Australia and England are all set to renew their fierce rivalry when the heavyweights lock horns with each other in the upcoming Ashes series which is set to kick off from June 16 (Friday).
All eyes will be on David Warner, who is going through a patchy form in Tests as he has scored just one half century in his last 17 innings. The star opener also had a miserable outing when Australia last visited England for the Ashes series in 2019. But for Warner, who is at the fag end of his career, it will be a perfect opportunity to silence his critics and prove his batting prowess in the Ashes series this time around.
Hogg's deadline for Warner
Australia's spin legend Brad Hogg while pointing out at Warner's struggle with the bat has given him a deadline to perform. Hogg on his Youtube channel said that Warner has been struggling over the last year or two and there are big question marks on him.
“Warner has been struggling over the last year or two. There are big question marks on him. I’ll only give him a couple of Test matches. If he doesn’t make any runs early on, I’ll have to make a change there,” said Hogg.
Australian might turn upto Matt Renshaw and Marcus Harris as Warner's replacement, provided the veteran batter fails to make an impact with the bat in the Ashes 2023.
Cummins backs Warner
Meanwhile, Australia skipper Pat Cummins has showed his faith towards Warner and has said that a different version of the star batter will be seen in the Ashes 2023 series.
"I don't think there'll be any surprises. They're guys we've played a lot and Davey's I'm sure been thinking about Broad a lot over the last four years and if he got another chance, how he is going to play against him. It didn't go Davey's way last time, but I think we'll see a different Davey this time," Cummins said.
Ashes 2023 schedule
1st Test, Friday June 16-Tuesday June 20: , Edgbaston
2nd Test, Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s
3rd Test, Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley
4th Test, Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Emirates Old Trafford
5th Test, Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Kia Oval
Australia squad for first two Tests: Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.
England squad for first two Ashes Tests: Ben Stokes (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
Ashes 2023: How death of England batting led to the birth of cricket's oldest rivalry, here's everything you should know
'Arrogance has crept into Indian cricket...no bright spot': Legendary West Indies cricketer rips apart Team India after WTC final debacle
