Ashes 2021-22 | Leaving Stuart Broad and James Anderson out was perfectly fair enough, feels Mike Atherton

12/12/2021

Former England captain Mike Atherton defended England’s team selection for the first Ashes Test, and has stated that it was perfectly fair enough to leave out fast-bowling spearheads James Anderson and Stuart Broad. He cited the duo's lack of preparation time as the reason for their exclusion.

Australia handed a resounding nine-wicket defeat to England in the first Ashes Test at The Gabba, and took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. The hosts completely outplayed the visitors in all departments, and Pat Cummins claimed his first Test victory after being appointed as Australia's full-time Test captain.

However, fans and experts were surprised with England’s team combination without pacers James Anderson and Stuart Broad. The pace-bowling duo was seen carrying drinks during England’s second innings when Joe Root and Dawid Malan was batting on Day 3, and the management’s decision to bench the speedsters were widely criticized on social media. After England's defeat, the cricketing world did not stop the discussion regarding the exclusion of Anderson and Broad from the playing XI.

Meanwhile, Mike Atherton has backed England’s decision to bench Anderson and Broad for the first Test, citing their lack of preparation.

“I'm in a bit of a minority but I think that leaving Broad and Anderson out is perfectly fair enough,” Atherton wrote in his column for Sky Sports. “I know Root's got a lot of criticism for that; people can't understand why you'd leave 1,000 wickets on the bench. But I think in all normal circumstances, one of, if not both, would have played.

“England just haven't had the opportunity to get these guys up to speed; Broad tore his calf so badly over the summer that he spent weeks in a wheelchair unable to put any weight on his foot and hasn't played since August.”

“Anderson is 39 years of age and hasn't played for two or three months either - and I understand he may have started the tour with a slight niggle so he was a bit behind the others in preparation time as well. So again, I had a lot of sympathy for the decision to leave those two out.”

Anderson, who featured in the Edgbaston Test match against Australia in 2019, was injured after bowling just four overs in the opening session, and England lost his services for the rest of the series. Atherton revisited the incident and pointed out that Root would not have taken another risk to play Anderson without him being completely fit.

“Just go back to when Anderson played in that Test match at Edgbaston in 2019 against Australia, on the back of no match practice, and tore his calf after four overs. He was out of the match and out of the series. If that had have happened here, Joe Root would have got eviscerated for that,” he said.

The second Ashes Test will begin on Thursday, December 16 in Adelaide.