James Anderson is the oldest participant in the oldest Ashes attack since Australia in 1928. Photo: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images via Reuters
England embarked on a double gamble, promoting Moina Ali to 3rd place for the remainder of the series and choosing their oldest 95-year Ashes urn bowling attack at Old Trafford on this week.
England won at Headingley last weekend to keep the dream of Ashes' great escape but no team has won the series since losing 2-0 from 1936-37 and records go even further to find a bowling attack older than that Ben Stokes chosen for the fourth test on Wednesday in the form of an Australian in Brisbane in 1928.
When James Anderson is recalled to replace Ollie Robinson in his home country at the age of 40, he will lead what has come to be called the “daddy's army” attack. Stuart Brookes is 37 years old, Chris Wokes is 34 years old and Mark Wood is 33 years old, and, in addition, spinner Moen is 36 years old. Captain Stokes, who bowled in practice but is unlikely to play much in a match due to knee and glute injuries, is 32 himself. Wood takes three more wickets, England becoming the first team in Test history to have six players with over 100 wickets in the same XI.
“I was always told that old age is golden,” Moin said. “As a fairly old person, I don't think it's a bad thing. It's not just old, it's Jimmy, it's Brody, Wuaxie, Woody, so they're really good bowlers, good guys, and hopefully they can get some wickets.
Stuart Broad and James Anderson will team up for the 137th time at Old Trafford on Wednesday. Photo: Sean Botterill/Getty Images
One thing you can always know is what you'll be getting most of the time, especially from these four seamers. Personally, you never know what you'll get, but these guys definitely know how good they are.
'They are brilliant bowlers and it's great to have Jimmy back'
The England squad is made up of just three players: firsts Zach Crawley and Ben Duckett, and Harry Brook, who returns to fifth at the age of 30 years. Australia is also an old team and only Todd Murphy under 29 is in their likely roster.
< p>Moen's promotion to No. 3 came after he volunteered to do the job in the second inning at Headingley to protect Brook, who had a 75-game winning streak. England have a vacancy in this position because Ollie Pope suffered a shoulder injury at the end of the season. Lord's second test.
“The team is the most important thing,” Moin said. “I think Brooky is a great player and will be a great player, I just personally think five years is great for him, the impact he can make there is way more than he probably can at the moment with three . I'm not saying he won't be a great number 3, I just feel like it's probably better for the team right now if I get a 3.”
Brummie Moin Ali and Chris Wookes are the third and fourth oldest members of the quintet. Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
England backed goalkeeper Johnny Barstow and in a training session forced inside by incessant rain, he underwent a focused gloving session with manager Brandon McCallum and Joe Root's first miss. The dropout of Root and especially Bairstow has been costly in a very tight series so far.
It looks like Australia will make one change: Josh Hazlewood will replace Scott Boland.
That would mean Cameron Green missing Headingley centurion Mitchell Marsh despite overcoming a hamstring injury, but the possibility remains that spinner Todd Murphy is missed. This would be extremely surprising given that Australia hasn't run a No-Spinner Test since January 2012, but they may take note of the patchy weather forecast and the fact that they only need to draw to save the Ashes, which may encourage them to pack the batting.
Moen has 16 wickets at an average of 18.5 at Old Trafford and he thinks it's a field where you can't do without a lure.
“In a test match you have to play the spinner no matter where I think most of the time, but especially at Old Trafford,” he said. “I have always enjoyed playing bowling here. There is always something. It will rotate especially on the fourth or fifth day, bouncing around a little. there was always something to work with.
Murphy didn't trust Pat Cummins at Headingley, where he only scored two of 50 overs in a successful England run. Moine thinks how he uses Murphy will be a “test” for Captain Cummins.
“I think the chase was difficult because we'd rather run into the spinner and you missed out on Nathan Lyon, who was a big part of the team and he's doing an amazing job for them,” he said.
“Todd is good, he has a lot of potential and I'm sure he'll play a lot more here.
“It [spin] is not always easy to use from the captain's point of view. really getting into it now. Because when you have a good spinner, like Graeme Swann or Nathan Lyon used to be, it's pretty easy, but now I think for Pat it will be a test of his captaincy, and let's see where you [Australia] are now, but he did good job so far.”
Recent Comments