Aussie cricket coach Andrew McDonald hints how they will tackle England’s biggest weaknesses with ‘completely different’ tactics to what they will use against India in the World Test Championship
- The Ashes kicks off in England on June 16
- Coach is confident in stopping ‘Bazball’
- Aussie bowlers prepared for runs
Australia are preparing to fight fire with fire in the Ashes, swearing they won’t just try to slow down England and instead hope the hosts’ aggression will cost them wickets.
The tourists have turned their attention to Wednesday’s World Test Championship final against India at The Oval, where Pat Cummins’ men await a chance at a long crown.
But in the background, the coaching staff have one eye on June 16 and are trying to find an answer to the Bazball revolution.
England sent a final reminder of their dynamic style in last week’s win over Ireland by 10 wickets as they continued to ratchet up the bat at 6.36 per over.
With Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum as coach, four England batsmen on the front line have scored in the past 12 months at a batting frequency of over 80.
England star Joe Root performs a reverse sweep in a Test against Ireland on June 2. The side will continue their attacking approach with the bat against Australia in the Ashes
England coach Brendon McCullum (left, pictured with skipper Ben Stokes during England’s Test victory over Ireland last week) has his side play a kind of Test cricket never seen before
Aussie coach Andrew McDonald played coy with reporters but he is confident his side has an answer to ‘Bazball’
Australian coach Andrew McDonald would not elaborate on the exact plan for England, but said his side would approach that Test series with “completely different” tactics to the one they would use against India.
But one thing they aren’t tempted to do is go on the defensive and take a Twenty20 cricket approach to just dry up England’s runs.
“There will be a lot more dismissal options than a T20 game where it sometimes executes against the back Yorkers when the ball goes straight,” said McDonald.
“The red ball and a Dukes ball in particular will offer something, so we will be able to be creative enough with the way we use our fields.
“Their way of firing hasn’t changed much. There hasn’t really been a big shift in the way they come out.
So their vulnerabilities are still there. And we will try to expose it.’
Possible options include having men on the boundary square of the wicket, or using unconventional field placements as real wicket-taking options.
Aussie skipper Pat Cummins (pictured training for the World Test Championship final) and his fellow bowlers are willing to allow more runs than usual if they want to conquer ‘Bazball’
Left arm speedy Mitch Starc may leak some runs but he is one of the best wicket-taking options in Test cricket and will be vital for Australia
Australia have been the world’s most economical bowling team in recent years, regularly taking between 2.7 and 3.0 runs per over as they strangle opponents.
But in England they are prepared for that percentage to rise.
“We pride ourselves on being relentless with the ball and controlling the pace is one of our big themes,” said McDonald.
“The pace can only increase due to the size of the ground, the speed of the outfield and the flatter wickets.
“So it might look a little different than possibly the 2.8 we usually work with. It can go up. We are prepared for that.
“But it’s all within the context of that game.
“No doubt the scoring percentage will be a little bit higher with the way they play, but we hope the balls come down per layoff and that’s how it evens out.”