AUSTRALIAN won The Ashes, but when it comes to defeating England in the current One Day International series, it will not be as easy.
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That’s the opinion of Bathurst quick Trent Copeland, a former Australian representative, current New South Wales representative and cricket commentator.
Copeland watched on as England beat Australia by five wickets in the first match of the series, a superb 180 off 151 from Jason Roy seeing the Old Dart finally enjoying some success while on tour.
There are still four games in the series to come, the next being this Friday, but Copeland knows Australia must play well to trump a talented England squad.
“All through that squad of 16, they’ve got so much talent and guys that that are three-faceted cricketers, guys that can bat, bowl and field, real difference makers,” Copeland told Sporting News Australia.
“Guys like Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Sam Billings in the batting sense and also when you come to the bowlers, Mark Wood bowling rockets.
“He went for 50 off his 10 overs, but he bowled fast, he bowled bouncers, he can provide that x-factor for them.
“Then Adil Rashid, he’s a difference maker for them. He took two wickets, bowled lots of wrong-uns, lots of chances created with established batsmen in partnerships, so he can be a real difference maker for them.
“I just think in this format they’ve got some new, fresh faces. I guess The Ashes was a disappointment for them, but that fresh influx of guys who are excited about this tour coming in will change the shape of the way they play their cricket, but also how they attack Australia in this one-day series.”
After the one-dayer series, Australia will go on to face England and New Zealand in Twenty20 series in February.
That is when Copeland will be back in action for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield competition, with the Blues to face Western Australia at the WACA from February 8.
The Blues are currently leading the shield competition with three wins, a draw and a loss from their five completed matches. When previously meeting Western Australia in November, NSW won by 171 runs.