Ashes 2021-22 | It's going to be a mental game, says Stuart Broad ahead of Ashes opener
England pacer Stuart Broad has opined that the first Ashes Test is going to be a mental game as both teams had a lack of meaningful time in middle during the buildup and also they have been away from red-ball cricket for a long time. Broad further termed the curtain-raiser as a ‘bit of lottery’.
Ashes 2021-22 is scheduled to start from December 8 with the Gabba Test. Both the teams have been away from red-ball cricket for a long time. England last played a five-match Test series against India in September this year while Australia has missed the longest format for a while.
Considering the time both teams have been away from the Test cricket and as both teams are light on preparation, England pacer Stuart Broad has said that mistakes will be made by both the sides and the team whoever grabs key moments will succeed.
“It’s a bit of a lottery. I don’t think anyone knows how the pitch will play or how batters will settle having not faced a red ball for months.It’s going to be a mental game. Mistakes will be made by both sides and it will be a case of whoever can capitalise on the key moments,” he said, reported ESPNcricinfo.
Rain has restricted the visitors to just seven sessions of Test cricket in the intra-squad match with the England Lions. The performance of batsmen was positive for England as Ben Stokes scored 42 from 56 balls while Rory Burns compiled 37. Broad bowled 11 overs on Thursday after his comeback from a calf injury. Broad stressed the fact that the mental side of the game is going to be crucial on Wednesday.
"I don't think any cricketer leading into Wednesday can say they will be fully ready physically, but you can be 100% switched on mentally, and every player in that 22 is going to be finding their way into that game," Broad told reporters in Brisbane. "And that's where you've got to fall back on previous experiences that you've had. That's where the mental side of the game is going to be so strong come Wednesday,” he explained.
"We know Test cricket is a mind game, we know 80% of that's going to be getting the brain right, making sure our competitive juices are flowing and making sure that we're switched on to what's coming, but we just needed that extra bit of physical work to make sure that we will be ready."
Broad has played a crucial role in the pace bowling department. He has 524 wickets in 149 Tests for England. He has been part of the squad for three Ashes tours so far and his experience will be beneficial for the team. Broad said that was happy getting back into some action since his calf injury in August. He also revealed that Australia is one of the toughest places to bowl in world Cricket as the hardness of the ground puts more through your body.
"It's my first bowl in the middle since early August, which is a long time but we've got a recovery strategy in place that we've talked about in quarantine and how we're going to approach it. The backroom staff have done some great numbers on bowling in Australia, it's quite obvious that it's the hardest place physically to come and bowl,” he revealed.
"Your workloads go up, the hardness of the ground puts more through your body, you need more energy levels, and you travel more distance, so I've got a lot of respect for what the Aussie bowlers have done here for their careers. But we know we've got to take our recovery very seriously because the Tests come thick and fast and we might rotate our bowlers through the series, but we need our bowlers available for selection."
The first Test of the series will be played on Gabba where Australia has an impressive record. Australia played their last Test against India suffering a historic loss on this ground. They have an impressive record on the surface winning 33 Tests and losing only 9 fixtures. Broad said that England wouldn’t enter the contest with preconceived ideas about how the pitch will play.
"We know that it's the first couple of days at the Gabba that's important and can set up our series. Australia lost their last game at the Gabba, so will that be on their minds? Probably not as it's quite a long time ago. But I think for us it will just be not coming here with too many preconceived ideas about how the pitch will play, how the Aussies will play,” he concluded.
0
0
0
0
0
0
Comments
Sign up or log in to your account to leave comments and reactions
0 Comments