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England call on legends Broad and Anderson
ENGLAND look set to put their hopes of an Ashes comeback into the hands of the legendary pace bowling partnership of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad.
The two evergreen stars, who have taken a total of 1,114 Test wickets between them, have been declared ready to play at the Adelaide Oval when the second encounter of the series begins on Thursday.
It seems inconceivable that either of the Test bowling legends will sit out in Adelaide after their omissions in Brisbane, where England crashed to a miserable nine-wicket defeat in the first Test in less than four days.
Now the battle is on to decide who will join them, with off-spinner Jack Leach looking set to miss out and Ben Stokes unlikely to bowl much after damaging his knee.
Ollie Robinson is certain to join the duo after bowling well at the Gabba, meaning a final spot will be available for either Chris Woakes of Mark Wood.
“Jimmy and Stuart are both available,” said England head coach Chris Silverwood. “I wanted to make sure they are fit and ready to go and they are.
“I think the way Ollie and Woody bowled was exceptional. It just shows we have talent in the bowling pool and we still have two of the best up our sleeve as well.
“Woody will take a lot of heart and confidence from that but we will have to see how he pulls up. He is our only out-and-out fast bowler here, so we have to look after him as well.”
Wood was a bigger threat in Brisbane than Woakes but the Warwickshire man could be handy under lights, plus he adds plenty with the bat, which must be a consideration.
Both Broad, 35, and Anderson, 39, are returning after injuries and have had no meaningful match practice, plus they will also lengthen the tail.
If England are gaining two worldclass pace operators, the Aussies are destined to lose their spearhead Josh Hazlewood with a side strain.
Rather than join his team-mates on a golf day before heading to Adelaide, Hazlewood took the first flight home to Sydney, where he is expected to rest before being reassessed by Aussie medics.
The back-to-back nature of the second Test means that Thursday’s daynighter comes a little too soon to risk one of Australia’s biggest assets, who will certainly have a say if he returns for the Boxing Day clash at the MCG.
Cricket Australia admitted that Hazlewood had left the squad but refused to officially rule him out of the game, despite skipper Pat Cummins revealing he had been “sore” during the opener.
“He was a little bit sore yesterday, so we just tried to get him through,” said Cummins. “We didn’t want to try and break him.
“The key is, we don’t want to put him in jeopardy for the whole series, so we’ll take our time. It’s a five Test series and he’s important for us.”
The battle to replace him looks like being a straight choice between Jhye Richardson, who came close to selection in Brisbane ahead of Mitchell Starc, and Michael Neser, who took 7-65 in a win over the England Lions.