Intensity ready to ignite as England aims to reclaim Ashes
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022
THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
Intensity ready to ignite as England aims to reclaim Ashes

Sports

AP/UNB
31 July, 2019, 01:55 pm
Last modified: 31 July, 2019, 02:00 pm

Related News

  • Australian Mott lined up as England limited overs coach
  • 'Bittersweet' to coach England, says McCullum
  • Brendon McCullum appointed England Test coach
  • McCullum a contender to become England test coach
  • India to host Australia for 3 T20Is in September ahead of T20 World Cup

Intensity ready to ignite as England aims to reclaim Ashes

Australia holds the famous urn after a 4-0 series win Down Under in 2017-18.

AP/UNB
31 July, 2019, 01:55 pm
Last modified: 31 July, 2019, 02:00 pm
Intensity ready to ignite as England aims to reclaim Ashes

The Ashes would have come to nothing without a bit of friction.

It's the heat of the contest between England and its distant former convict colony, Australia, which makes cricket's oldest regular international series also the most storied.

Australia holds the famous urn after a 4-0 series win Down Under in 2017-18, but England is still on a high just a couple of weeks after winning its first ever World Cup title in the one-day format and hasn't lost an Ashes series on home soil since 2001.

The final buildup this week to the five-test series started out dryly, with a cheeky reminder at Edgbaston when the Australians arrived to see some details of their World Cup semifinal loss to England still on the scoreboard.

It was taken in good humor, perhaps a sign of the more cordial approach to the game taken recently by Australian cricketers in the wake of a cheating scandal in South Africa last year that led to harsh sanctions for then captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and opening bat Cameron Bancroft.

"It is weird Aussies trying to be nice to you," New Zealand-born allrounder Ben Stokes, who was the star of England's dramatic World Cup final win over New Zealand and is vice-captain of the test team, said of the Ashes preliminaries. But, "there is always something that happens between teams in Ashes series and I don't think this will be any different. Both teams are desperate to win, both sets of players are desperate to perform.

"It's where you are scrutinized or criticized more ... everyone knows that," he added. "So I can assure you there will be some sort of theater that goes on out there."

Smith and Warner returned from 12-month bans to play roles in the Australian one-day squad's attempt to defend the World Cup, which ended in that semifinal loss at Edgbaston on July 11. Bancroft had a shorter ban despite being a key figure in the so-called Sandpapergate, but has taken a longer route back to the national team, and a likely recall for the first test.

National daily The Australian prefaced the trio's expected test return with the nuanced headline: "Getting the banned back together."

Bancroft played county cricket in England while the Australian ODI team contested the World Cup, and topped the scoring in a low-scoring intra-squad trial at Southampton last week that selectors treated as a form guide for the test XI.

South African broadcasters caught Bancroft scratching the surface of the match ball with sandpaper during a test in Cape Town last March — part of clumsy plot to alter the condition of the ball for Australia's bowlers. The backlash in Australia was fierce, and the punishments the harshest ever meted out for such an incident.

England's famous Barmy Army of fans has promised plenty of banter directed at the Aussies but with grizzled Ashes veterans Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting in the coaching set up and Steve Waugh on board as a mentor, the visiting team is unlikely to be unnerved.

"Steven and David have had a pretty good dress rehearsal during the World Cup and I thought they were brilliant in how they responded to it," Langer said. "They kept smiling their way through it and it will be no different in the Ashes series."

Langer said he was proud of how the banned players had returned to the international scene, admitting it "would be a great story" if Bancroft returns to the top order with Warner and Smith and likely Usman Khawaja. Surprisingly, there's more conjecture over the selections in the pace bowling group with the return of James Pattinson putting pressure on Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

The dust had almost settled on the Ashes by 2005, with Australia winning eight consecutive series from 1989 to 2002-03. But a freak injury to then Australian pace spearhead Glenn McGrath helped change the course of history.

McGrath, player of the match in Australia's series-opening win at Lord's, injured his ankle in the warm-up before the second test at Edgbaston after stepping on a ball, and missed the match. England hung on to win by two runs and went on to win the series, ending Australia's 17-year domination.

Jimmy Anderson, who had made his test debut but missed that 2005 series, is still around to lead an England attack expected to exploit the conditions and reverse swing that is more prominent with the Duke balls.

The 37-year-old Anderson, part of three winning Ashes campaigns, is readying to rejoin an England team coming off a stuttering win over Ireland at Lord's last week. Stuart Broad took seven wickets in that match as the English bowlers rallied to avoid a major post-World Cup letdown.

Cricket

Australia Cricket Team / England Cricket Team / The Ashes

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Illustration: TBS
    Let taka slide
  • Nearly 58% hike in bulk power price on cards
    Nearly 58% hike in bulk power price on cards
  • Inflation jumps to 6.29% in April
    Inflation jumps to 6.29% in April

MOST VIEWED

  • Bashundhara Kings beat Maldives' Maziya 1-0 to get off to winning start in AFC Cup 2022
    Bashundhara Kings beat Maldives' Maziya 1-0 to get off to winning start in AFC Cup 2022
  • Mushfiqur dismisses retirement talks from T20Is following his wife's Instagram post
    Mushfiqur dismisses retirement talks from T20Is following his wife's Instagram post
  • A century after so long, but at what cost?
    A century after so long, but at what cost?
  • Heat causes havoc at Chattogram as umpire Richard Kettleborough forced to leave field during 1st Test
    Heat causes havoc at Chattogram as umpire Richard Kettleborough forced to leave field during 1st Test
  • Mushfiqur notches up first Test hundred in two years, Bangladesh take first-innings lead
    Mushfiqur notches up first Test hundred in two years, Bangladesh take first-innings lead
  • England fast bowler James Anderson inspects the condition of the ball after shining it. Photo: Courtesy
    Anderson admits he considered retiring after West Indies snub

Related News

  • Australian Mott lined up as England limited overs coach
  • 'Bittersweet' to coach England, says McCullum
  • Brendon McCullum appointed England Test coach
  • McCullum a contender to become England test coach
  • India to host Australia for 3 T20Is in September ahead of T20 World Cup

Features

Illustration: TBS

‘Do you have insurance?’: Life of a life insurance agent

Now | Panorama
‘The geopolitical landscape is undergoing profound change, Dhaka needs to craft proactive strategies’

‘The geopolitical landscape is undergoing profound change, Dhaka needs to craft proactive strategies’

23h | Interviews
Graphics: TBS

Facebook and Bangladeshi politicians: A new tide in mass political communication?

1d | Panorama
Despite Bangladesh having about 24,000 km of waterways, only a few hundred kilometres are covered by commercial launch services. Photo: Saad Abdullah

Utilising waterways: When common home-goers show the way

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Cannes Film Festival 2022 resumes after 2 years

Cannes Film Festival 2022 resumes after 2 years

12h | Videos
Pension is coming for all

Pension is coming for all

12h | Videos
Bakery business in crisis for increased raw material prices

Bakery business in crisis for increased raw material prices

14h | Videos
Foods that have the most protein

Foods that have the most protein

14h | Videos

Most Read

1
Representative Photo: Pixabay.
Bangladesh

Microplastics found in 5 local sugar brands

2
Mushfiq Mobarak. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Panorama

Meet the Yale professor who anchors his research in Bangladesh and scales up interventions globally

3
The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter
Industry

The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter

4
How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives
Bazaar

How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives

5
Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve
Economy

Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve

6
PK Halder: How a scamster rose from humble beginnings to a Tk11,000cr empire
Crime

PK Halder: How a scamster rose from humble beginnings to a Tk11,000cr empire

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab