After opting to rest James Anderson, England took another big call at the start of the Ashes 2021-22, deciding to leave out experienced pacer Stuart Broad from the series opener at the Gabba. Broad’s absence made it the first time since 2006 that England entered a Test match without him and Anderson in the playing XI.
England’s greatest new-ball pairing in modern-day Test cricket, Anderson and Broad have been given a break at the start of a busy Ashes series, which has five Tests cramped inside six weeks from December 8 to January 18.
The omission of England’s two highest ever Test wicket-takers didn’t go down well with quite a few experts and commentators.
Spin great Shane Warne was quite vocal on the matter, criticising the England management for resting their two best bowlers when Australia might have been under some pressure after losing to India last summer.
“Australia lost the first Test at The Gabba for the first time in 30 years last year. I would have been hitting them right between the eyes with Anderson and Broad. Unfortunately they have decided to rest them,”
he said on Fox Cricket.
But England skipper Joe Root reiterated the move to rest Anderson, and then Broad, is to manage their workload through the series and identify the right opportunities to play them together.
The 39-year-old Anderson, especially, is unlikely to play more than three Tests of the five-match contest.
“We are blessed with a very good seam attack and it was a difficult decision to make. There’s five Tests and it’s important they’re ready to go when called upon at any time,”
said Root as he won the toss and opted to bat first at the Gabba, only to see his team dismissed for a paltry 147 on a cloudy morning with some seam movement and bounce on offer from the track.
England’s decision to rest Anderson and Broad has a tactical element to it as well. Anderson, for example, averages a very poor 75.14 across his four Tests at the Gabba. But in Adelaide, where the next Test is to be held from December 16, that average drops to 29.50.
