A week of inactivity for England’s cricketers will end on Saturday following confirmation of additional training sessions having been scheduled in the wake of their howling eight-wicket defeat to Australia in the first Ashes Test.
As reported by the Guardian on Monday, head coach Brendon McCullum has booked extra time in the nets ahead of the day-night second Test that starts in Brisbane on 4 December rather than send any first team players to the two-day England Lions match in Canberra this weekend.
The first session takes place at Allan Border Field on Saturday morning, before switching to the facilities at the Gabba from Sunday onwards. Two of the sessions – Monday and Wednesday – will take place after dark so players can get used to seeing the pink Kookaburra ball under lights.
It represents a break from England’s usual pattern of training three days before a Test match. But as well as the vagaries of floodlit cricket, it will also allow players to acclimatise to playing in the increased humidity of Brisbane that has seen a number of electrical storms hit the city in the past week.
The challenge may also increase with regards to their opponents amid a growing expectation that Pat Cummins will be added to Australia’s squad when it is named on Friday. Cummins has not played since July after the detection of a lower back “hotspot” but trained with his teammates before Perth and has since been seen bowling with a pink ball in Sydney.
One-nil up in the series, and with England having not won at the Gabba since the victorious 1986-87 tour, the hosts may yet hold Cummins until the third Test in Adelaide. Australia’s regular captain may well be the only addition to the group, albeit with Usman Khawaja still needing to prove his fitness following the back spasms that blighted his outing in Perth.
