2 hours ago
4
England may stand accused of not taking their Ashes preparations seriously but with only three days against the Lions to hone their players’ cutting edge they have promised to approach the solitary game of their pared‑down warm-up with as much intensity as they can muster.
The assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said the focus would be on making the game “as competitive as we can”, as they prepare to effectively unveil their first-choice Ashes XI.
While every member of the Ashes squad will be involved in the match, with some turning out for the Lions against their own teammates, the England side is expected to be at full strength. Every player trained in an intensive session on Tuesday – Ben Stokes doing one session in the nets against spin, one against seam, and another bowling – with no fitness issues reported.
This means that while the debate about England’s preparation will rumble on, the one over the identity of their first-choice No 3 may soon be settled, with Trescothick strongly hinting that Ollie Pope has seen off the challenge of Jacob Bethell to keep his place, where he has batted in 32 of England’s 35 innings since the start of 2024.
Trescothick said he was “presuming” that England would choose “the same No 3 we’ve had for a period of time”, adding: “We’ve not really chopped and changed a great deal. It’s definitely not going to change dramatically before the start of an Ashes series.” He said uncertainty is something that “nobody enjoys”.
Regarding the team’s continuity of selection, Trescothick said: “We’ll know in time how it will come out. We don’t know at this stage if it will make a difference or not. If you’re planning ahead, if you were to notch in a few things, one of those would be the consistency of the team you’re going to go with. It feels a little bit more happy for everyone to pretty much know where [they’re] going to be.
“Something that Brendon [McCullum] and Ben have both wanted and championed is consistency of team selection. When people call for change, they stick with the process of what we believe is right. If we continue to do that, it will definitely help us.”
Challenged on whether this was effectively confirmation that Pope would be in the team when the Ashes begin at Optus Stadium in Perth next Friday, Trescothick said: “I can only say we are a very consistent team in what we’re trying to do. That is going to be the structure of what our batting lineup will be.”
England’s approach contrasts with that taken when they played the Lions before the 2021-22 Ashes. On that occasion two matches were scheduled but both were significantly affected by rain. When action eventually began both sides named 13 players, 78 overs were bowled by eight bowlers, and while four wickets were taken, nine players batted with three of them retiring not out to give others an opportunity to spend some time in the middle. Bad weather will not be an issue this week, with the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia giving a 0% chance of rain on two of the three days and only 5% in the evening of the other.
after newsletter promotion
“It’s an opportunity out in the middle with bat or ball in hand, a chance to prepare yourself in the right fashion,” Trescothick said. “It’s about time in the middle, getting used to conditions. Once you go into any preparation game, you want batters to get runs and bowlers to get wickets. Of course that’s not going to be possible, because if bowlers are getting wickets then batters might not be getting runs. That’s the way prep games are. The players get a feel out in the middle, mentally they get more attuned, then away you go ready for next week.”
One person whose position is under no threat is Joe Root, who goes into the series as the world’s No 1 Test batter having scored centuries in three of his last five innings, all during the home series against India this summer. But his record in Australia is under scrutiny: none of his 42 scores of 90 or more have come in this country, where he averages 35.68, well below his career figure of 51.29, and it is the only place where he has played more than three times without scoring a century.
“The way he’s gone in the last couple of years will probably explain that he’d be very comfortable with what he’s trying to do at the moment and how he’s playing his game,” Trescothick said. “We’ve seen Joe really grow massively in the last three seasons under Brendon and Ben, [with] the style of play that we’ve had. His game has gone to the next level, hence the reason why his ranking is what it is. You’d be very surprised if he doesn’t carry on in that same sort of vein.”
