Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ROOT TO VICTORY
Captain must be firing if England have any chance of Ashes glory
EXCLUSIVE
BY RICHARD EDWARDS
ENGLAND started their tour of Australia in 2010/11 with a brutal camp in Bavaria that tested the squad to its limits.
Jimmy Anderson returned with a cracked rib after a boxing bout with team-mate Chris Tremlett.
But England finished that winter with a knockout blow of their own, beating the Aussies on home soil for the first time since 1986/87.
They have not won a Test there since – losing nine out of 10. As their current tour prepares to get under way in earnest after quarantine, the odds of them reversing that trend are lengthy.
But the Australian coach who watched on as Andrew Strauss’s side created history a decade ago, still believes anything can happen – particularly if Joe Root continues his 2021 run glut.
“A lot will depend on how the top-order batters cope with the quality of this Australian bowling unit,” said Tim Nielsen, Australia’s coach between 2007 and 2011.
“That’s what India did when they won over here last winter, they came out and made the necessary runs and then their bowlers were outstanding, too.
“Their batsman stood up and if Root can continue playing as well as he can and England can post the scores, then who knows?
“If Anderson can keep bowling the way he can and Stuart Broad bowls at his best, there’s no reason England can’t be competitive.
“But one of the great challenges of touring in the current world is to ensure you eradicate as many stresses and strains of touring life as possible.
“That’s pretty important. Hopefully, England are coming here not because they have to, but because they’re looking forward to one of the greatest challenges in world sport.”
The whole tour had been in doubt as a result of Australia’s draconian lockdown laws.
But, having committed to the series, Nielsen (below) believes this winter’s Ashes can provide a huge shot in the arm, both for Australia and Test cricket.
“There’s such a positive vibe that comes out of these big sporting events when there’s a crowd in the ground,” said Nielsen.
“There’s a real sense of occasion and also a real feeling of hope, a feeling that we’re getting back to normal to some extent.
“If England hadn’t come over, it would have been an absolute kick in the guts. That would have made everything seem so far away again. The concern would have been that a lot of countries would just start thinking that it’s far easier to just set up an ODI series over a shorter period of time.
“That would have been the real danger to Test cricket. You could play five or six ODIs over a two-week period and then bugger off.
“Being at the right time, at the right age in the right sort of form to be picked is a pretty special honour. It’s a privilege.”