After the current Indian Premier League (IPL) concludes in 2023, a number of Australian players will go to England for the eagerly awaited World Test Championship final against India before taking on England in the Ashes series. Australia and England will battle in five games over the course of a month in the Ashes series. The first game is set to start on June 16, and given that the series will stretch for more than a month, managing the player workload will be one of the team’s top priorities.
English pacer Matthew Potts was asked for his thoughts after Australia just selected four frontline pacers in their squad for the Ashes.
Ben Stokes had previously stated that England would seek to take eight fit seamers to better manage the workload. Pat Cummins, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc are the only pacers in Australia’s team for the matches against India and England.
Yes, I looked at that when they chose the four seamstresses. In an interview with Sky Sports, Matthew Potts said, “I thought that was a little bit of an odd choice, but I mean, they do have some seamers over here; Michael Neser, who played for Glamorgan, is over here and fit, so they will have people they can call upon and bring them in the squad should they need them. As for us needing eight fit seamers, I think that’s only right that we have that depth in the squad to call upon if we need it.
In addition, Matthew Potts emphasized the significance of rotating the fast bowlers when the Ashes begin. He even stated that it would be difficult for any athlete in the world to play five Test matches in the span of six weeks.
Fast bowlers certainly need to be rotated and given rest, but that is a difficult task for anyone with five matches in six weeks. I believe it would be beneficial if I could be near that, which is something I do aim to accomplish, Matthew Potts added.