Latest news with #pre-Bazball
Hans India
6 days ago
- Sport
- Hans India
Boland backs Australia to thrive against England in Ashes if wickets stay consistent
Veteran seamer Scott Boland has backed Australia to thrive against England in this year's Ashes if wickets in the country stay consistent and bowler-friendly to counter the visitors' aggressive 'Bazball' approach. The five-match Ashes series starts in Perth on November 21. "They're going to play aggressively. If the wickets stay similar to what they've been over the last few years, I think we're going to be in the game all the time." "There were little parts of the England tour last time, when the ball sort of moved around and favoured the bowlers, but generally over there, the wickets have been a bit flatter. And then when you come to Australia, certainly the last three or four years, they've been bowler friendly," Boland was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo, on the sidelines of making 100 days to go for the Ashes in Melbourne. Boland claimed 18 wickets at an average of 9.55 in his debut Ashes series against a pre-Bazball England team in 2021/22. But he managed to pick only two wickets at 115.50 in last year's Ashes in England. With Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood ahead of him in the pecking order, Boland stated he is prepared to give his best if given the opportunity. "I've obviously thought about it a lot since it happened in 2023. But I still think there were times in England where I bowled pretty well and just didn't get a wicket. I'm a better bowler than I was back then. I'm going to be in our conditions that I know really, really well. I'm hoping to put in some good performances," he added. He also believes Australia may not field a four-man fast-bowling attack during the Ashes, citing Nathan Lyon's effectiveness at home and the likely availability of all-rounder Cameron Green as a seam bowling option. "I hope so, but probably not in Australia. Nathan's one of the best spin bowlers in the world, so I think he can bowl in any conditions. He's probably been the glue to our bowling line-up over the last few years." "And then I probably see Greeny (Cameron Green) coming back and bowling a lot more, he obviously hasn't bowled for 12 months, so that probably hurts the chances of four quicks as well," he added.
BBC News
12-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Pope and Sibley build Surrey's lead over Hampshire
Rothesay County Championship Division One, Kia Oval (day two)Surrey 253 & 136-1: Pope 56*, Sibley 55*; Abbott 1-26Hampshire 219: Prest 44, Gubbins 43; Worrall 3-37, Clark 3-54Surrey (4pts) lead Hampshire (3pts) by 170 runsMatch scorecard A trio of Surrey stars part of England's past, present and possibly future put the defending champions in charge on day two against Hampshire at the Kia Worrall, who played one-day international cricket for his native Australia back in 2016, but now a naturalized Briton, again suggested he might be a shout for the winter Ashes series down under with 3-37 as the hosts bowled out Hampshire for current Test vice-captain, Ollie Pope (56 not out ), a little short of runs in his first three innings this term, struck a 67-ball half-century, while team-mate Dominic Sibley, a man of the pre-Bazball era, followed his century of the opening day with 55 not out, the pair sharing an unbroken stand of 80 before bad light brought a slightly premature close at 136-1For Hampshire, Tom Prest and Nick Gubbins both got beyond 40 without pressing on and they will see this as a chance missed on a pitch of few demons Overnight batters Gubbins and Mark Stoneman struck a crisp boundary apiece in the opening two overs of the morning, but thereafter excessive caution rendered them all-but stroke-less against some naggingly accurate bowling from Worrall and his fellow score crept into the 80s as runs became a trickle before drying up altogether. Matthew Fisher twice whistled the ball past the flailing blade of Stoneman and pressure told as Gubbins tickled one from Dan Lawrence around the corner to Pope at leg then trapped Stoneman in front with a full delivery and when Toby Albert edged Jordan Clark to Lawrence at third slip three wickets had fallen in 47 balls for only six was the bowlers' stranglehold, when Prest flashed one over third slip's head for four it marked the first boundary for 26 emerged from lunch with a different mindset marked by four boundaries in the first nine balls, more than in the whole first Dawson though soon perished, a deserved wicket for Fisher, and skipper Ben Brown spurned a reprieve when dropped at slip by Sibley, edging the next ball to the safe hands of Ben Foakes. At 118-6 Hampshire were looking at a sizeable first innings deficit, but Prest and New Zealander Brett Hampton played positively, the latter caressing a wide, full ball from Kemar Roach to the extra cover fence. A 50-stand was in the offing when Hampton fell for 26 made at more than a run a ball, Pope grabbing a fine low catch at slip from one which went from inside edge onto the returned to have Prest caught by Ryan Patel at short leg from a ball which flew off the meat of the bat and would have left the young batter in need of emergency dentistry had he not got his hands up in fact Surrey's lead was limited to 34 owed much to Abbott's swashbuckling 37, including a six over backward square, Lawrence ending his revelry with one which turned to bowl him through the made the breakthrough when Surrey batted a second time, trapping Rory Burns lbw, but not before the openers had added 56 with few batted with greater fluency than 24 hours earlier, though surviving a close call for a run out before moving to 50 from 90 balls with seven soon followed suit, propelled to the landmark with the aid of successive sixes off Sonny Baker, the latter stroke just clearing the fielder at wide Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
