The stage is all set for the most intriguing rivalry in cricket, The Ashes. While the 17-member squad for the kangaroos was revealed yesterday, there isn”t a finalized one from the hosts. Shane Warne, the spin wizard shared his playing XI he would like to witness for the first test.
In his latest Instagram post, he put forward the elevens of both sides. For the Poms, he wanted Roy and Crawler to take care of the opening formalities. His typical middle order saw the likes of Root, Stokes, Buttler, and Bairstow. With Moeen Ali as the lone spinner in the side, he suggested a full-strength pace attack with Broad, Anderson, and Woakes. He looked quite biased towards Jofra Archer than Sam Curran as he wanted the World Cup hero to be preferred over Curran.
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Pattinson over Starc?
Shane Warne preferred to go with Warner and Bancroft as the openers while having Khawaja, Smith, and Head as a part of the middle order.
What”s fascinating in his squad is the absence of Mitchell Starc. He decided to go with James Pattinson than the former. Starc spat fire with his spells in the recently concluded World Cup 2019. However, skipper Tim Paine already mentioned that Starc is working to get back his rhythm in the longest format of the game. On the other hand, Starc wasn”t as effective as the Kangaroos wanted in the game against Australia A. He ended up bagging only a single wicket in both innings combined.
Though Mitchell Marsh proved his worth as a reliable all-rounder in the previous game, Warne isn”t interested in him. He wanted them to go with Wade as an additional batsman down the order. He said that isn”t much pleased with the exclusion of Alex Carey, who showed a lot of promise down the order.
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All eyes will be on the defending champions who haven”t won the Ashes in England since 2001. In addition to that, the return of the banned trio after the sandpaper gate could face the heat from the Barmy Army. Who will come out on the top and make an early impact? Well, we have to wait till August 1st to find it out.
Warne”s England XI: Roy, Crawley, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler, Ali, Woakes, Archer/Curran, Broad, Anderson
Warne”s Australia XI: Bancroft, Warner, Khawaja, Smith, Head, Paine, Wade, Cummins, Lyon, Hazelwood, Pattinson
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