Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland: No Ashes excuses for Australia

CRICKET Australia chief James Sutherland sees no reason for the country’s tour of India to impact its Ashes preparations.

James Sutherland: No Ashes excuses for Australia.

AUSTRALIAN cricket’s scheduling will give the Test team no excuses when the Ashes series rolls around, Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland says.

The Australians are playing five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches in India before returning home to prepare for the domestic summer.

Test players will then have three Sheffield Shield games to fine tune for the Ashes opener in Brisbane from November 23.

“It’s a pretty traditional format for the Australian players now, playing some sort of cricket in this September-October period before coming back to Australia,” Sutherland told reporters in Adelaide on Monday. “There won’t be an excuse (for the Ashes).”

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With three Sheffield Shield games before the Ashes, James Sutherland is confident the team will be ready.

Ticket sales for the five-Test series were tracking strongly, with the initial three days of the Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Sydney fixtures all but sold out.

The Australian team squared a two-Test series in Bangladesh before travelling to India for the ODI series starting Sunday.

Sutherland said the triumphant second Test side had six players with less than 10 Tests experience.

“If you have a look at the results of those less experienced players, they are really starting to perform,” Sutherland said.

“People like Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb have done some fantastic things to contribute to winning teams.

“And that is an exciting thing for the future.”

Originally published as Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland: No Ashes excuses for Australia