Australia set for intensive training at Beckenham for six tests
Published Date – Tuesday, 5/23/23 at 10:30pm
Australia set for intensive training at Beckenham for six tests
Sydney: Former captain Alan Bird questioned Australia’s decision not to play any warm-up games ahead of their World Test Championship final against India and the Ashes, a move he said was “fraught with danger”.
The WTC final is scheduled to take place at the London Oval from June 7-11 before Australia take on arch-rivals England in a five-match Ashes match between June 16 and July 31.
The Australian team will prepare for the six Tests by undergoing an intensive training camp at Beckenham, which will include center wicket practice and net training.
“I don’t care how hard you work at the net, nothing replaces game time,” Bird told ‘Fox Cricket’.
“It didn’t feel right not to play any cricket before the Ashes series. I just thought it was fraught with danger… something was biting me and saying it was the wrong decision,” he added.
India will also not be playing any warm-up matches as the England County Championship is underway and the WTC is an ICC event and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is under no obligation to arrange practice matches for the away teams.
However, it will be the first time in Ashes history that a player from ‘Down Under’ will not face any local county teams before or during this winter’s trip to England.
Even before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India earlier this year, Australia opted for mock training rather than a warm-up match.
The visiting team ended up losing the game 1-2.
“I’m really surprised we allowed the Ashes tour to be so packed with no cricket between games, but that’s the way it is.
“I get it, we have the IPL and the T20s, I get it. The games go on. But I think we have a chance to go to England and play a few games earlier… just to round it out a little bit,” Bird added.
The ECB has squeezed the Ashes into a six-week window to ensure England’s Test players can play in The Hundred tournament, which is due to begin in early August.
While the likes of Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Marcus Harris have been playing in the county championships, these players from India will head to England after their IPL campaign.
The rest of Australia’s Test squad recently completed a three-day training camp in Brisbane and will travel to England later this week.
