JOS IS FIRED UP BY BEEFY!
His Ashes yarns were like storytime with your grandad, says Buttler
ENGLAND have dug deep into Ashes folklore to prepare for the first Test against Australia after it emerged that Andrew Strauss arranged for Ian Botham to meet the squad in Cardiff on Sunday night for a spot of good-natured rabble-rousing.
Botham — perhaps the only man from either country to have an Ashes series informally christened in his honour — treated Alastair Cook’s team to a fund of tales as England attempt to get into the right frame of mind to overcome their status as underdogs.
No matter that many of his anecdotes revolved around the dubious glories of the now-defunct Test-match rest day. If the intention was to connect the current generation with tales of Ashes heroics past — particularly when Australia have been on the receiving end — then Strauss, England’s director of cricket, could hardly have aimed higher ahead of tomorrow’s first Test at the Swalec Stadium.
Botham (below) scored four of his 14 Test hundreds and claimed 148 wickets against Australia alone, and famously turned the 1981 series on its head with a string of outrageous all-round performances at Headingley, Edgbaston and Old Trafford.
And for Jos Buttler, one of four England players — along with Adam lyth, Moeen Ali and Mark Wood — set for an Ashes debut, the experience was reassuring confirmation that hardened pros were once kids with dreams too.
‘It was great, like storytime with your grandad,’ said Buttler. ‘Everyone sat around listening to stories of the rock-star life Beefy led. Situations like that arise and you pinch yourself. He’s one of the greats. I don’t think he warmed up as much as we do, just a warm bath in the morning and straight into his whites. He liked to have a putt on the outfield. And his favourite stories seem to involve rest days in Tests. They seemed to be the best invention ever.’
For Buttler, a first taste of Ashes cricket will be a chance to leave his own mark on a tradition that began when the Sporting Times ran a mock obituary for the English game following a seven-run defeat by Australia at The Oval in 1882.
‘Being a cricket fan growing up, you are very aware of the Ashes and great series in the past,’ he said. ‘I can’t personally walk out there and say I’m going to make history. But maybe I can have a session or an innings or a catch that can be part of that history.’
Buttler’s own Ashes memories are a reminder that the players are merely custodians of a cricketing flame handed down from one generation to the next and, in the age of Twitter and Twenty20, somehow burning as brightly as ever.
‘I remember a few series in the late - 90s and early 2000s that were one-sided,’ he said. ‘ But 2005 is when I stood up and took notice of Ashes cricket. like everyone, I was gripped. It makes the hair stand up. I was playing cricket loads that summer. I had tickets to The Oval but couldn’t go as I’d just joined a new school and we had lessons on a Saturday. I was playing and imagining being Trescothick, Kevin Pietersen, there were guys bowling an over like Freddie, that kind of thing.’
Though he is too modest to admit it, Buttler is among a handful of young England players — along with Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Wood — who could write a chapter of their own in the next seven weeks.
With the bat, Buttler could yet do at No 7 what Adam Gilchrist once did on a dispiritingly regular basis for Australia. Eight Tests have brought him an average of 52, while his 129 off 77 balls at Edgbaston last month helped kickstart England’s astonishing one- day series against New Zealand.
‘ In the past few months things have taken shape and that New Zealand series has galvanised the team,’ said Buttler. ‘It’s a lot more settled and there’s a new head coach in place, which is going to give us a chance to produce the cricket to win.’
Meanwhile, Mitchell Johnson has been warming up for the Ashes by making his team-mates’ lives a misery in the nets, according to Australia’s No 5 Adam Voges.
Johnson, who blew England away in 2013-14 with 37 wickets at under 14 apiece, is yet to have the same impact in this country.
But Voges, the 35-year-old who is preparing for his Ashes debut, believes that is about to change.
‘Our net sessions aren’t much fun at all at the moment, to be honest,’ he said. ‘He’s got his zip back, he’s bowling fast and he’s swinging them as well.
‘We saw him hit Shaun Marsh on the hand, and Steve Smith ended up on his backside, so he’s as ready to go as he can be. I’m sure he’s going to play a huge part.’