Australia captain Pat Cummins, on Tuesday (December 7), warned the England side that his Australian side, boasting some of the all-time greats, will be tough to beat in the first Test of the upcoming Ashes 2021-22, starting on Wednesday (December 8) in Brisbane.
On Tuesday, England captain Joe Root unveiled his 12-man squad for the first Ashes Test, and surprisingly, he decided to rest his most experienced pacer Anderson to manage his workload despite the need of having a great start.
England has a dismal record in Australia, losing 9 of their last 10 Tests, and haven't won a Test in Brisbane – the venue for the opening Ashes Test – since 1986.
Reacting to Root’s decision, Cummins said that it's a shame that Anderson was rested for the first Test while warning England to be ready for a tough battle, as their task becomes harder with the veteran pacer set to miss the Ashes 2021-22 opener at The Gabba, Brisbane.
Cummins told reporters in Brisbane: “He's obviously a great player and it's a shame that he won't be out there tomorrow, but it doesn't change what we are going to do.”
The star pacer further said that Root’s wicket is going to be crucial for him and Australia, but denied saying it would have any big impact on England’s chances in the match.
Cummins added, “He's going to be right up there as the biggest wicket, he's had a really good last 12 months or so, but I wouldn't necessarily say he's going to make it or break it for them.”
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Well, Australia hasn't played a Test since January due to the COVID-19 pandemic but Cummins is confident of strong performance from the hosts against England in the first Test in Brisbane.
He concluded, “I look around our team and we've got a pretty special side. We've got some of the greats of all time of Australian cricket in our changing room and when you get most of them clicking we're going to be a pretty tough team to beat. We get along really well and have a lot of fun, so hopefully a tight-knit group. We are enjoying our cricket and we're relentless when we have our chance to play.”
Meanwhile, Root has admitted that avoiding defeat against Australia in the opening Test of the five-match Test series in Brisbane would be a brilliant start to the Ashes series, but insisted that the outcome of the first Test would "not define" their campaign.
Root told BBC Sport: “Avoiding defeat would be a brilliant start to the series, absolutely. In many respects, we've got nothing to lose coming here for this series.”
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He signed off by saying, “Ultimately we've just got to concentrate on what's in front of us right now and starting the Test match well, getting into the series and managing everything else that goes around an Ashes first morning and taking the game from there.”
Australia squad for 1st Test:
Marcus Harris, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (C), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
England squad for 1st Test:
Joe Root (C), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
(With AFP Inputs)
