Ashes 2021/22 news: Joe Root concedes Ashes series will define his legacy
He has won more Tests than any other English captain but Michael Vaughan says there’s a reason Joe Root will not go down as a great captain.
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Joe Root is on the verge of becoming the most capped skipper in English Test history but has declared the next two months will define his legacy.
Michael Vaughan said recently that Root, despite leading England to more victories than any other skipper, will not go down as a great captain until he beats Australia.
England drew the last series with Australia in England in 2019 under Root who was also in charge when England were beaten 4-0 on the last Ashes tour Down Under.
The skipper made no attempt to play down the importance of the current showdown which starts at the Gabba on Wednesday.
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“Of course it will define my captaincy, I’m not naive enough to think that it won’t,’’ Root said of the Ashes rivalry.
“You look at how hard it has been for English captains and English teams over the years (in Australia). It’s been something that doesn’t happen very often.’’
Root was talking at the launch of the Ashes series at the Gabba where Root and rival captain Pat Cummins came face-to-face for the first time this summer.
While Cummins will make his captaincy debut in Wednesday’s Test, Root has captained England in 56 Tests, three shy of the English record held by Alastair Cook which should be broken in the fourth Test in Sydney.
On so many levels this tour is a watershed for Root.
His two previous tours here drew so-so results with six 50s and no centuries from nine Tests and an average of 38, passable for most but beneath what one of the world‘s best batsmen is capable of.
He has always been a worthy foe for Australia but the local side feels it has kept his brilliance to manageable levels.
The bowlers who have dismissed Root most in Tests - Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood with seven times apiece - are all Australian.
England are underdogs on this tour but Australia, after losing six series at home in the past 13 years, no longer have the aura of invincibility they carried through the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Root would not poke the bear by giving Australia something they could post on a dressing room wall but is quietly satisfied where his team sits.
“The junior guys have shown glimpses of what they can do and their potential. What better stage to really grab a series and make an announcement on the international stage. I‘m an Ashes player and I want to live in the history of this great rivalry.’’
England have won just two of the last 11 series in Australia and Root will be well aware that any English skipper who wins the Ashes in Australia will be given revered status in the English history books.
A green Gabba deck which should have early life for the seamers has England torn over its starting side.
Root was giving away no hints but there must be a huge temptation to play express fast man Mark Wood who had tongues wagging and batsmen jumpy with a lively performance at Ian Healy Oval in a trial game during the week.
No pitch in Australia would suit him as much as the Gabba but to play him England may have to omit one of their veterans Stuart Broad or Jimmy Anderson.
Philippe’s plan to follow in Root’s footsteps
- Sam Landsberger and Ben Horne
Joe Root might be billed as the enemy this summer – but for Josh Philippe the England captain has been more of a saviour than an Ashes villain.
Philippe was locked in hotel quarantine in Adelaide four months ago when the seed for Root’s help was planted.
With the TV glued to England’s home Test series against India, Philippe watched in awe as Root logged three centuries and averaged 94 runs with an attractive new batting stance.
“Root used to have a back-and-across trigger and he changed that to be a lot more side-on and go more straight-back, as opposed to back and across,” Philippe told News Corp.
“He just looked like he was in an amazingly balanced position, and I looked at that and thought that’s something I can tweak and adjust in my own way to be in that better more side-on position.
“He’s made so many runs since he made that small change so it’s hard not to watch him.”
Root has enjoyed a year of greatness. In 2021 the Yorkshire lad has six Test tons at an average of 66 and 147 ODI runs without being dismissed.
For Philippe it has been a tough initiation to international cricket.
He played 13 games for Australia (three ODIs and 10 T20s) but was cut down on the winter tours of West Indies and Bangladesh, checking in to his fourth quarantine stint still in search of a half-century.
Philippe had won praise as a 360-degree batter. But cooped up in Adelaide he felt that range had started to shrink. At the root of Philippe’s problem was his stance.
So Philippe decided to take a leaf out of Root’s book.
“I was certainly a bit lucky in a sense that my manager, Michael Lumb, was the same manager he has,” Philippe said.
“I rang ‘Lumby’ and said, ‘Can you ask him what he did and why he did it?’
“He said it felt like it opened back up the off-side for him and hitting straight back down the ground.
“That was the area of the ground I felt like over a period of time, because I was triggering bigger and bigger, that I was losing.
“That feedback was nice to hear, because that was the area I was trying to open back up, which previously I’d been quite strong in.
“That really resonated with me and that’s why I wanted to work pretty hard on that position and adjust what I’d been doing previously.”
The bright lights of the Big Bash League will once again shine on Philippe on Sunday night when he opens the batting against Melbourne Stars.
But a Sheffield Shield century (129 off 222 balls) against a Queensland attack featuring Test back-up Michael Neser showed his run-scoring roots are once again healthy.
He has five bats packed in Sydney and they are ready to go smack.
The key change has been Philippe weeding out some of his “poor positions” at the bowler’s release point.
“I was struggling to hit the ball in areas of the ground that I’m usually quite strong in,” he said.
“I was looking back going, ‘There’s better positions I can be into and through watching other players play as well. Take bits and pieces I see from other players.
“There was just a point in time when I went, ‘There’s better positions I can be in. I want to change this and get in a better position’.”
Philippe is only 24. But for several years he has been the golden boy of the Big Bash, blooming every January.
Last summer he was named player of the tournament, striking at an Aaron Finch-like 149.1.
The summer before he was player of the final, thumping 52 (29) in a 12-over game at a drenched SCG.
The runs flowed from a young age when the Scarborough kid would drag his parents, grandparents and sister to the nets.
So too has the ink in Philippe’s diary.
“For years dad taught me to write in a diary and really debrief the personal aspects of my game,” he said.
“Even now today I’m still on the phone to dad all the time debriefing and chatting about the game and asking for his opinion.”
It was shrewd advice. Philippe’s father, Steve, coached Western Australia’s women’s side from 2006-11 while his mother, Leanne, opened the batting for WA in 1986-87.
Twin sister Emma is a gifted athlete, too, and represented Australia in the World Youth Championships in pole vault.
Coronavirus cost the Philippe clan tickets to see Philippe pull on Australia’s 233rd ODI cap and 96th T20 cap overseas.
It was a selfless decision from Philippe to prioritise the winter tours by withdrawing from Virat Kohli’s IPL franchise, which had chosen to retain him.
“I pulled out at the start of the year just to spend a bit more time at home and get prepared for the West Indies and Bangladesh tour,” he said.
“That tour on a personal note didn’t quite go to plan. But after being in a bubble for almost eight months I just felt like I needed a little bit of a break.
“I really wanted to put my eggs in one basket and prepare for the West Indies tour.
“I felt like it was the best decision at the time and I really valued that time at home and needed it.
“To say I’ve played 10 T20s for Australia and three ODIs I’m super proud of that.
“I didn’t quite get the runs at that level that I would’ve liked but it really challenged me to get better at certain areas of my game.”
In 2018 Philippe struck a half-century for the Prime Minister’s XI against South African tearaways Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.
So, what was the biggest challenge when the magenta swapped to green and gold this year?
Why did the pouring runs slow to a drizzle?
The sticky wickets in West Indies and Bangladesh certainly didn’t help. But what about the world-class bowlers?
“It was their consistency and their plans,” Philippe said.
“There were periods of times where they changed and adjusted plans quicker than at domestic level.
“I felt like they were one step ahead of me a lot of the time, whereas at domestic level I feel like I can be that one step ahead.
“Hopefully if I get another opportunity I can bank those experiences and learn from that.”
Philippe didn’t expect to be named in the 11-man Australia A squad for this week’s red-ball game against England Lions.
“I haven’t played a lot of Shield cricket the past 18 months,” he said.
“These five games this season have been the first I’ve played in a while. It’s definitely a goal down the track, but I still haven’t played a lot of Shield cricket.
“But that’s certainly the aim.”
Philippe wears the gloves domestically but hasn’t for Australia.
Josh Inglis, 26, is Australia’s next big thing behind the stumps while Alex Carey got the nod as the new Test keeper.
That means Philippe might have to make it as a batsman alone, and the man with an enhanced side-on stance would attack that challenge front on.
“I think keeping is a great asset to my game,” he said.
“But I tend to be picked as a batter, so if that’s what gets me further I’m not too concerned. Hundreds are currency, that’s what we’re always told. So far I’ve got a couple this season.”
SIXERS STAR’S BACKYARD CHALLENGE FOR SPIN WHIZ
Not for the first time an Australian spinner who has conquered the world could find his greatest challenge comes in his own backyard.
Just as Shane Warne used to be confronted by countrymen throwing the kitchen sink at him on the domestic scene, World Cup hero Adam Zampa is walking into an attempted ambush in the BBL season opener at the SCG on Sunday night.
Sydney Sixers ace Daniel Hughes has declared his team cannot afford to simply sit on Zampa’s four overs, and plan to attack the Melbourne Stars’ bowling anchorman.
Sport’s greatest rivalry is just around the corner and you can catch the Ashes live and ad-break free during play. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today.
Zampa was desperately unlucky not to be crowned player of the World Cup after his 13-wickets, but was named in the team of the tournament and has cemented his status as one of international cricket’s most successful white ball spinners.
But as the men in magenta start their push for a historic third-straight BBL crown, Hughes believes his left-hand point of difference at the top of the Sixers’ order can take Zampa down town at a packed SCG.
“In my eyes I think he was player of the tournament … I think (for us) it’s not just knocking him around and trying to stop him from getting wickets, we’ve got to come up with some way to find boundaries off him as well,” Hughes told News Corp.
“Being a left-hander and him being a leg spinner, it makes it more difficult for him so I think if I can hang around and face a few balls off him I might be able to help him a little bit in changing his line and that type of stuff.
“We’ve got to use the dimensions of the SCG to our advantage.”
The Stars also boast former World Cup star Nathan Coulter-Nile in their bowling line-up as well as Australia’s two all-round stars Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis – meaning the Sixers can’t be heading in with a mindset to see off certain bowlers.
Melbourne Stars have never won a BBL title, but they will never get a better platform to launch a premiership campaign with Zampa, Stoinis and Maxwell all hot from the World Cup.
Hughes got the better of Zampa in a BBL match on the Gold Coast last summer and is not daunted by a match-up against one of the best exponents of his craft in the world.
“I had a bit (of success) at Metricon last year. I got a bit lucky and got a few away. He just bowled a bit full that night and I got him straight with a few slog sweeps,” Hughes said.
“I think slog sweeps will definitely be my go-to again to him and I will definitely do that Sunday night too if I get a chance.
“He is very hard to get down the wicket to. He bowls quite quick … so I think you can use that to your advantage, use his pace with your reverses and laps and sweeps and look to hit him (straight) if he’s getting too full.
“He’s bowling nicely at the moment so we’ll just have to see what we get on the night.”
Fresh clouds of uncertainty forms ahead of BBL season
– Sam Landsberger
Big Bash League clubs are wary that the new Omicron variant of coronavirus could cause headaches for international players who have not yet had their passports stamped in Australia.
The Federal Government is once again tightening its international borders as mandatory quarantine periods are reintroduced by states and a fresh cloud of uncertainty forms amid possible travel restrictions this summer.
Cricket Australia is also strengthening its Covid protocols to help protect this summer’s BBL.
Melbourne Stars locked in Pakistan off-spinner Syed Faridoun, 19, on Tuesday but general manager Blair Crouch was still unsure exactly how the green team’s roster would look.
“We will be finalising our international signings over the coming days ahead of our first match against the Sixers on Sunday,” Crouch said.
Stars have also secured Afghanistan tweaker Qais Ahmed and English opener Joe Clarke.
There are concerns that some imports from across the league who were expected to jet in for a handful of games could reconsider their travel if new quarantine requirements were set to reduce the amount of matches they could play.
It is likely to be a soft start to the BBL because several of Australia’s Twenty20 World Cup heroes will be unavailable due to next week’s red-ball match between Australia A and England Lions in Queensland.
But the No. 1 signing – Adelaide Strikers superstar Rashid Khan – is safely in town and ready to spin up a storm when his team’s campaign begins against Renegades at Marvel Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Gades – who have locked in every member of their squad – have broken new ground by signing the first ever Indian player, Unmukt Chand, to play BBL.
The 28-year-old is now based in the United States, clearing his path to line up in the BBL, despite the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) refusal to release its players to light up foreign domestic T20 tournaments.
Chand whacked 43 in a practice match on Tuesday and has played for three Indian Premier League franchises.
Chand was part of the Mumbai Indians squad that won the 2015 IPL.
In 2012 he scored 111 not-out against an Australian Under-19 side featuring Travis Head and Ashton Turner in a World Cup played in Townsville.
The dynamic right-hander, who is close friends with Virat Kohli and carries a dictionary with him.
Chand is set to play a key role for Renegades, particularly early in the season as the club prepares to start the season without new captain Nic Maddinson (Australia A), Aaron Finch (knee), Shaun Marsh (calf) and Marcus Harris (Test team).
Jono Merlo is set to sign as a replacement player for the red team while Liam Guthrie (Brisnane Heat) and Nick Winter (Sydney Sixers) are also on the verge of replacement contracts.
The Renegades will rely heavily on kid power to punch the runs as Sam Harper, 24, Mackenzie Harvey, 21, and 19-year-old Jake Fraser-McGurk, as well as Chand, band together as the backbone of the red team’s batting order.
Renegades have pocketed the past two wooden spoons since their stunning BBL championship in the 2017-18 derby final against the Stars.
The BBL young guns ready to ‘explode’
Glenn Maxwell’s reaction time was almost as quick as when he reverse-swept fast bowler Peter Siddle for six at Adelaide Oval.
Which young gun is ready to explode in the Big Bash?
“Little (Jake) Fraser-McGurk,” Maxwell said.
“I was lucky enough to do most of the pre-season with him this year and he looks class again.
“He just got 140 in the twos (Victoria Second XI) game (and) he’s just going to get better and better.
“I’m really looking forward to watching him go about his business.”
World Cup-winning captain and fellow Victorian Aaron Finch nodded his head in agreeance.
Fraser-McGurk, nicknamed “Rooster” for obvious reasons, burst on to the scene as Victoria’s youngest Sheffield Shield debutant since Cameron White in 2001, and third-youngest of all-time.
In February this year he coolly batted the Vics to a Shield win against a New South Wales attack featuring Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon.
Fraser-McGurk played 10 BBL games for wooden-spooner Melbourne Renegades last summer and looms as a key batsman early this season, with new captain Nic Maddinson (Australia A) unavailable and Aaron Finch (knee) and Shaun Marsh (calf) also likely to miss games.
The kid who was once scratched on the face by a monkey in South Africa has only scratched the surface.
He is a buzz boy of domestic cricket. And he might be the youngest buzz boy, but he is not the only buzz boy.
“I think Nathan Ellis might take a step up,” master blaster D’Arcy Short said of his Hobart Hurricanes teammate.
Ellis, 27, took a hat-trick on his Australian debut against Bangladesh this year and was in the Aussie camp for their T20 triumph in Dubai.
“He’s just got a few tricks up his sleeve,” Short told News Corp.
“He can swing the ball early and at the death, he knows his plans and he hits his yorkers or bowls the balls he wants to bowl for you to hit it to the field he sets.”
Yorkers are Ellis’s biggest weapon and his smaller frame means he can get in under a batsman’s swing.
Hulking Sydney Sixers batter Jack Edwards looks like a cult hero in the making.
“I think he’s an absolute superstar and he can’t be far away – he’s still very young 20 or 21,” Sixers opener Josh Philippe, a BBL superstar in his own right, told News Corp.
“He’s an amazing ball striker firstly. He’s obviously a big bloke, and they tend to play a bit of a different game than some of us.
“He’s just incredibly talented, he can hit the ball a long way and he’s a very handy bowler as well.”
Philippe was on the wrong end of Edwards’ 108 in last summer’s Marsh Cup final at Bankstown as NSW cruised to a 102-run victory.
Edwards also reached three figures in just his fifth limited-overs match for the Blues, becoming the youngest batsman to score a one-day ton at just 18.
Philippe said Edwards was not the only magenta man ready to take the Big Bash by storm, which sounds ominous for a club chasing a championship three-peat.
“Another Sixer, I’ll keep it in house, Lloyd Pope as well,” the Steve Smith lookalike said.
“There might be a bit more opportunity for him this year and he’s a very clever bowler.
“When he gets it right he’s extremely good. He’s a young spinner so that’s always hard and as a batter you often try to target that.
“But he’s got incredible skills and his willingness to learn is amazing.
“Steve O’Keeffe is very helpful there and gives him great advice.”
Sydney Thunder wrote out a sizeable cheque to re-sign Ollie Davies on a three-year contract last summer.
Sources say Davies would have to be the best-paid 21-year-old the tournament has seen, but he will have to earn his keep as Callum Ferguson’s replacement at No.3.
“He showed some real power-hitting ability,” Ferguson said.
“That’s his real strength – being able to put spinners to the sword.”
Mike Hussey rates Perth Scorchers allrounder Aaron Hardie, 22, highly and World Cup hero Mitchell Marsh, who captains the Scorchers, is expected to send plenty of balls into the crowd once his Australia A duties conclude.
“On what Mitch Marsh is doing I’m a bit scared to be coming up against him, to be quite honest,” Short said.
“And Josh Philippe is looking as good as ever going into it.”
Philippe was the player of the tournament last summer as the wicketkeeper batted himself on to February’s T20 tour of New Zealand before making his ODI debut in the West Indies.
Who will have the biggest bash this summer?
THE FINAL WORD ON …
JAKE FRASER-McGURK, 19 (Victoria, Melbourne Renegades)
“The message that’s been given to him is now go and show us through performance. Rather than just be picked on talent, we want him to really knock the door down if he’s playing for Richmond or if he’s playing for the Second XI. Some young players get to take the elevator and some young players get to take the stairs. Jake’s probably one who’s been fortunate enough to take the elevator a lot of the time and now we just want to see him take the stairs as well and show us he can consistently score big runs. He’s ticking all the boxes at the moment and if he keeps doing that it’s going to be pretty hard to keep him out of the side.”
Victoria coach CHRIS ROGERS
NATHAN ELLIS, 27 (Hobart Hurricanes)
“He’s a talented young cricketer and the way he’s so calm about it as well. He doesn’t get too flustered, he always looks like he’s under control.”
Hurricanes opener D’ARCY SHORT
JACK EDWARDS, 21 (Sydney Sixers)
“I’m hoping for our sake at the Sixers for big Jacky Edwards to have a big BBL. He’s been getting a few wickets in the Shield games for NSW so as an allround option he’s an extremely good option.”
Sixers opener JOSH PHILIPPE
LLOYD POPE, 21 (Sydney Sixers)
“As a young spinner it’s holding your nerve more than anything and he’s got a pretty cool head on his shoulders. I’ve got no doubt he’ll do well this year.”
PHILIPPE
… and the word two of Australia’s next TEST stars
CAMERON GREEN, 22 (Australia Test team, Perth Scorchers)
“I played club cricket with him, I’ve known him since he came on to the scene. I played against him in his first game when he smacked Victoria around the park at the WACA. He was pulling Jimmy Pattinson for six, which not many players do, let alone a first-gamer. Superstar. I think he’s going to have maybe a 15-year career for Australia. I couldn’t talk higher about him.”
Melbourne Stars opener and Western Australia teammate MARCUS STOINIS
JHYE RICHARDSON, 25 (Australia Test team, Perth Scorchers)
“Jhye is one of the smartest bowlers. He’s quick, he’s got all the tricks, he can swing it in, swing it out and he’s got his slower ball.
But we talk about it often at WA – the main thing he does is he’s got all the tricks, but he keeps it consistent.
He’s really harsh on himself and holds himself to a really high standard which I think helps him with how quickly he’s improved over the last couple of years.”
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