Australia will lock horns against England in the Ashes later this year.
Former England pacer Stuart Broad believes that Australia’s current top-order batting lineup is the most “muddled” that he has ever seen.
Stuart Broad was speaking ahead of the Ashes that will take place Down Under later this year. The former right-arm pacer himself had the opportunity to play against Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting, so he was talking from experience. He played 40 Ashes Tests and finished with 153 wickets.
“I’m not out of place in thinking it’s the most muddled top three in my lifetime. I’ve grown up with Hayden, Langer and Ponting,” the 39-year-old said on The Grade Cricketer podcast. Australia’s top three has been in transition ever since the retirement of David Warner.
MAL-W
144/10
ASM-W
235/9
PHL
146/10
SK
185/5
South Korea Won by 39 runs
SK
52/10
INA
53/0
Indonesia beat South Korea by 10 wickets
INA
–
PHL
–
PHL
–
SK
–
SL
–
BAN
–
BUL
–
GBT
–
BUL
–
TRK
–
SBA-W
74/2
BUL-W
73/5
Serbia Women beat Bulgaria Women by 8 wickets
TKW-W
129/9
GRC-W
119/8
Turkey Women beat Greece Women by 10 runs
ATPG
104/2
GENW
103/9
Antwerp Giants beat Gent Wolves by 8 wickets
LEST
97/4
GENW
96/10
Liege Stallions beat Gent Wolves by 6 wickets
HAST
105/2
LEST
103/5
Hasselt Titans won by 8 wickets
LEUL
153/9
HAST
156/2
Hasselt Titans won by 8 wickets
BRBA
118/8
OSTG
114/6
Brussels Bashers beat Ostend Tigers by 2 wickets
ATPG
123/8
OSTG
129/5
Ostend Tigers beat Antwerp Giants by 5 wickets
BRBA
–
HAST
–
LEUL
–
OSTG
–
LEST
–
BRBA
–
ATPG
–
HAST
–
GENW
–
LEUL
–
91YC
78/5
BCC
75/5
91 Yards Club won by 5 wickets (DLS method)
CCC
110/10
NAJC
112/5
Nabajyoti Club beat City Cricket Club by 5 wickets
NVR
–
NAJC
–
GTC
–
CCC
–
CD
–
DC
–
GAW
–
RR
–
ITA
167/6
SCOT
155/5
Italy beat Scotland by 12 runs
NED
172/1
GUE
99/9
Netherlands beat Guernsey by 73 runs
ENG-W
126/7
IND-W
127/4
India Women beat England Women by 6 wickets
ENG
–
IND
–
MUR
180/9
NK
166/10
Munster Reds beat Northern Knights (Ireland) by 14 runs
LLG
202/4
NWW
198/2
Leinster Lightning beat North West Warriors by 6 wickets
NWW
–
MUR
–
LLG
–
NK
–
STCC
231/7
MECS
0/1
BNC
–
CHK
–
TCC
–
CEC-A
–
THUO
112/10
MB
114/5
Malaysia Blues beat Thunderstorm Outlanders by 5 wickets
WAF
–
TSKS
–
Match abandoned due to rain (With toss)
SFU
–
MINY
–
RWT
190/4
YAR
188/5
Ruby White Town Legends beat Yanam Royals by 6 wickets
OAW
139/10
KAK
166/5
Karaikal Kniights beat Ossudu Accord Warriors by 27 runs
MMS
–
OAW
–
VMK
–
KAK
–
TAN
–
ML
–
Match Abandoned
GER
–
BHN
–
Match Abandoned
BHN
–
TAN
–
ML
–
GER
–
AUS A
215/3
SL-A
213/9
Australia A Won by 7 wickets
MID
187/8
HAM
188/7
Hampshire won by 3 wickets
GLO
97/3
SURR
193/7
BB
203/9
LAN
96/5
SUSS
148/10
KENT
87/5
LEI
–
NOR
–
DER
–
WOR
–
HAM
–
GLAM
–
HAM-W
174/5
LAN-W
175/2
Lancashire Women beat Hampshire Women by 8 wickets
BRB-W
139/10
SUR-W
140/6
Surrey Women beat Birmingham Bears Women by 4 wickets
David Warner played his last Test for Australia against Pakistan in January 2024, and Australia’s new-look top three consists of Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas and Cameron Green. According to the former Nottinghamshire cricketer, Cameron Green should be batting lower down the order and not at No.3.
“But I think Usman is struggling. Cameron Green at three… he’s a six, isn’t he? Or a five. Anyone who used to take off stump guard would really excite me as an opening bowler because they play at fifth stump and don’t know where their off stump is,” he said.
Like Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne has also been inconsistent. Labuschagne batted at No.3 in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa, but aggregated just 39 runs across both the innings. “Ultimately with Labuschagne, I know he’s struggled for a couple of years, but he’s a good player. So I’d be surprised if he doesn’t come back into the frame at some stage,” opined the 39-year-old.
Sam Konstas has struggled for consistency in Tests so far. Having made his Test debut in the Boxing Day Test against India last year, the 19-year-old has scored just 146 runs from eight innings at an average of 18.25, including just one fifty. Despite his underwhelming start to his Test career, Stuart Broad believes that the teenager has a bright future ahead.
ALSO READ:
“Konstas is young and learning his way, those pitches in the Caribbean have been quite tricky so I imagine he’ll get a run (in the Ashes),” Broad stated. “I watched him in the nets before the World Test Championship at Lord’s and even though he didn’t play, the crunch off the bat that you hear (was impressive), but he’s got a couple of low scores and you start to question yourself a little bit. But I think he (Konstas) is there to stay,” he added.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube.
Assam Women won by 91 runs