England is bracing for some Ashes agony with legend Graham Gooch fearing that none of the country’s batsman possess the mettle to handle Australia’s battery of fast bowlers.
While England boasts the most powerful batting line-up in white-ball cricket that does not translate to the Test arena, with West Indies skittling Joe Root’s team for totals of 77, 132 and 187 earlier this year.
According to the ICC rankings, England boats five of the world’s best 20 ODI batsman but Root is the only Englishman to feature in the top 25 in the Test rankings.
To be truthful, I don’t think we have an obvious choice (of who could handle the Aussies),” Gooch said.
“As an opening batsman, it’s not a question of how, but how many?
“James Vince looks easy on the eye, but he has not yet found a method where he can step in and step out of building an innings mentally.
“You have to drive your own success — no one is going to give you a silver bullet.”
Complicating matters for England is the fact that Australia boasts three of the top 15 Test bowlers — Pat Cummins (No.1), Josh Hazlewood (No.13) and Mitchell Starc (No.15).
Youngster Jhye Richardson is also set to fly up the rankings while James Pattinson has been starring in County Cricket, claiming eight wickets for Notts last week before joining the Australia A tour.
“(Australia A) plays a few one-dayers followed by three four-day games, which is enough preparation for hopefully an Ashes selection,” Pattinson said.
“I think I’m bowling pretty well. I know I got eight wickets last game, but I think there’s still room for improvement.”