Veteran English commentator David Lloyd has backed England to inflict a historic whitewash of Australia in the upcoming Ashes.
The much-awaited five-match Test series is scheduled to be played from November 21. The series will open in Perth while the fifth and final Test will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 4. Australia currently hold the vase and will be favorites to win the upcoming series as well.
England have not managed to win the series since 2015. In the last four series, they have lost two in Australia and drawn the other two at home.
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England are going to be 5-0 – David Lloyd’s bold prediction
While England have won the Ashes in Australia only once this century and their last win was in 2011, David Lloyd is confident that Ben Stokes and Co. will not only win the series but also pull off a historic whitewash.
“I hate predictions, I can’t work with them. But I’m going to be Glenn McGrath, it’s going to be England 5-0,” Lloyd told SEN. “I was told that was never done.”
When Australian cricket great Ian Healy asked why he was so confident, Lloyd described England as a superior team and predicted that Australia would suffer a loss. Lloyd said that England have a quality attack and Australia have not yet finalized their batting order, so the tourists have a big chance to win the series.
If you come up against a team that is better than you in their backyard, you will lose – David Lloyd
“If you go up against a team better than you in their backyard, you’re going to be at a disadvantage. Our guys have got a real feeling now that we can do something here. We’ve come there and lost before. There’s a real thought at the moment that England have a great chance of winning the Ashes in Australia.
“They feel they have the attack, Australia with the line-up at six and seven, who’s going to open, who’s at number three, whether Marnus comes back,” Lloyd said.
“Then it’s going to be a really great showdown between two of the best players in the world with Joe Root and Steve Smith. Whoever comes out on top between those two will have a real impact on the series,” he said.
Currently, five batsmen – Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Sam Konstas, Jake Weatherald and Matt Renshaw – are in the race for the top three. While only time will tell who gets the nod, Lloyd said he is not worried about any of the five batsmen. After this he described Travis Head and Steve Smith as the biggest threats to his team.
It seems all the talk is about Constas – David Lloyd
The former England batsman said, “All the talk seems to be about Constas. Is there any substance behind him? It is a big deal to push a kid to open. OK, if he comes into the team then it is fine.”
“If I’m the England coach and the team, am I worried about them? No names are going on the whiteboard. I’m not worried about any of those names.
He said, “Head and Smith are names that will be on the whiteboard for England. They are dangerous, they are game changers.”
