da brdice： PERTH, Oct 27 AAP – Already humbled by fringe state cricketers, England faces tougher opposition and the promise of more morale-sapping pressure from tomorrow.
da bet nacional： Tom Wald27-Oct-2002PERTH, Oct 27 AAP – Already humbled by fringe state cricketers, England faces tougher opposition and the promise of more morale-sapping pressure from tomorrow.Test opener Justin Langer and fellow Australian squad member Brad Williams return to the Western Australia team for the three-day tour match at the WACA.Langer is determined to make the Australian team’s Ashes series job easier by ensuring injury-ravaged England leaves Perth with little reason for optimism.”The whole summer for us is about winning the Ashes, from my point of view I hope England gain no momentum because cricket is about momentum,” said Langer.After only three days of cricket, England captain Nasser Hussain admits his team is already behind schedule, its embarrassment at the hands of an Australian Cricket Board Chairman’s XI and a largely second-string WA side compounded by its many injury concerns.While Langer and Williams will play in a much stronger WA side for the three-dayer against England, fellow Australian players Adam Gilchrist and Damien Martyn will rest after their busier schedules.Williams joins Matt Nicholson and Jo Angel in fiery Warriors pace attack.Langer remained wary of England and anxious to prevent it getting a roll on, with only one other three-day match against Queensland to play ahead of the first Test at the Gabba from November 7.”I would be very surprised if they don’t (gain some momentum) and it is not a very competitive summer,” he said.”But we’ll be doing all we can on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to ensure there is no momentum or confidence going into next week or ultimately Thursday (week).”England is understandably keen to get its vaunted opening pair of Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick into decent batting form ahead of the five Test series, believing they hold the key to success.But those efforts are being hampered with Vaughan still recovering from a minor knee operation last month and Trescothick troubled by a shoulder injury.England delayed naming its side because of its crop of injuries.And, while Trescothick didn’t think the problem would stop him playing, he admitted he’d have to be careful not to let it affect his batting technique.Meanwhile, England middle order batsmen Mark Butcher and John Crawley are yet to fire, combining for just 33 runs from four outings.The other major worry for the visitors is its pace attack, which has been shown little respect so far.With spearhead Darren Gough (knee) increasingly unlikely to be fit for the Gabba Test, Andy Caddick and Matthew Hoggard have been more honest than earth-shattering.The tourists had looked to young speedsters Simon Jones and Stephen Harmison to shake-up Australia’s batting line-up.However Jones is still a little underdone while Harmison has been wayward, being punished for bowling too short on the WACA pitch last week.He opened the tour with 16 wides in seven overs in England’s 58-run loss to the ACB Chairman’s XI and had figures of 1-89 off 19 overs in the two-day game.But Langer, who has faced the lanky Harmison in England, said it was important that he wasn’t allowed to retrieve his confidence.”He bowled like the wind and basically reminded me of a white West Indian,” Langer said.”While he might not be getting it right at the moment, you are always wary of someone with that pace and bounce.”Langer said it always took time for touring sides to adjust to the pace and bounce of the WACA pitch.”Traditionally all touring sides have had trouble because it is such a unique ground,” he said.Western Australia team: Justin Langer (c), Michael Hussey (v-c), Jo Angel, Ryan Campbell, Murray Goodwin, Brad Hogg, Stuart Karppinen, Scott Meuleman, Matthew Nicholson, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, Brad Williams.
