall
England and australia could both spring surprise selections for tomorrow’s first ashes Test.
Jofra archer looks certain to be left out by England, who are still agonising over the make-up of their attack, while australia are ready to pick veteran seamer Peter Siddle ahead of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Stuart Broad could also miss out for England — despite archer’s expected absence — with Sam Curran considered a valuable option on home soil.
Heavy rain in Birmingham yesterday stopped England training outside and none of their fast bowlers extended themselves in Edgbaston’s indoor nets.
now it is highly unlikely England will rush archer back into action so soon after the side injury that troubled him towards the end of the World Cup and instead see the second Test at lord’s as a more feasible option for his debut.
Jimmy anderson looked fully fit as he practised on his 37th birthday and seems certain to be joined by Chris Woakes in an attack that will also include Ben Stokes and Moeen ali.
England will leave until today the decision on whether to include the proven ashes experience of Broad or include Sam Curran at his expense.
aussie coach Justin langer is also set to make a shock call by leaving out Starc and Hazlewood who were expected to open the bowling for the tourists.
Fast bowlers Pat Cummins and James Pattinson and off-spinner nathan lyon are assured of starting with langer admitting Siddle, Starc and Hazlewood would contest the final place in the tourists’ attack.
and he was full of praise for the 34-year-old Siddle, whose 34 wickets at 20 apiece have helped Essex top the county championship. In 21 ashes Tests Siddle has brought 73 wickets, including a hat-trick at Brisbane in 2010-11.
‘He bowls well here,’ said langer. ‘He hits the top of the stumps and tests techniques all the time. He’s a very fit athlete. If he plays on Thursday, with the overhead conditions, he’ll be a real handful.’
Siddle has appeared in only two Tests since november 2016, both in the UaE last October.
all-rounder Stokes, meanwhile, offered a wry smile at the prospect of a new ‘squeaky clean’ australia being on their best behaviour.
‘It is weird when aussies try to be nice to you,’ said England’s restored vice-captain as he sheltered from the Birmingham rain yesterday. ‘Once you cross the white line and get out into the middle the competitive side of both teams will come out.
‘There is always something that happens between the teams in ashes series and I don’t think this will be any different. The ashes are where you get scrutinised like no other. There will be some sort of theatre out there.’
langer insists his team’s behaviour has improved since he replaced darren lehmann as coach, supported by the fact that, for the first time in eight years, no australian player breached the ICC’s code of conduct during their home summer.
‘We’ve shown that over the last 12 months,’ he said. ‘Our guys know what their expected behaviours are and I’m confident we’ll continue to do that. There’s still going to be some fight in the ashes — we’d all be disappointed if there wasn’t — and some good combative spirit. Boys are still boys. They play a tough game and every now and then emotions spill over, but our hope is that good behaviour continues.’
The three players involved in the Cape Town ball-tampering fiasco will be reunited for the first time at Edgbaston.
But while david Warner and Steve Smith warmed up for this five-Test series by being booed during the World Cup, langer admitted he had no idea how opening batsman Cameron Bancroft would react to the jeers that await his first international appearance since he was caught on camera stuffing sandpaper down his trousers in March 2018.
‘I know what the reception’s going to be,’ said langer. ‘We all do. But it is what it is. There’s nothing we can do about that. It’s 100 per cent out of our control.’