EDGBASTON, England (Reuters) – Australia captain Pat Cummins tipped a “different” David Warner to win his personal duel against Stuart Broad and dominate England’s bowlers in the Ashes series beginning at Edgbaston on Friday.
England’s team for the series opener includes seamer Broad, who has dismissed Warner 14 times, the most by a bowler, and seven of them came in 2019 alone when the opener averaged a meagre 9.50.
Warner has managed just one test hundred since January 2020 and intends to quit the format in January next year.
“Davey’s, I’m sure, been thinking about Broad a lot over the last four years and if he got another chance how he is going to play against him,” Cummins told reporters on Thursday.
“It didn’t go Davey’s way last time, but we’ll see a different Davey this time.”
Warner, who has made 8202 runs from 104 tests averaging 45.31, has vowed to shrug off any tentativeness and bat differently against Broad.
Cummins also expected Warner and other Australia batters to go after England’s spin all-rounder Moeen Ali, who came out of his test retirement to fill the void created by an injury to their left-arm spinner Jack Leach.
Off-spinner Moeen tends to bleed runs but has been named in England’s team and will play his 65th test at his home ground.
“If you’re a frontline bowler and you’re not holding up an end, hopefully you’re taking plenty of wickets,” Cummins said.
“That’s an opportunity for the batters.”
“You’ve seen with our guys, if they sense any opportunity to attack a spinner they’ve been pretty brave at times. I don’t think they’ll be any different here.”
The five-test series promises to be mouthwatering prospect between newly-crowned world test champions Australia and an England team playing fearless cricket built primarily around their swashbuckling batting.
Cummins wants his bowling colleagues to remain calm and stick to their plans.
“The more you get into the minutiae, you end up with a simplified plan, so that’s what we’re going to be hammering home,” Cummins said.
“The ball moves a little bit differently. You can’t always bat exactly like you would in a one-day game and that’s the strength of our bowling unit.
“If there’s anything in the wicket we’re going to find it, we’re going to be relentless in our areas.”
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Toby Davis)
