Adaptable Aussies have learnt from past, says Ferguson

As an Australian embedded in England's domestic cricket scene, Callum Ferguson did not have a lot to cheer about until the events at Edgbaston last week.

His Worcestershire teammates were happy to remind him how England knocked out Australia in the World Cup semis, how Eoin Morgan's side won the tournament in unbelievable fashion at Lord's and how the Test side had reduced his compatriots to 8-122 midway through the opening day of the first Ashes Test match.

But in the space of five days, those loud voices were softened and eventually silenced by Steve Smith, Nathan Lyon and the nine other Australians who incredibly dug in, fought back and eventually thumped England by 251 runs.

Ferguson predicted a 2-1 Ashes win to Australia before a ball was bowled and is even more confident of that prediction having watched Tim Paine's side in action on television in Birmingham and up close as a rival in this week's tour match at New Road, where the South Australian faced the likes of Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood armed with a new Dukes ball.

The 34-year-old says Australia's versatile bowling unit, which also includes pacemen Pat Cummins, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Michael Neser, and off-spinner Nathan Lyon, is what underlines the strength of Australia's Ashes squad.

"The tone has changed, without a doubt," Ferguson told reporters on Thursday.

"The shape of our squad allows us to compete on just about anything they can dish up conditions-wise.

"They might throw a green (pitch) at us, and we’ve got bowlers that are suited.

"If they flatten it out, we’ve got other bowlers who are suited so we don’t need to just go with the same line-up and I think that was a real strength of the Australian squad through the World Cup as well.

"They were willing to be adaptable, and certainly that’s going to be a strength in my eyes throughout this series."

What impressed Ferguson most was how the national selectors bucked convention and picked the best bowlers for the conditions on offer at Edgbaston, not necessarily just the best bowlers in the squad.

Eyebrows were raised and questions asked when Siddle got the last-minute nod over Hazlewood for the opening Test, but the veteran vindicated the selectors' faith with a frugal return of 2-80 from 39 overs.

To highlight Siddle's control, the right-armer was hit for just nine fours in the first Test, with four of those nine boundaries coming from the edge of an uncontrolled stroke or batter error.

The Victorian played just one Test in the 2015 Ashes series – at The Oval, where he replaced an injured Hazlewood and captured six wickets for the match – in what was the only change to the frontline bowling attack all series. Australia lost 3-2.

Siddle's selection in Birmingham was based on his excellent form for Essex in the County Championship, his experience in England and the conditions at Edgbaston, which shows how the Australians are willing to make the tough calls as they aim to win an Ashes series in England for the first time since 2001.

"I think from a bowling point of view, they’re trying to learn as much as they can from what’s happened in previous series," Ferguson said.

"And I think it’s started off really well, because they’ve probably set up a bowling attack that not a lot of people expected coming into the series, and it paid off.

"We were able to build a lot of pressure on the batters at the crease, there didn’t seem to be a lot of leaking at any stage of the two innings while England were batting.

"It seems like we’re going to be really adaptable throughout the series."

While Ferguson is backing an unchanged XI for the second Test, he says he was impressed by what he faced from Hazlewood (3-34 from 15 overs) and Starc (2-56 from 15.5) in his 20-ball stint at the crease before the left-armer captured his wicket for six, caught at second slip.

"They (Starc and Hazlewood) were coming quite hard, which was good," he said.

"I thought (Wednesday) night 'Hoff' (Hazlewood) got it right, he was all over it.

"He bowled a really good length over off stump, and challenged our guys’ defence and bowled beautifully.

“'Starcy' was bowling with really good pace.

"It probably felt like he didn’t quite get his line right to (Jack) Haynes at times, but certainly I felt like his ball speed was really good and he hit the bat hard."

2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

England squad: Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes (vc), Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

First Test: Australia beat England by 251 runs at Edgbaston

Tour match: Australians v Worcestershire, August 7-9

Second Test: August 14-18,Lord's

Third Test: August 22-26, Headingley

Tour match: Australians v Derbyshire, August 29-31

Fourth Test: September 4-8, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: September 12-16, The Oval