ENGLAND’S COVID CAVE A WEAPON
Poms arrive in Australia ahead of quarantine stint leading up to Ashes series
JOE Root’s England cricket team touched down in Brisbane on Saturday, motivated to turn their “Covid cave’’ into a weapon against an underprepared Australia at the Gabba.
The vivid silver lining behind the early arrival of the first wave of tourists – to be followed soon by their T20 World Cup stars – is that they will be as acclimatised to Queensland conditions by the first Test as any England touring side has ever been.
England will base themselves at a luxurious five-star resort on the Gold Coast and after three days of hard quarantine will be able to train at Metricon Stadium in preparation for the first Test at the Gabba from December 8.
Root and gifted allrounder Ben Stokes were among the first batch of arrivals to walk through the silence of a near empty Brisbane Airport on Saturday morning.
One of the reasons Australia held a 33-year unbeaten run at the Gabba against all-comers before India ended it last summer was that sides would snatch at glory there, arriving late for the first Test of the summer and sometimes not even playing a warmup game in Queensland.
Visiting players would often say they were still getting used to Brisbane’s humidity and early sunrises – never mind the bouncy deck – when the Test was being played.
That won’t happen with England who, for all of the challenges of the Covid world, have a full month to prepare.
England have brought two squad including the English Lions back-up squad who will play a three-day warm up match against the English Test team at Redlands from November 23-25 and a four-day game at Ian Healy Oval from November 30 to December 3.
The last English team to score a major upset Ashes series win in Australia – Mike Gatting’s 1986-87 outfit – put down some of their success to arriving early.
They went to Bundaberg, and played a one-day game at Lawes (population 328) in the Lockyer Valley as well as taking on South Australia and Western Australia before meeting Australia in the first Test.
Australia, by contrast, are challenged by the fact that their entire pace attack – Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc – and their two most experienced batsmen – Steve Smith and David Warner – are in World T20 squad and have been starved of red ball cricket since the last Test against India at the Gabba in January.
England know they must strike early. Because Tim Paine’s side retained the Ashes on the last tour of England, Australia starts the series with its nose in front.
If Australia won the first Test at the Gabba England would have to win at least two of the last four to take the urn home, a gargantuan achievement for a side which has won just six of its past 42 Tests in Australia.
The English arrived with a message from their undercover X-factor that he’s ready to be unleashed on Australia. Young express fast bowler Saqib Mahmood was a controversial omission from the original touring party, but will be planted in Australia for the entire summer anyway as a secret weapon England can call upon at any time.