LONDON: Australia will return to Lord’s on Friday for the first time since last year’s Ashes row, with captain Mitchell Marsh confident a controversial incident involving wicket-keeper Alex Carey is firmly in the past.

Carey’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow, when the England batsman walked out of his ground thinking the ball was dead, led to angry exchanges between the teams.

And there were also ugly scenes in the Lord’s pavilion too as spectators clashed with Australia players.

Carey’s form fell away in the final three Tests of what became a drawn series but the 33-year-old has been a thorn in England’s side during the ongoing ODI campaign, making a match-winning 74 at Headingley on Saturday and an unbeaten 77 in defeat at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday.

Victory at Lord’s would mean 50-over world champions Australia take an unassailable 3-1 lead in a five-match series, with Marsh adamant the tourists have drawn a line under last year’s flare-up.

“We’ve really moved on from that [Lord’s incident],” the skipper told a pre-match press conference on Thursday.

He said, “These things happen in Ashes Test matches, there’s not a series that goes by that doesn’t have some sort of drama.”

“Alex loves playing in England, we all do. The fans are always incredible and it’s always a tough challenge playing against England. I think he’s just rapt to be back here, playing for Australia,” he added.

Marsh, asked if last year’s incident had given Carey additional motivation, replied: “I don’t think that’s in his character.”

Such has been Carey’s form with bat and gloves, he could well keep his place for the fourth ODI even though World Cup-winning wicket-keeper Josh Inglis is now fit again after injury.

Australia are likely to be at full strength following a tour beset by illness, which ruled out leg-spinner Adam Zampa at Durham in a match where in-form opener Travis Head was rested following soreness.

Both key players are set to return at Lord’s, with Marsh saying: “It would be massive [to have them back]. We obviously know the last couple of years they’ve both had and just what they bring to our team from an experience point of view.”

POTTS GLAD TO LEARN FROM ANDERSON

James Anderson may have retired from Test cricket but his influence within the England set-up remains strong, according to Matthew Potts.

Anderson brought the curtain down on an extraordinary Test career that yielded 704 wickets after appearing in his 188th match against the West Indies at Lord’s in July.

The 42-year-old, top of the all-time charts for fast bowlers, immediately moved into a role mentoring England’s quicks and Potts is glad to be able to mine his experience.

“It’s an awesome experience to have so much knowledge in the dressing room,” Potts, 25, told a press conference at Lord’s on Thursday ahead of the fourth ODI against Australia.

“Being able to tap into that knowledge whenever you want, he (Anderson) gives it freely.”

Anderson gave up white-ball cricket to prolong his Test career but Potts is a multi-format England player.

The Durham seamer is playing in the current five-match ODI series against the world champions and has also been included in the squad for next month’s three-Test tour of Pakistan.

Together with several England team-mates including Harry Brook and Ben Duckett, Potts will have a short turnaround between the end of the Australia series on Sunday and flying out to Multan on Tuesday.

“That’s the beauty of being a multi-format cricketer,” said Potts, whose eight Tests have yielded 28 wickets at a shade under 30 apiece.

“You’ve got to be ready for every eventuality but at the same time be able to compartmentalise for different things. I’ve got all the stuff packed but I’m focused on this white-ball series first.”

With a growing cohort of England quicks competing for places in the Test and white-ball teams, Potts would like to up his speed without compromising his accuracy.

“I think one of my key assets is control, but it’s about exploring the boundaries in which I can keep control and try and find my peak speed,” he said.

“As you push your average speed up, your peak speed should generally go up as well. I’ll try to keep up at 84-85 miles per hour (135-137kph) consistently throughout the day.”

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2024