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England's preparation looks risky says Mike
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Australia will be nervous without Pat Cummins
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Mike has his say on Brook, Boland, Bazball and more
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Read the Ultimate Guide to the Ashes 2025
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Betfair Predicts is your guide to winter Ashes predictions
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Betfair and The Overlap proudly present Stick to Cricket, the weekly show featuring England cricket legends Michael Vaughan, Sir Alastair Cook, David 'Bumble' Lloyd and Phil 'Tuffers' Tufnell, joined by special guests to talk cricket's biggest stories.
This week, ex-Australian Ashes winning batsman Mike Hussey joins the Stick To Cricket team to preview the first Ashes Test of the series down under.
Watch the episode and read Mike's quotes below.
England's preparation for this Ashes series looks risky
I've been thinking about this a lot and thinking about the preparation side of things for England. So, for one, that England team in 2010 had stuck together for several years. So, they were a good, strong group, good players that had been together.
The second thing they did, and I don't know, it's going to be a hindsight thing, but when they came to Australian shores, they played about four or five first-class games before that series, and they were used to the conditions.
When I was going to play county cricket in England. It used to take me three or four weeks just to get used to the pitches.
It's the same coming to Australia. You can't just fly in and think, oh yeah, I'm going to be fine here on these pitches. Plus, they've sent England out to Lilac Hill, which is a beautiful, beautiful ground. But it's a club ground. It's not going to have the same pace and bounce as this sort of pitch.
I felt like England prepared unbelievably well for that 2010 series. The batters were just in good nick, they were used to the conditions, and they just battered us, they just batted and batted and wore us down.
The last thing you want to be doing in an Ashes series is trying to figure out how to play on the conditions and they get to test three and you're, okay, now I'm starting to hit my straps, you know, you want to hit the ground running.
I understand that the schedule, the way it is, the landscape's a lot different now, that they like to come in, just do what they've been doing and then get on with it. But I mean, I think it's a risk, but hindsight will tell.
Australia will be nervous with no Pat Cummins
I did have a quick chat with Pat Cummins, and he said his body's feeling great, and he's steamed in off the long run.
He looked really good, but he just hasn't played much at all really for the last six months. I think they'll be pushing hard for the second Test. If he's not quite got that sort of volume behind him, definitely solid for Adelaide in the third Test.
No Pat Cummins is a huge loss in the first test. He's the number one bowler, the captain of the team, and makes handy runs as well. He's a calm influence around the group. That's an enormous loss, and I think the Aussies will be nervous coming into it because losing both him and Hazelwood for the first Test is a big loss.
The hype around this series is as big as I have ever remembered
The hype is as big as I have ever remembered for an Ashes series. This has been unbelievable. I've been here in Perth, and everyone is so excited for this first game.
It's sold out the first three days. Everywhere you go, people just cannot stop talking about it. The hype's been massive over here.
The one place Harry Brook hasn't scored runs is Australia
The one player I'm looking forward to watching is Harry Brook. He's a gun, and he's scored so many runs all around the world. This is the one place that he hasn't scored runs, and I know it'll be in the back of his mind.
If he can get a score early in the series, that'll be enormous for his confidence. But if Australia can keep him down early, then maybe the mind games will start playing in his mind as well. So he's a massive watch for me.
Scott Boland has to be the main man for Australia
The challenge for Boland's going to be, in the last few years he's been the back-up guy. He came in mid-series and had a massive impact on these pitches. He's unbelievable on these pitches.
But now he's in the series, Test 1, and probably looking to play the whole series. That's a different dynamic for Scott Boland. He's normally come in with a little bit less pressure. Now he's got to be one of the main men. I'm going to be fascinated to see how he handles that extra pressure.
I would have struggled with Bazball
I would have struggled with Bazball. I would have struggled if the coaches were saying to me, "Come on, you've got to get on with it all the time." What if someone's bowling well? Sometimes you've got to work your way through it.
That's what I love about Test cricket. Sometimes you've got your opportunity to dominate, and then sometimes you're just going to have to soak up a bit of pressure.
Brendan Doggett is a very good bowler
Brendan Doggett is a good bowler, very good bowler. The challenge for him is coming in for your first Test match with so much hype, an Ashes series. It's all the external distractions. You can't prepare anyone for that.
To come in in your very first game and deal with all the external stuff, the extra media, the extra crowds, the hype of the fans, that's going to be the challenge.
I think he seems like a very level-headed guy. Yeah, I wish him all the best. I think he'll do well.
Marnus Labuschagne's change in batting style is a huge positive
Marnus Labuschagne has definitely changed his mentality. Over the last couple of years, it's been more around just batting for survival, just hanging in there and surviving, and that doesn't work.
I think a player needs to go through that sort of thing to come out the other side. For Queensland in Sheffield Shield Cricket, he's been a lot more aggressive, scoring at a much better rate.
He has sort of said, "I want to come out and just be free, play my shots, and look to score runs." And I think that change in mentality has been really positive.