Starc believes tourists will find life even harder at Waca
Paceman asks for classic bouncy Perth wicket Overton nursing bruises from Cummins delivery
Craig Overton winced with pain as he rubbed the spot on his chest where he was thumped by a bouncer from Pat Cummins but England’s bruises will be barely healed by the time they face another barrage at the Waca next week.
The pitch there is not the trampoline of days gone by but it is still a ground where Mitchell Johnson destroyed England in 2010-11 and again three years later.
The surface was relaid in the early 2000s, losing the fearsome pace of the Lillee-thomson years, but it did not stop Australia’s current enforcer, Mitchell Starc, being mischievous by challenging the groundsman to produce one final 1970s-style killer track for the ground’s last Ashes Test before the opening of a new stadium just down the road.
“Obviously, we won’t know until we get there next week, but hopefully we see a nice fast, bouncy wicket. Hopefully a Waca of old and we can get stuck into their batters again,” said Starc.
“The exciting thing is our bowling group can still get better. We’ve obviously managed to take 40 wickets in the last couple of weeks and do some really good things, but I think there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”
The fact that Australia have wreaked havoc is a worry for England, but more so is the point they have lost two Tests already on uncharacteristic Australian pitches. The Gabba was the slowest deck for years in Brisbane and Adelaide suited James Anderson more than Starc and his cohorts.
Even the excellence of Anderson and Chris Woakes in Australia’s second innings in Adelaide was not enough to avert a hefty defeat. As Starc observed: “They had to give it their all during the week to get themselves into a position to have a chase in the fourth innings – and to come up short.”
The Test team has been given the weekend off, apart from Moeen Ali, who needs to find form and confidence with bat and ball when he captains England in a two-day game at the weekend against a Cricket Australia XI even more anonymous than the ones the tourists played at the start of the tour. Moeen leads a team of reserve tourists plus Lions Ben Duckett, Keaton Jennings, Dan Lawrence, Mark Wood and Jack Leach. The rest of the squad are having a break, with families arriving on Sunday.
Wood has a chance to force his way back into the Test side but with the England coach, Trevor Bayliss, already indicating there will be no changes for the Waca, Overton will be given the chance to build on a promising debut in Adelaide, providing his rib injury is not worse than first feared.
Overton is waiting for an X-ray but England believe he just has bruising and swelling after a ball from Cummins hit him above the chest protector. He knew what was coming, not just from the leg-side field, but also the fact that he had bowled bouncers at Australia’s tailenders earlier in the game. The fast bowlers’ union was disbanded long ago.
“Yeah, it’s a bit sore this morning but I’ll be fine, it’s just a bit bruised. See how it is in a couple of days’ time,” he said. “No, Cummins didn’t say anything to me. Most of them are good lads and they came up to me to make sure I was all right after I got hit, but their persona is trying to create a bit of bubble out there and they like to say a few words and that is just how they are.”
Nothing can prepare a county player for the experience of facing three Australian quick bowlers scenting victory in front of a big crowd in a day-night Test. It is alien to a player brought up on county pitches in Taunton made for spinner Jack Leach. Bayliss definitely likes Overton. He thinks he has a bit of “fire in the belly” and Australian coaches place a lot of emphasis on character. Whether he is quick enough for Test cricket outside England remains to be seen and he will not have the weapon of surprise against Australia next week.