Hello and welcome to Stumped, your intercontinental hit of news, features and debate from the quirky world of cricket.
I'm Charu Sharma for Akashvani in India and it’s great to be back on Stumped after being away to the Arctic for two or three icy
weeks. It was a great trip. The Norwegian Arctic, the Svalbard, and we were lucky to catch a lot of polar bear sightings.
I'm back in Mumbai which is plus 40 right now so it’s sweltering and I'm about to leave now for Patna, the capital of the state of
Bihar where the Government's rising and realising the importance of sports. Whenever a government gets enthusiastic
about sport it's always good news. I'm to host their two day symposium, which will be fun. Of course, I’ve missed a lot
of the IPL, no cricket In the Arctic, but it is now reaching a fantastic climax.
Nice to see you again, Charu. I hope you weren't wrestling with those polar bears. They have a strong diet and I'm sure
they'd love to be taking in some fellow travellers for afternoon tea. It’s not quite the Arctic down here in Sydney.
It's Jim Maxwell here for the ABC, but it's getting cooler, so I'm looking forward to heading north, well hopefully heading to a
warmer north in the UK in a couple of weeks time in preparation for that big game at the Oval, and then, of course, the Ashes.
Good afternoon both of you. I'm Nikesh Rughani here in Leicester in the East Midlands in England for the BBC. It's been
another week of commentating on the IPL for me watching the likes of Joe Root bench warming and supposedly warming up for
the Ashes by doing that which is very strange to me. What is not so strange is that it's pretty cool here at the moment.
Spring hasn't really arrived in England and not only is that a concern really ahead of the English international season,
but also for me, personally, as well. I have come out of retirement this year looking to play a few games and I'm actually
picking up a brand new bat later on today, so looking forward to it and hopefully the weather can be on my side.
Well, we certainly hope so I wonder if people still condition their bats like they used to in the past. Nikesh, good luck with that.
As both of you mentioned that the big one’s coming up, in fact two big ones. Let's begin with that first on Stumped.
We're just over a month away now from one of the biggest rivalries in cricket being renewed the men's Ashes between
England and Australia and that starts at Edgbaston next month. But before that, Australia, of course, do face the challenge of
India in the final of the World Test Championships at the Oval on 7th June. Nikesh, do please make sure the sun comes out
by then at least so we hope for the best it’s not going to be cold. And Jim, there's so much competition for places, isn't there,
as far as the Australian team is concerned, both for England and Australia as a matter of fact right now? And you’ve been
speaking to somebody special I believe from the Aussie camp who is hoping to make his mark.
Well, he did four years ago, he got his opportunity. I caught up with Marcus Harris during the week. He’s one of the four
opening batsman in the squad, and, yes, there's some stiff competition, I suppose, as we go on through this series
but Usman Khawaja and David Warner will be there at the start. And Harris is playing county cricket for Gloucestershire
and is hoping that having that experience in English conditions will stand him in good stead.
Yeah, I think it's probably the best preparation you can have. English conditions are obviously different to Australia
so I know coming into 2019 I remember not having played in England before and it wasn’t a shock to the system, but it's
just something so different, especially at the Test level. I wouldn't say I was under prepared, but I just wasn't
probably as prepared as what I could be, so I've been fortunate now to have three years of county cricket. I just think
it gives me the best chance to succeed and should I be given the opportunity throughout the English summer.
So where do you see yourself fitting into this Australian team if you get an opportunity?
There are four opening batsmen - Warner, Khawaja, Renshaw and yourself, so where do you squeeze in?
Well, I think David Warner and Usman Khawaja will obviously start so I understand that so I know that I'll be having to wait
for an opportunity but when my opportunity comes I think I'll be opening the batting and that's what selectors and coaches
have told me, so I know what my role is. It’s a matter of waiting and being patient and whenever that comes I feel like
I'll be ready to go, but I'm not putting any extra pressure on myself to have to try and force my way in or anything like that.
I know I’m ready to go and whenever that chance comes, it'll come.
The question that all the pundits have asked. David Warner, is the pressure on him to keep his place?
Is he near the end of his career? How do you see his situation going into these matches?
I've done a few interviews now and obviously with my position and where I am I get asked it every time and my answer is the
same. I think Davey has arguably been if not the best opener ever for Australia, so I think he’s earned the right to finish
whenever he wants to finish. Whether or not that is this series or whether or not it's at home in a home summer that's up to him,
but I think he has earned the right to see out the way he wants to see out. I think most of the team feels the same way
that Davey has earned the right to do that.
Stuart Broad appeared to have the number over David Warner in particular, maybe you a couple of times four years ago.
What did you have to combat when he comes at you around the wicket with the new ball?
He bowled really well in that 2019 series. I think, well, the hardest thing is when it's around the wicket with the way Broady
bowls is with his wobble seam, so it’s a bit of nick both ways and then with the duke ball he can swing it as well. It’s probably
trying to figure out which way you want to, is an acceptable out for you and owning that. He's obviously trying to keep you on the
pad, so probably trying to work out a way not to get out LBW, but accepting that he might nick you off or something like that.
And the challenge is now I think once you've seen with DRS and stuff like that with reviews a lot of bowlers bowl around the
wicket to left-handers now. But in the same breath we've had a lot of practice at trying to work out a way to get over that and
score and be effective against it. I feel like we'll be better prepared for it, not that we weren't well prepared
last time, but we sort of know what their plan of attack will be.
Are you thinking of a Bazball approach of some sort batting a yard outside your crease and taking them on?
No, I don’t think, that's not my game. I'll probably just try and play the way that I play and go from there, but it is good to watch
the way those guys play and go about it. They definitely take the game on, but I don't think that suits the way I play, no.
Do you think Australia has a more potent discipline attack than perhaps England have faced during their recent success
that is going to make Bazball a riskier proposition against the Australian bowlers?
Yeah, it’s a good question. I remember being over here last summer and I know when they first started playing the way that
they're playing against New Zealand some people question that, but then they came up against India who has arguably
probably one of the best attacks in the world as well and they still did the same thing. I wouldn’t discredit the way that the
English guys have played. Our attack is obviously very good and I would like to say the best attack in the world, so we'll have
to wait and see. We'll soon find out once that first Test match starts what they are going to do, but it is going to be a good
battle either away, so it'll be interesting to see how it all unfolds. I think a lot is going to depend on what the wickets are like.
If the wickets are green and doing then it’s probably going to hard to come out and smack them, but if the wickets are
probably a bit flatter and a bit slower, it probably gives them a better chance to play like that.
So we should look ahead and anticipate the series as everyone is with so much expectation. What do you see is the difference
between the sides? Can you put your finger on it, the differences that might make Australia the better team in the final analysis?
I think maybe that you could probably argue our team is a little bit more settled. You've probably had a pretty similar team now
for the last probably 18 months and I think now with Cameron Green being fit it just gives a bit of balance to that middle order
and then our bowling attack is second to none. And having players fit, fitness is a big thing especially with the bowlers
if we can keep the same attack, only rotate a few blokes that gives you a big opportunity of winning the Test matches.
So I think that would probably be our, if any advantage, it would be that, but I wouldn't underestimate the English side and I
definitely wouldn’t underestimate anything they have done in the past 18 months. Confidence is a funny thing in cricket and
they are definitely playing with confidence, so it's going to be good to watch and interesting to see how it all unfolds.
The old mind games keep going around here and there with various players like Stuart Broad declaring that the last Ashes
series was void because of Covid. What do you and your mates make of that?
I found that pretty funny, that was good. We were all in a hub, so it was hard work. Covid was shocking, but, it was obviously
a challenge for them being overseas and in bubbles and it was really tight restrictions at the time, but I wouldn't say it was void.
It's a good discussion point from Broady. I think we’ll still be claiming that we won that series 4-0.
Now Nathan Lyon has gone off like Glenn McGrath in the last 24 hours saying it will be 5-0 Australia.
Are you daring to make a prediction?
No, I haven't played 100 tests, so I’m not going to say anything. Gazza is funny with stuff like that, but I just think if we play our
best cricket we should win the series. But if we win it 5-0, if we win it 3-2, 2-1, it doesn’t matter as long as we win. I know we
were so close last time with retaining them, but we would love to win them. I think we've got the side to do it.
I'm not going to predict the score line, though.
It's interesting though that it’s 22 years since Australia won a series in England. For a lot of that time they have been the top
ranked team in the world. It’s a bit of extra incentive, isn’t it to win in England with that marginal record behind Australia?
Yeah, I think so I think that team back 22 years ago is probably one of the best Australian teams, if not the best Australian team,
, to ever play as a Test side. I think it would be a good feather in our cap as our squad if we can win this series over here. It is a
really tough place to tour as in like cricketwise, it’s a great place to tour otherwise. It’s tough cricket, but I just think we have
got a good squad now, we are quite settled. I think looking back at 2019, sort of Smithy and Davey were getting
reintegrated back into the squad while they have had four years of cricket under their belt now. We've got a brilliant attack.
Ussy is going really well, Marney is going really well. We’ve got a good team and there is no reason why we can't win it this time.
Marcus, thank you very much for your thoughts and good luck. I hope you get the opportunity to be part of Australia’s campaign
to win once again in England. Thank you very much.
Thanks, Jim. Cheers mate.
So that was Marcus Harris, a very interesting interview I must confess, Jim. What do you make of Harris and his chances of
actually making a mark this summer? I'm sure he's got a lot of hope there.
Well, it just depends pretty match at the moment on what David Warner does. Everyone's been saying this is a valedictory tour
for Warner, his last opportunity, perhaps. Can he recapture some of his better form given that he barely scored a run
particularly against Stuart Broad here four years ago. Harris certainly wasn't convincing in a few innings that he
had in that series and although he has played 14 tests, he has not yet scored a test hundred. He’s sort of looked okay
without really nailing down the part.
We already heard from the Australia camp, but there is huge news from England as well because Jonny Bairstow is back for
the Test squad as he should perhaps be to face Ireland in that one off Test match at the start of the next month after
recovering from a broken leg. That's Bairstow. But he has been named as the wicketkeeper meaning that Ben Foakes misses out
and hasn't he done a fabulous job so far. The director of cricket, Rob Key says it's a decision they agonised over but England
has now claimed that, yes, it's a really tough one, but Bairstow must get a look in despite the fact that Foakes has done
so well. Nikesh, a complicated one for England, your thoughts?
Yeah, absolutely, a complicated one. Look there's no doubt first and foremost that Jonny Bairstow has to come back in if he is
He was England's player of the summer in 2022, really took the bull by the horns in terms of this new style of cricket that
England are looking to play, positive on the front foot. He was so crucial in some of those run chases. The record run chase
against India we all remember Trent Bridge that century in the fourth innings to beat New Zealand. There were so many great
moments from Jonny Bairstow. I suppose the question is, does he have to be in the side as a wicketkeeper and is there a place
for both of them, which some people, maybe suggesting as well? Look, Ben Foakes is a brilliant keeper.
Ben Stokes, the skipper, actually said a year ago that he is the best keeper in the world in my opinion and we
can't leave world class players out of our team. When you look at it, can you afford to have somebody who's not as good behind
the stumps in such a major series such as the Ashes. Yes, there's not going to be a lot of spin playing a part and keepers
standing up to the stumps. So there is a little bit more give in terms of that side of things, but was there a place for both
of them. Zak Crawley is still in the squad, he is batting at the top of the order. He has got a test average of 27 and from his 20
Test matches Ben Foakes has got an average of 32. So you could argue that he has been the better batter in that time
anyway, and could he come in in that middle order place Ben Foakes and have somebody like a Jonny Bairstow further
up towards the top of the order. Would that be messing with it too much. I don't know, but there's lots of debate around it,
and you've got to feel sorry for somebody like a Foakes maybe he just doesn't fit into this ‘Bazball’ style of cricket and that's the
reason why they have not gone with him. I really don't know, but he continues to perform well in county cricket. He has never let
England down as you say he has been part of those 10 victories out of their last 12 Test matches and performed really
well in that time not just behind the stumps, but also with the bat. Jonny Bairstow, Stephan Shemilt, who writes for the BBC
Sport website, described it as this, Jonny Bairstow is England's fire starter, Ben Foakes is England's fire fighter, and is there a
place for both in the side maybe there should be, but there won't be this time by the looks of it.
I remember the captain, Michael Atherton was the one who also mentioned that Faukes would be very unlucky to miss out
because he is England's best keeper, but so be it. Jim, this confusion might, in fact, help Australia a bit. Your thoughts?
Well, Bairstow’s selection has thrown the balance of the side out or he’s in because of that I guess. Stokes doesn't bowl
as much as he did and Harry Brook was so good when he came into the side that he has demanded a spot, whereas
Bairstow comes in a bit more marginally I suppose particularly off an injury as a specialist number seven and wicketkeeper.
I'm not sure that’s the ideal situation for England. It'll smooth out as we go perhaps because this is the early phase of the
summer and Bairstow’s there on tremendous reputation last year. But it is not a strong one against Australia in England where
he has been found out more often than not. Two centuries in Australia, but none in England and Foakes is clearly a much
better wicketkeeper. It's England issue because it's not their batting it’s their bowling that they've got to get right and in
order to compromise they found a spot for Bairstow because they need they think the extra batting. They need him
as much as anyone else because of that and he's going to keep wicket. Now how it works we'll just have to wait and see, but I
don't think it's an ideal situation for England, and Australia will be happy more or less that this is a change that is imminent,
although we do have to remember at this point it is only for a test match against Ireland.
That's it for this week's Stamped. My thanks to Jim Maxwell as always and Nikesh Rughani thank you so much for joining us
and all of you thanks for listening. Join us again next time for now goodbye.