England’s pacer Josh Tongue is upbeat about the team’s road‑to‑Ashes preparation and confident that England can win the five‑match series against Australia.
The series starts this Friday at Perth’s Optus Stadium, with both sides eager to claim the coveted Ashes urn. England has not won the Ashes in Australia since 2015 and has suffered heavy defeats on their last three tours.
Despite criticism that the squad only played a single warm‑up game against the England Lions at Lilac Hill, Tongue said the build‑up was solid. He added that several players had been in New Zealand beforehand for extra practice.
“It’s very exciting. We’ve had a good build‑up. Some of us were in New Zealand to prep for this. I feel the group of bowlers we have now, with Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, gives us the X Factor,” Tongue told reporters Tuesday. “The pace and the bouncy wickets will help the faster bowlers and the skills we possess as a team. I think we can give it a good shot.”
Australia enters the first Test without senior pacers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. Wicketkeeper‑batter Jamie Smith acknowledged the challenge but remains confident.
“Australia still has a dominant attack… Even though Cummins and Hazlewood are missing, the players coming in are also fantastic,” Smith said. “We respect the guys who are out and stay focused on what we can do well in this first Test.”
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