England skipper Joe Root has come under heavy criticism for his decision to drop his two most experienced pacers James Anderson and Stuart Broad from the English team’s playing XI for Ashes tournament opener Down Under. Former England captain Nasser Hussain is the latest to join the bandwagon.
Hussain on Thursday while speaking to Sky Sports at the end of the second day’s play said that he would have rotated Anderson and Broad throughout the series to balance their bowling attack. Despite not agreeing with Root’s decision to drop both seamers, Hussain defended the England captain for picking a spinner in Jack Leach for the Gabba Test, where the conditions are clearly more suited for pace bowlers."I would have rotated Broad and Anderson throughout the series, as you need a balanced attack to bowl a side out in the first innings,” Hussain said, before stressing the need to play a spinner as the pitches often get flatter in the second innings.
The former cricketer turned commentator was also sceptical about England’s one-dimensional pace attack consisting of their four specialist seamers (Chris Woakes, Broad,Anderson, and Ollie Robinson), saying that it “won’t always work in Australia.”
Anderson and Broad have over 1100 Test wickets between them and their ability to exploit a green deck, especially during the overcast weather, is well known among cricket fraternities. Perhaps that’s why it comes as no surprise to see England bowlers’ struggling to contain Australian batters in their absence.
Hussain also defended Root for looking out for his “two ageing seamers” and for trying to balance their workload.The 53-year-old also speculated that Root’s decision to drop Anderson and Broad could have something to do with keeping them fresh for the day-nighter in Adelaide.
Meanwhile, in reply to England’s paltry total of 147 runs, Travis Head scored a scintillating century as Australia posted a mammoth total of 425 runs, to take 278 run leads in the first innings.
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