Health of pacemen concerns Boycott

FORMER England batsman Geoffrey Boycott believes fitness is the key for both England and Australia.

A lot of talk in the build up has been around Australia’s pace attack, with Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood possessing extreme pace that is bound to challenge England.

However, James Pattinson, another Australian quick, has already been ruled out of the series with a stress fracture.

And though BT Sport pundit Boycott believes we can expect fireworks from the Aussie attack, he says it’s tricky to stay fit and firing across a compact series, with England potentially having the same issue.

He said: “They have more firepower than us in Starc and Cummins. The big ‘if’, though, is if they can stay fit and that is a big question mark. I know they’re talking themselves up, but that’s just typical Australian bravado.

“Five Test matches in seven weeks is very tough. We used to do four-month tours so there was plenty of rest for fast bowlers. That isn’t the case anymore.

“Starc and Cummins will create more pace than English bowlers but fitness is a huge question mark. Cummins has only played five Test matches because he’s been injured. He plays one-day cricket, but bowling ten overs with three spells is pretty straightforward. Having to bowl 20 overs one day, then bowl again the next day and a second innings, then after four days of rest play another Test match, it’s very different.

“Pattinson has already gone down, so he won’t play at all. It’s why Broad and Anderson have to stay fit. In the last two major series abroad, in India and South Africa, Anderson has been a shadow of himself. If you get injured there’s no time to get match fit.”

Watch The Ashes exclusively live on BT Sport with coverage of the first Test from 11pm, Wednesday, November 22nd. Never miss a moment with daily highlights on BT Sport, as well as short highlights available for free every evening from 7pm on bt.com and on the BT Sport App. For more information, visit www.BT.com/sport