Former Australia captain Greg Chappell has expressed huge concern over Australia’s ageing batting lineup ahead of the Ashes which is played against England. The first Test will be starting from November 21 and it will be held at the Optus Stadium in Perth. But one of the most notable thing to note is that Cameron Green will be the only Aussie player who is under 30.
Greg Chappell mentioned that the Aussie batters might struggle against England’s powerful pace attack and Australia’s fast paced and bouncy conditions will be an add on. He sounded alarm over the long-term future of Australian cricket and emphasised that the Australian side will face a challenging phase once stalwarts like Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland and many others.
“England have put nearly all their eggs in the pace basket – a septet of fast bowlers with whom to challenge what they believe to be a fragile batting line-up. They’ve prioritised the fitness of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood for this series, so I expect them both to play in Perth and Brisbane, before rotating the rest of the pace squad through the remaining Tests,” wrote Chappel in his column for ESPNCricinfo.
“If Archer and Wood are both fit for purpose, England could surprise the Australians on a surface that will favour pace. Very few people enjoy batting against real pace. We would all rather bat against medium-pacers and spinners, but at this level, it has to be done. Normally, it is one or two really quick bowlers in the line-up and then the pace drops off. Very few teams in history have three or four in the ranks who get it through at over 140kph. The ageing Australian line-up might be put under the pump if the England attack clicks,” he added.
“So here we are in Australian cricket. The oldest international team fielded in 90-plus years will take the field in a fortnight. Thirty-five may be the new 30, but I believe that unless a handful of under 25s are going to be debuting in the next six to 12 months, we are going to have a painful regeneration problem when Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon leave,” he said.
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While England have not won a Test series in Australia since their 2010-11 triumph, they have been convincingly beaten in the three most recent series, being whitewashed 0-5, 0-4 and 0-4 respectively. Ben Stokes and his side thus have an uphill task on their hands to change this trend in the latest Ashes.
