Australia captain Pat Cummins says England will face a “more aggressive” David Warner in this year’s Ashes compared to the opener who struggled for runs during the 2019 series.
Four years ago, Warner averaged a meagre 9.50 in 10 innings.
The now 36-year-old was also dismissed seven times by veteran England bowler Stuart Broad during a campaign that ended 2-2, with the pair set to be in opposition again when the first Test of a five-match series starts at Edgbaston on Friday.
“Davey, I know will have all his plans in place,” Cummins told a pre-match press conference.
“I’m sure you’ll see a bit more of an aggressive Davey than perhaps in 2019, and he’s itching to get out there and have another chance at it.”
Broad has been named in England’s XI for Edgbaston, with captain Ben Stokes saying he would be “lying” if he denied the seamer’s record against Warner had played a part in his selection.
England are bidding to win a first Ashes series since 2015, while Australia are aiming to end a 22-year wait for an away campaign win over their oldest rivals.
England named their side on Wednesday but Cummins, who only last week led Australia to a 209-run win over India in the World Test Championship final at The Oval, was keeping his cards close to his chest.
The main issue for Australia appears to be that fast bowler Josh Hazlewood is now fit for selection after missing the final, with the experienced seamer competing for a place in the tourists’ pace attack with left-armer Mitchell Starc and the impressive Scott Boland.
“We do have a team but we will announce it tomorrow, mainly because we haven’t got around to telling all our squad,” said Cummins, himself a fast bowler. “The big news from last week is Josh Hazlewood is now available.”
Australia’s rout of India meant they won 12 out of 20 matches, with just three defeats and five draws, during the two-year WTC cycle.
The 30-year-old Cummins believes Australia can have confidence in their own game rather than trying to match the ultra-aggressive style that has been a hallmark of England’s play under Stokes.
“We’ve been amazing over the last 20 Test matches,” said Cummins. “And I think you’ve seen a pretty similar style in the way we’ve played, so we don’t want to lose sight of that.”
He added: “We’re big on playing what’s in front of you. Somewhere our batters might take 200 balls to get a hundred and that’s totally fine.”
© Agence France-Presse
