Cricket icon Allan Border blasts Australian cricket team for dangerous choice on Ashes tour

Cricket legend Allan Border has slammed Australia’s decision not to play warm-up matches before the upcoming Ashes tour, insisting the move is dangerous.

In an Ashes first, the Aussie team won’t take on any county sides before or during the upcoming tour of England.

The England and Wales Cricket Board have scheduled the five Ashes matches into a six-week window in June and July so that England’s players are available The Hundred tournament in August.

Australia’s World Test Championship final against India on June 17 will serve as the team’s only warm-up match before the first Ashes match at Edgbaston.

Mainly due to Covid-19 restrictions, the Test side has not played a tour match in almost four years, and Border believes they should be getting some warm-up matches in.

Border says the decision to not play any county sides before or during the tour of England is ‘fraught with danger’

‘I don’t care how hard you work in the nets, nothing replaces game time,’ Border told Fox Cricket.

‘I’m really surprised we’re just allowing the Ashes tour to be so condensed with no cricket between the games, but that’s the way it is.

‘I get it, we’ve got IPLs and T20s, I understand. The game’s moved on. But I think there’s an opportunity there for us to go to England early and play a couple of games … just to polish things off a bit.

‘It just doesn’t feel right not to play any cricket leading into an Ashes series. I just think that’s fraught with danger … there’s something gnawing at me saying it’s the wrong decision.’

Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Marcus Harris are currently playing country cricket in England and getting valuable match practice, but others such as Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins haven’t played a competitive red-ball match in months.

Border, who captained Australia in 1989 and 1993, is disappointed that touring matches aren’t prioritised anymore.

‘We played two three-day games between the Test matches, and we played the day after the Test match,’ Border explained.

‘It was a pretty packed itinerary — but no one died, no one got injured. Everyone enjoyed themselves.

Some players, such as such as Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins (pictured) haven’t played a competitive red-ball match in months

Border, who captained Australia in 1989 and 1993, is disappointed that valuable touring matches aren’t prioritised anymore due to a crammed cricket calendar

‘It was fantastic. You could rest guys, you could give guys opportunities to get themselves back into form … it really worked well.

‘We were away for four months. They just don’t do that these days.’

Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon backed the team’s decision not to schedule any tour matches in England, saying most of the squad had played Test cricket over there before.

‘When are we going to fit it in?’ Lyon asked.

‘You look at the schedule, if a few guys make the IPL final, they won’t be arriving in England until five days before the World Test Championship final.

Nathan Lyon defended the team’s decision not to schedule any local tour matches in England, arguing that there just isn’t time anymore to fit them in

‘So it’s quite hard to schedule in a tour game these days. I’m not really sure when we’re meant to do it. There’s no point in us only playing with seven players against a county side.

‘The players now are extremely professional, everyone is doing the work. There’s of lot of net sessions happening back here in Australia.

‘Yes, we get that it’s not game practice or anything like that, but it’s not like we’re sitting at home twiddling our thumbs. We’re doing the work and I know that we’ll be ready.’