England prepares to win series victory in Brisbane
England is gearing up for a win at the Brisbane Cricket Ground on Thursday as they intensify their struggle to defend the Ashes against Australia.
England hasn’t won a series at the Gabba since 1986, and they have high hopes to win their first in 24 years. "We're all just very keen to get amongst it now," England captain Andrew Strauss told BBC sport.
Although batsman Michael Clarke was only recently passed fit for the opening game of the series, the ordeal has strengthened the Aussie's resolve, and spectators predict that the match will be a close one.
"Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 has got through his work particularly well the last couple of days and had a long, solid bat in the nets again,” said Australia captain Ricky Ponting of Clarke’s return.
That being said, the England team has sustained no player injuries, whereas http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 has had to deal with Clarke as well as Doug Bollinger, who was dropped from the list because of a side injury. Peter Siddle was chosen instead.
Strauss is in a positive frame of mind, and he expects good results from this week’s match.
"It's been a big build-up and obviously very exciting, the prospect of representing your country in an Ashes series - and we're standing here on the edge of it," he said. "But at the same time we recognise this is a tough assignment - not many sides come
out here and win.
The team captain said that although he realizes that the match will be difficult, he believes his team to be in good form, "We understand the size of the challenge ahead of us. But we couldn't be in a better place mentally to take it on."
England knows what it’s up against, as Australia has only once lost a Test match at the Gabba, since their loss to the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 in 1988.
Ponting admits that a big part of Australia’s motivation for the match is retribution, "That's a really big part of how we're playing this series," said the captain. "We took in our own disappointment and made sure it hurt them as much as possible. That's
what has been driving me.
"It's about that empty feeling that we've had at the Oval in two successive Ashes tours."
England’s past batsman, Mark http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Butcher-c48849 told BBC sport that the dreadful tour of four years ago serves as a motivating factor, "I think the memories of the last tour will actually galvanise the team to be strong, stay together, be more focussed and fight harder
this time round," he told BBC Sport.
Australia has called up spinner Xavier Doherty to compete at Ashes, and has dropped Nathan Hauritz from the squad, with bowler Peter Siddle making his debut over Bollinger.
Australia’s inclusion of left-armed Doherty led to speculation that he could have been called on to challenge England’s popular batsman Kevin Pieterson, who has a history of dismissals when faced with left-arm attacks.
Despite Doherty's less than perfect, first class track record, Ponting believes he is the right man for the job, "He's been particularly good. He's bowled a lot the last few days," he said.
"He'll stick to those through the five days, and I'm sure he'll do well. It's exciting for all of us, and exciting for me to have a cap presentation. That's a great part of my job."
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