PLEA TO CUT SANDPAPER-GATE BANS
Moeen says batsmen must be aggressive against twirlers
ENGLAND’S batsmen have been urged to get on the front foot and go after Sri Lanka’s spinners after watching their own get carted around a field in Colombo.
It is never a great idea to read too much into an opening salvo in a warm-up game, especially one played with 14 men in which three different wicketkeepers – Jos Buttler, Ben Foakes and Ollie Pope – have a go behind the stumps in one day.
But the sight of a strong Sri Lankan Board XI making 392-9, with three batsmen retiring themselves, served as a reminder that defending against a spin threat is only worthwhile if you take the attack to them too.
And as one of the men who will SHAMED trio Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft should have their bans reduced after a review of Cricket Australia, say their union.
The three players were suspended between nine and 12 months by CA in the wake of the ball-tampering be charged with bowling a fair few overs of spin as well as batting with positivity in the Test series, Moeen Ali is more convinced than ever on the way to go.
“It’s a tough one,” admitted Moeen. “Chatting amongst ourselves after watching the Test matches Sri Lanka played against
South Africa, you’ve got to have a good defence but not get too defensive.
“We’re going to have to be a little more attacking.
“Sometimes as English players we’ve come to the subcontinent and tried to back our defence too much. I’m not scandal in the Test series against South Africa earlier this year. There was international outcry after Bancroft (inset) was caught on camera attempting to change the condition of the ball using sandpaper.
Captain Smith and deputy saying don’t back our defence but I also think it’s about scoring runs – whether it’s sweeping, reverse sweeping, hitting over the top. “They scored a bit more than we would have liked, but I think it’s more about getting what we needed to get out of it. “There was a little bit of spin there but they are very good players. It was a tough day, but the guys needed to get overs in their legs.” Moeen claimed 2-64 from his 17 overs including the scalp of the returning Angelo Mathews for 45 after he had been dropped from the Sri Lankan ODI Warner (giving a mouthful to England’s Tom Curran, right) were also implicated. The fall-out saw a review commissioned into the governing body, where CA was heavily criticised for the culture within Australian cricket. Now the players’ team on fitness grounds. He took a liking to Joe Denly who saw his first over disappear for 16 runs as Mathews hit three of the 52 boundaries scored in the innings.
There is no doubting the fitness levels of England’s players, though, as they toiled in the heat and humidity and on the heavy ground soaked by recent rain at the Nondescripts Cricket Club.
Test specialists James Anderson and Stuart Broad sent down 23 overs between them with Sam Curran and Chris Woakes the other seamers getting a bowl while Ben Stokes had his energy conserved.
Left-arm spinner Jack Leach was left out and will play in the second game starting tomorrow, and he will hope the pitch might be more helpful than this one. union, the ACA, has called for a reduction in the bans.
“My message to Cricket Australia is a simple one: These contrite men have been punished enough,” said president Greg Dyer.
“Let these contrite men play. We will be relentless in pursuing this end.”