Speaking exclusively with BOYLE Sports former English Cricketer Monty Panesar has spoken ahead of the second Ashes Test predicting a lively atmosphere at the iconic Gabba Cricket ground while also giving his honest assessment of recent comments made by both Steve Smith and Darren Lehman
Elsewhere, he reflected on his own experiences playing in an away Ashes in Australia, England's Key Players ahead of the second test and his prediction for how he see the 2025 Ashes Series finishing.
Spinning Strategy
To Spin or not To Spin?
Playing a spinner in the second Test depends on the wicket - if the wicket is spinner-friendly and when they get to the nets at The Gabba and the ball is spinning, then a specialist spinner has to play.
With the likes of Travis Head, anything that’s quick, he’ll be able to put you out of the ground, and the same with Jake Weatherald, then an off-spinner, either Shoaib Bashir or Will Jacks, will cause them problems. Shoaib Bashir would be a good option because all the reports are suggesting that Head is going to open the batting, and a change of pace will hopefully change the momentum. The left-handers are causing problems for this England team, so there’s definitely an option that Shoaib Bashir could play.
Jacks vs Bashir:
At the moment, I’d pick Shoaib Bashir because you need that X factor. He’s very tall and has a high release point, and they’ve invested in him over the last couple of years - this is his time now.
If he goes and gets Travis Head out early doors, then that’s it, that’s all he’s got to do in the first innings - nothing else. Get Travis Head out, and he’s done his job - it’s as simple as that.
Bowling Moves
Bowling Strategy
I’d bowl wicket to wicket against Head - get close to the stumps and get him to play against the spin. The key is going to be if someone like Shoaib Bashir does play, then don’t pack the leg side and get him to play across the line.
If I’m bowling, I would have a deep cover and a gap between point and mid-off. I’d get him to play against the spin, so then hopefully short leg and the man at the drive at mid wicket come into the game. You’ve got to get him to play against the spin, so that’s going to be the key because once you start doing that, then the spinner is in the game.
Australian Media
England aren’t a million miles away! In the second innings at Perth after lunch, they lost three key wickets because they all played on the up. When you’re going to play on fast, bouncy pitches and if you’re going to play ‘Bazball,’ you need to have your scoring options off the back foot - the pull shot and cut shot. You don’t want to get out on the front foot, and that’s where England are going wrong because they’re playing the ball on the up. That’s what the Australian bowlers want!
Someone like Scott Boland is bowling that six or seven metre length, and if you’re driving on the up, you’re going to get out. In Australia, because of the pace and the bounce of the pitches, unless it’s really full and really straight, then you play a straight drive but forget the cover drive. If they’re going to play ‘Bazball,’ then play ‘Bazball’ off the back foot. That’s how they’ve got to play - if it’s on the front foot and it’s at that six or seven metre length, just leave the ball and get them to bowl straight.
Eventually, the bowlers start losing patience, and then you can strike the ball straight down the ground towards the sightscreen, and then they’ll bowl short. That’s when you can pull the ball, but you do not play on the up on that six / seven metre length. If England do that again, they're going to be in trouble, and they won’t be learning from their mistakes. They’ve got to say to themselves, ‘let’s play aggressive cricket, but it’s got to be off the back foot’. If they do that, they've got a chance of winning this second Test match.
Toning Down England’s Batting Approach?
Absolutely, England will have to tone down their approach - they’re playing like they are in England. In England, you can play on the up when the ball is back of a length because it doesn’t bounce as much. You can’t play those shots in Australia because the speed of the pitch is quicker, so they’ve got their strategy slightly wrong. If they want to play aggressive cricket, then the scoring options have to be off the back foot unless it’s really full - then you can play the straight drive with a straight blade. You don’t want to be playing through the covers or on the up.
England Squad
Message To Crowley
Crawley is probably going to play all of the Test matches, to be honest. They’ve given him that freedom to say your place isn’t under threat, and they’re hoping one or two out of the 10 innings he plays, he’ll be successful and gets a hundred or a quick 50. If he does that, they’ll think he’s done well, so his place isn’t under threat at all. They just want to give him the freedom to play without fear, and that comes by guaranteeing him 10 innings - just go out and express yourself and hope it comes off.
Squad Shuffle
The negatives are that they are not getting the pink ball preparation that they need. It does show a sense of arrogance because they haven’t got the experience of playing with the pink ball, and they haven’t done very well in pink ball Test matches.
But then also the positives are that they are sticking to their guns - they’re making sure the team environment and team cohesion stay positive. They feel that the nets at The Gabba are enough preparation to get the team over the line. It’s also about showing the media and the ex-players who are criticising the team at the moment that our team is strong, and we aren't influenced by external noise.
We will get three or four days of good preparation - the nets are sufficient for us, and we’ll have good pink ball preparation - that’s the message they’re showing at the moment, we are a unit as a team, and we haven’t broken up as a team yet.
Let’s be honest, they had a golden opportunity to be one-nil up in The Ashes series, and they obviously messed it up after lunch. Now they’re going to say, ‘it’s your method, and we do it our way, so we give you guys another chance’... and I hope they can turn the tables now. I hope that the England team learn from their mistakes, especially the batting.
It’s the batting that’s going to be the issue, not the bowling. The bowlers in the first Test did very well, and I hope that England can come back stronger against all the odds. Australia play very well in pink ball Test matches - Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have got fantastic records, so it’s all against us, but it will be brilliant cricket. I hope they can do it because it will quieten all those critics who are saying ‘Bazball’ can’t succeed in Australia - I hope Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum prove them all wrong.
What England Must Do To Win
The bowling isn’t going to be the issue because it’s going to swing at some point, and the Australians fear the pace of England’s bowlers. It’s going to be tricky when the ball starts swinging, and there’s tougher conditions, and they’ve just got to make sure they don’t lose wickets in clusters. We cannot have bad passages of play like we did in Brisbane, where we lost four for 11 in the first innings and five for 23 in the second.
When we lose wickets in clusters in a short period of time, it’ll be in a space of 20 to 30 minutes, and they can’t afford to do that. If the conditions are there to play aggressive cricket, be smart enough to just see it out for half an hour. The bowlers are allowed to bowl well! So leave the ball, it’s not a crime! Then they can cash in. There’s going to be a passage in play where they realise this is a danger moment here, and they’ve got to make sure they don’t lose too many wickets in that period of time.
Ashes Reflections 5-0 Down in Australia
The media come after you - you get scrutinised by the media about everything that you do, and you feel like the whole country is against you. The cab driver, the restaurant waiters, they always remind you of things such as ‘do you remember when Adam Gilchrist hit you for four sixes in one over. You think, ‘thanks for reminding me.
When you go to the restaurant, the restaurant manager will say, ‘Oh, I have a table for you here, Mr Panesar. By the way, I just want to remind you of Adam Gilchrist, he batted really well, didn’t he?’ That’s what ends up happening: they keep on reminding you everywhere you go. I think that’s where Ben Stokes and his team have just got to be strong in terms of their character and say, This is what’s going to happen.
The Australian public are well educated - like we have the Premier League here and every game is talked about. It’s the same over there, all they talk about is The Ashes - they have designated radio programmes just talking about The Ashes, and they keep doing it every day. It’s like the Premier League football matches at home so everyone gets a good idea and gist of where England went wrong and what Australia did well. Ben Stokes and his team have just got to ride it out and they’ve got the best attitude - they’ve just laughed things off like ‘Average Joe’, ‘Joe the invisible man’ or Ben Stokes the lucky captain - they just forget about all these headlines.
They’ve got to focus on the pink ball Test match and get the team mentally ready, so they’re ready to compete against Australia. They can beat this Australia team - in the first Test, Australia only had two players play well - Starc took 10 for, and Travis Head got a hundred. You take away their two performances, and Australia are vulnerable, and that’s what England have got to remember.
England can take these guys down, and Australia know that - when they start again in Brisbane, if England fire, they’ll beat Australia.
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