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.
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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.
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“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.
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