England are relishing the prospect of ending Australia’s 22-year unbeaten run at the Gabba in the first Ashes Test to make the best possible start to their campaign to retain the urn, captain Andrew Strauss said.
Determined not to leave hostages to fortune with his pre-series utterances, Strauss again peppered his comments with caveats, but there was no betraying his confidence yesterday in England’s ability to win a series on Australian soil for the first time in almost a quarter of a century.
“I think we have got a good opportunity, there’s no doubt about it,” he told a press conference on the eve of the start of the series. “We started the tour well, we’re in a good place as a side, but at the same time we recognize it’s a tough assignment, not many sides come out here and win.”
PHOTO: AFP
“We understand the size of the challenge ahead of us, but we couldn’t be in a better place mentally to take on that challenge,” he said. “It’s going to take a lot of good cricket ... guys are going to have to dig pretty deep, but I’m fully confident we have the players to do it.”
Australia have not lost a Test match in Brisbane since the West Indies beat them in 1988 and England’s last victory at the ground came in the 1986-1987 Ashes series, the last the tourists won in Australia.
“It’s a very strong home ground for Australia, but I think the prospect of maybe turning that record around excites us,” Strauss said. “If the guys put their minds to it, it could be a very good start to the series to maybe overcome that record.”
PHOTO: AFP
“In past years, Australia have really hit the ground running strongly in the first Test match, they’ve made a conscious effort to go hard on the tourists in the first Test,” he said. “Conditions here are slightly alien to touring sides, especially touring sides that are a bit under-cooked or under-prepared.”
In 2006, England arrived in Australia in possession of the Ashes and with a confident nation expecting a series as close as that in 2005, only to be comprehensively beaten 5-0.
Lessons were learned from that experience, not least in raising expectations about series victories before a ball has been bowled.
“To think of the finish line now is naive at best and dangerous at worst,” the England opener said. “There’s so much cricket between now and then. If you want to win this Ashes series, you have to earn the right to do it over and over again. I’m not looking at the finishing post now, I’m thinking about tomorrow and making a good start.”
Strauss said there were no injury concerns for England and his players could not wait to get started.
“We’re standing here on the edge of it, the guys are very keen to get amongst it and get off to a good start,” he said. “A lot of people have spent a lot of money to come here and support us, and we thrive on the idea that we could pull off something pretty special.”
Fenerbahce on Thursday earned a rare 2-1 win in England, but were still knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by Nottingham Forest in the playoffs. Forest entered the second leg with a healthy 3-0 lead from the opener in Istanbul — where Vitor Pereira made an impact in his first game in charge — and that proved enough to advance to the round-of-16 with a 4-2 aggregate score. The result was a boost for Forest, struggling at 17th place in the Premier League, in their return to Europe after three decades. They next face Real Betis Balompie or Kerem Akturkoglu gave Fenerbahce
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
RSS