England captain Ben Stokes bowls during a nets session at Perth Stadium. Photo: AFP
PERTH:
England captain Ben Stokes admitted Thursday beating “a seriously good” Australia will be tough but said his team was up for the challenge and had a golden opportunity to rewrite Ashes history.
The tourists have not won a series in Australia for 15 years and have crashed to defeat in 13 of 15 Tests since, with two more drawn.
But with the hosts missing influential pace spearheads Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood for the first Test starting in Perth on Friday, Stokes was upbeat about England’s chances.
“Coming to Australia, playing against Australia, they’re a seriously good team,” he said.
“Everyone, including myself, knows the record of England over the history of Ashes in Australia isn’t the best.
“But you know, we’ve got an opportunity here over the next two-and-a-half months to write our own history.
“We’ve obviously come here with a goal and that goal is to get on that plane mid-January, returning to England being Ashes winners.
“We know it’s going to be very, very tough. It’s going to be hard because beating Australia is not an easy thing.”
England named a 12-man squad for the opening Test but are set to leave the final decision on who to omit until the toss.
Much will depend on how veteran paceman Mark Wood is feeling after an injury scare last week, along with a final look at a wicket which is expected to be lively.
If Wood is good to go, they will potentially field an all-speed attack also boasting Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse, although the option of including off-spinner Shoaib Bashir remains on the table.
Bashir was relegated to the second-tier England Lions in England’s only warm-up match last week but Stokes said that was a deliberate tactic.
“He was always going to be in the 12,” he said. “We thought it was just about getting as many opportunities to bowl as possible. And we got to face him.”
Wood only sent down eight overs in the game last week before heading for scans on a hamstring niggle. He was cleared, but has barely played since knee surgery earlier this year.
Stokes said he had no concerns about the 35-year-old, who was “flying”.
“I know you guys say he only bowled eight overs in the game, but he’s been bowling for a long, long time,” he said.
“He has always been someone who can just hit the ground running in the game, and he’s bowling rapid, which is good.”
The Ashes moves to Brisbane after Perth, before Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
