Ian Chappell has blasted the Australian selectors for some of the selections made for this year’s Ashes against England.
Talking to a cricket website, Chappell has questioned two of the tactics that the Aussie team has gone into the series with. One is to not have a back-up opener to Phil Hughes, who has played only three test matches in his career and though been touted as one of the prodigies, he struggled in the warm-up game against the pace, bounce and swing of a good-looking Steve Harmison.
The second mistake that the Australian selectors seem to have made, according to the former Australian captain, was the lack of a frontline spinner in the squad after Nathan Hauritz has clearly looked out of depth so far. The Aussie team management have been contemplating to go with a four pronged pace attack and leave out Hauritz from their line-up. In turn, the troika of Michael Clarke, Simon Katich and Marcus North could be expected to deliver with their part-time spin.
Chappell has come down heavily on going into the game with part-time spinners as it could back-fire big time and bring about a sameness in the line-up.
He has also tipped the English to win the series if Andrew Flintoff remained fit throughout the series.