Aussies aim to finish Ashes mission with series win against England
LONDON: Australia head to the Oval hungry to win their first Ashes series in England since 2001 as the peerless Steve Smith seeks to inflict further pain on the hosts. Tim Paine’s men finally saw off stubborn England at Old Trafford on Sunday to take a 2-1 lead in the five-test series with just one match to go, meaning they will retain the urn.
To stand any chance of levelling the series, the World Cup winners will have to find a way to solve the riddle of the immovable Smith, who has scored 671 runs in just five innings at an astonishing average of more than 134.
The former captain, top of the international rankings, has carried his team’s batting with three centuries and two fifties, including a double-century in the win in Manchester, with Marnus Labuschagne the only other batsman who has shown any consistency.
Smith, who returned to Test action in England after completing a 12-month ball-tampering ban, has made his mountain of runs despite missing three innings after he was felled by a Jofra Archer bouncer.
Given a full series, the freakish Smith might well have been even closer to Don Bradman’s mark of 974 runs for the most runs ever made in a Test series, set in 1930.
The other key factor for Australia has been the strength of their pace attack, with Josh Hazlewood and world number one Pat Cummins catching the eye with 42 wickets between them. Australia coach Justin Langer, revelling in having the world’s top-ranked batsman and bowler at his disposal, is urging the other batsmen to step up in the match starting on Thursday, even though he admits they lack experience.
“You can’t just give them that experience, they have to earn that and we’re very thankful to have Steve batting,” he said. “I’ve never seen batting like that.
JASON ROY DROPPED
England have dropped Jason Roy for the fifth Ashes Test. One-day specialist Roy was handed his Test debut against Ireland in July after making a devastating impact at the top of the order during England’s victorious World Cup campaign.
But the Surrey batsman failed to impress in the first four matches of the Ashes, either as an opener or when he dropped down the order in the fourth Test, where he made a top score of 31.
Paceman Craig Overton has also been left out for the clash at the Oval, with all-rounders Sam Curran and Chris Woakes, who made way for Overton at Old Trafford last week, coming into the side.
The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed that Ben Stokes would play as a specialist batsman due to a shoulder injury.