Patience the key to playing the moving Dukes ball in Ashes says Chris Rogers
Former Test opener Chris Rogers has warned Australia’s left-handed batsmen they will face a true test of their technique when facing Jimmy Anderson and the Dukes ball on this Ashes tour.
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A Dukes ball set to swings both ways will provide the ultimates Ashes challenge for an Australian top-order which could be full of left-handers.
But former Test opener Chris Rogers, who made “about 35” hundreds in England, including four double-centuries and a triple in county cricket, said clear plans and patience would help the tourists successfully navigate the Ashes challenge.
The England and Wales cricket board tried to swing the series more their way earlier this year with a decision to order an older-style of the Dukes ball to use in the Ashes.
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ECB cricket director, and former Test spinner Ashley Giles, declared it was a move to bring English swing expert Jimmy Anderson “into the game”.
Rogers said he laughed when he heard that, given Anderson has 575 Test wickets and is the number two ranked bowler in the world.
But the inclusion of the older ball will only heighten the need for Australia’s left-handed batsmen like David Warner, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head, to be ready for everything Anderson and his bowling partners throw at them.
“You don’t have to be Einstein to know they feel that plays in their favour. If that means it’s a bigger challenge for our batsmen, then bring it on,” Rogers said.
“There will be some days where the ball really swings and it’s going to be hard for the left-handed batsmen because if they don’t know now that all of the England bowlers will come around the wicket, angle it in and swing it away, then they haven’t done their research.
“You want to have a neutral method that can counter that. If you over-commit to a certain way, if you are committing to Jimmy Anderson’s out-swinger you are going to get your pads blown off.
“You make smaller movements and you try and play later. You have to accept you are going to be in trouble a lot of the time.”
Rogers said the Aussie batsmen had to realise scoring would be difficult, but someone like Marcus Harris could be well suited to handling the ball, and the conditions.
“Marcus’s greatest strength is his mindset and the fact he plays late. He is challenging himself to play late all the time, and that is going to hold him in good stead,” Rogers said.
“If he can get in to the right positions to hit the ball where he wants to, I think he’ll go well.
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“None of those guys get to that level without having exceptional talent and skill, and it’s then up to them if they can adapt their game a little bit for those kind of conditions.”
Originally published as Patience the key to playing the moving Dukes ball in Ashes says Chris Rogers
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