'Perfect prep' offers blueprint for future tours

The unprecedented all-Australian pre-Ashes match in Southampton could be the blueprint for future away tours after the lead-up has been described as the "perfect preparation".

Tomorrow, two teams of 12 made up of the best red-ball players in the country will take to the field at the Ageas Bowl for the opening day of Australia’s sole tour match before the Ashes, a fixture that has been tailor-made to suit the needs of Justin Langer's charges as they attempt to win a Test series on English soil for the first time in 18 years.

"I can't think of a better preparation," Langer said in Southampton. "We've got great facilities, we've got 25 of the best cricketers in Australia here, they're going to go head to head, they'll play tough cricket.  

"We just had a World Cup so a lot of them, there's six or seven who are battle hardened already, we've had some Australia A cricket, hopefully this is as good a preparation as we can get. 

"Great respect to Pat Howard (Cricket Australia’s former Executive General Manager, Team Performance) before us, we talked about it and they've made it happen."

The intra-squad game is the final chapter in Australia's Ashes preparation that began with a pre-tour camp in Brisbane before the squad departed for the UK for the Australia A tour. That was a five-week campaign that ran concurrently with the World Cup to provide selectors a pool of players readily available should injury strike – as it did – and also allow those in Test calculations valuable time adjusting to English conditions, which have been the downfall of the past four Australian touring teams.  

The idea to play a high-intensity intra-squad match for the final hit-out before the Ashes was born out from the tight turnaround between the end of the World Cup (July 14) and the start of the first Ashes Test (August 1), as well as the quality of opposition team that can picked for tour matches.

Cramped domestic schedules has led to a tendency for local teams to pick understrength sides to face touring teams and often in playing conditions that fail to replicate those expected for the Test series.

In 2018, the ICC sent out a mandate to the game's governing bodies around the expectations of practice facilities and warm-up matches for visiting teams to create a fair contest on the field, as a sign of respect and to protect the spirit of the game 

Time will tell whether the controlled lead-up will help Australia win the Ashes, but Test captain Tim Paine says the ability to effectively host their own match in a foreign country on the eve of the series is a "good option" and could become standard procedure moving forward. 

"Over the years the opposition in tour games has, I wouldn't say it's got worse, but I don't think opposition cricket boards have helped each other prepare as much as they used to," Paine said on Sunday.  

"You have to find different ways in your preparation to make sure everyone is ready to go for Test match intensity.

"And obviously a series of Ashes magnitude, we thought it was a great idea and as close to a Test match as we think we can get.

"It's a perfect preparation." 

Adding to the atmosphere in the camp has been the presence of former Australia captain Steve Waugh, who is with the Ashes squad as a mentor through to the second Test at Lord's. 

Waugh has chatted to individual players around practice and helped in training drills as he passes on his knowledge as the most successful Ashes player in history.

Langer has encouraged former players into the Australian camp since he took over as head coach 14 months ago, with Waugh the latest legend to join the ranks.

"It's brilliant," Langer said when asked about having Waugh in camp. "It's like having Ricky Ponting.  

"In my office back in Perth I used to have (the saying) 'I never went to Harvard but I employ a lot of people who did'.  

"If you can employ better people than you are, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, we've had Matty Hayden, we've had Mitchell Johnson with us through the year.  

"You have great people around your squad, you're creating an environment where these guys can learn (and) get better.

"Straight away, as soon as he (Waugh) speaks, the whole room goes quiet.  

"He talks with great intelligence and experience, he's been there before.  

"So I'm very lucky personally but the whole squad, these young guys, they don't realise what a great mentor and teacher they've got with us." 

2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England

Tour match: Hick XII v Haddin XII, July 23-26

First Test: Edgbaston, August 1-5

Tour match: Australians v Worcestershire, August 7-9

Second Test: Lord's, August 14-18

Third Test: Headingley, August 22-26

Tour match: Australians v Derbyshire, August 29-31

Fourth Test: Old Trafford, September 4-8

Fifth Test: The Oval, September 12-16