Brett Lee blasts England’s ‘mind-boggling’ Ashes mistake

England are already behind in the Ashes, and an Aussie great believes the Poms shot themselves in the foot with this “massive mistake”.

England’s nine-wicket defeat at the Gabba seemed all the more confounding when glancing across at who was carrying the drinks.

Veteran seamers James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who collectively boast a tally of 1156 Test wickets, were not selected for the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, with England wrapping the pace duo in cotton wool ahead of the pink-ball contest in Adelaide.

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Anderson and Broad, the only two members of England’s Test squad to taste victory on Australian soil, watched from the sidelines as Travis Head and his teammates compiled a first-innings total of 425.

England’s Ollie Robinson and Mark Wood both bowled commendably, but at times fell into the trap of pitching the Kookaburra too short on the bouncy Gabba deck.

The omission of Anderson was somewhat understandable – the 39-year-old averages 75.14 with the ball in Queensland, and the England camp is desperate to ensure he plays under the artificial lights of Adelaide Oval and Blundstone Arena at full fitness.

But the absence of Broad, who averages 24.58 at the Gabba at an economy rate of 2.56, was more perplexing.

Broad terrorised Australia’s left-handed batters during the 2019 Ashes series, where he claimed the wicket of David Warner and Travis Head on 10 occasions in five matches.

Warner and Head must have been popping champagne in the sheds when Joe Root announced the starting XI on Wednesday morning – they scored 94 and 152 respectively in the first innings.

Although Anderson and Broad should be well-rested ahead of the day-night Test in Adelaide, England is already trailing 1-0 in the five-match series. The Poms have not won an Ashes series from such a position on Australian soil in 67 years.

“It’s totally mind-boggling,” former Australian paceman Brett Lee told news.com.au, speaking on behalf of Foxtel’s Ton of Cricket.

“If these guys were fully fit and they weren’t played for looking at other options, then I think England have made a massive mistake.

“If they were close to being fully fit and they want to hold them back a few days and get them match-fit for day two, fair enough. But from what I’m hearing, they were looking at a different options type of thing, and maybe that’s a smokescreen for them not being fully fit.

“They were sorely missed.

“If they played Broad and Anderson, whether or not they won or not, they could have inflicted a lot of wounds to the Australian top-order. Brisbane is one of the most bowler-friendly wickets to play on.”

Stuart Broad and James Anderson are both expected to play at the Gabba. Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Lee, who was renowned for his fluent action and blistering pace, believes speed is essential when bowling at the Gabba, a venue where he claimed 29 Test wickets at 21.55.

“It’s a different trajectory off the wicket when you’re bowling 15km/h slower than the Aussie boys,” Lee explained.

“Mark Wood was phenomenal; I’d give this guy a 12 out of 10 the way that he bowled.

“His effort, he never gave up – constant, consistent pace.

“When you’re bowling in that 145-150km/h bracket, I know how hard it is, because I did it for 20 years. It’s taxing on the body, it’s hard work, the heart rate’s consistently up.

“It’s very, very, very hard to do, and he did it for the whole Test match.”

Lee predicted Broad, Anderson, Wood and Robinson would form England’s bowling attack for the Adelaide Test, with Ben Stokes aiding the quartet with his handy right-arm seamers.

Injured quick Jofra Archer, who presumably would have enjoyed bowling on Australia’s bouncy decks if not for an elbow stress fracture, threw his support behind England naming a five-man pace attack for the pink-ball Test at the expense of tweaker Jack Leach, who leaked more than 100 runs in 13 overs at the Gabba.

“Being in Australia period, not just the day-night Test, it would be tempting,” Archer told News Corp, speaking as an ambassador for Kayo.

“Australia is probably the one place in the world where you’re going to get the most consistent (conditions) for fast bowling. So it might be tempting to just pick five fast bowlers regardless.”

Mark Wood claimed 3/89 at the Gabba. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Broad admitted he was “disappointed” to miss out on the first Test but accepted it was unreasonable to assume he’d be selected for all five matches of a condensed Ashes series where both sides are expected to employ a rotation policy.

“It would be wrong in this scenario to kick up a stink,” Broad wrote in the Daily Mail.

“On the flip side, I love Ashes cricket, love bowling at the Gabba and feel like I could’ve had a positive influence on a pitch like that.

“Of course, I was disappointed not to play but I also realise this series is a marathon and not a sprint. Never have five Test matches been as bunched up as this and it will be exhausting, so realistically I don’t think any seamer will play all five.”

Speaking to reporters ahead of England’s flight to Adelaide, head coach Chris Silverwood declared Anderson and Broad were “fit and ready to go” ahead of the day-night fixture.

“They are available,” Silverwood said on Sunday. “Certainly, from an experience point of view, with the bowlers we’ve got heaps of experience so I’m happy with that.

“The guys have already been training with the pink ball behind the scenes. And what we have got is a very skilful set of bowlers. We have talent and we still have two of the best up our sleeve as well.”

The second Test between Australia and England gets underway at Adelaide Oval on Thursday, with the first ball scheduled for 3pm AEDT.

Voting is closed for the Ton of Cricket, but you can find out which iconic Australian cricket moment topped the list on December 27.