Melbourne, Nov 11 Former England captain Ian Botham has criticised England’s decision to schedule only one intra-squad warm-up ahead of the Ashes, arguing that the team needs more red-ball practice in Australian conditions and time to adapt to local crowds.
With the final group of players arriving in Perth just two weeks before the first Test on November 21, England will face the Lions on Thursday in their sole preparation match before the series begins.
“Well, it’s not the way I would prepare,” he said, speaking in Melbourne on Tuesday to announce a ticket ballot for the 150th anniversary Test at the MCG in 2027.
During the 2021 Ashes, England played two intra-squad games in Brisbane, while the 2017 tour featured four matches against local teams — yet they failed to win a Test in either series. Despite shorter build-ups becoming common under Brendan McCullum, Botham recently said this tour’s limited schedule “borders on arrogance”.
“Historically, you have to acclimatise when you come down here,” he said on Tuesday. “You’ve got to remember there’s twenty four and a half million people you’re playing against.”
With Australia’s population nearing 28 million, only one player will earn the chance to open alongside Usman Khawaja. Botham insisted that Marnus Labuschagne shouldn’t be that choice, but stressed that whoever the selectors pick — or may already have picked — needs to be informed well in advance to prepare properly.
“The longer they keep the other lad knowing who’s going to be opening will work in favour of the bowlers,” he said. “You need to settle players at the top, and I’d leave (Labuschagne) at three.”
Former Australia captain Greg Chappell feels selectors should go for the specialist opener to partner Khawaja at the top.
“I hope the powers that be know who their first-choice opener alongside Khawaja is because I think it’s an important role, it always has been an important role,” he said.
Specialist opener Jake Weatherald has earned a place in Australia’s squad but has yet to be confirmed in the playing XI for the Perth Test.
Chief selector George Bailey recently suggested that No. 3 batters, including Marnus Labuschagne, have the “ability” to step up as openers — a view Ian Chappell openly challenged.
“Opening is a role that I think you need to want to do, and most openers are pretty passionate about getting in there and batting first,” he said.
“It’s not a matter of, well, ‘we’ll pick our No 3 batsman to go and open’ because Ian [Chappell] batted No 3 for Australia, Ricky Pointing batted No 3 for Australia, I’m not sure they would have been as good as openers because it wasn’t their passion to open the batting,” Chappell added.
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