Brad Haddin (left) was pipped to the Man of the Series post by Mitchell Johnson after Australia won the Ashes 5-0.
Agencies/Sydney
Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin reckons England’s batsmen were ‘petrified’ of fast bowler Mitchell Johnson during the Ashes in Australia, and that fear helped the other bowlers do well too.
Australia won the Ashes 5-0, with Haddin scoring at least a half century in each Test, and was pipped to the Man of the Series post by Johnson, who took 37 wickets, a whopping 15 more than the next man, Ryan Harris.
Haddin told ABC Radio: “Mitch’s summer was something out of the box. I think the one thing is, and Mitch realises it as well, he can’t do his job if Rhino (Ryan Harris) or Peter (Siddle) or Lyno (Nathan Lyon) are not doing their job.
“They bowled really well together as a group. Mitch got a lot of the rewards for that because, to be perfectly honest, they were petrified of facing him. We can gloss over it but I think that was an exciting thing about last summer, the pace Mitch bowled. But the other guys did an enormous job to support the group. And our slippers caught well.”
Next year will see another Ashes series played, and Haddin is keen to be a part of that, but says there is a lot of cricket to be played before then, and he’s hoping to keep his name ahead of younger keepers on the team sheet.
“I do enjoy playing against England, I won’t lie about that. There’s obviously a goal there. I know it’s a big cliche but I’m just worried about the small steps in front of us at the moment.
“We’ve got a big series in the UAE, we’ve got India here, we’ve got a World Cup campaign. So it’s important not to think too far ahead to thinking about those events and miss the excitement about playing now. I have got the World Cup and Ashes in my mind, but I’m preparing to play these other tournaments to keep moving Australian cricket in that direction we want to go,” Haddin said.
Hales aims to stay on selectors’ radar
England T20 batsman Alex Hales hopes his performances for Nottinghamshire and the England Lions will keep him on the selectors’ radar for a place in the first ODI team.
Hales has played 32 T20s for England but has yet to make his ODI or Test debuts, with the selectors oddly resistant to pick him, despite some sterling recent knocks. He made 141 off 96 balls for Notts against Middlesex this week.
Hales, who also scored a ton for the Lions a fortnight ago, told the BBC: “I’m feeling in really good nick across all three formats. When you come across patches like this you want to cash in whenever you can. All I can do is knock on the door with performances for Notts and the Lions.
“My performances in T20 for England have been some of the best of my career so far, so hopefully if I do get the chance in one-dayers, I can take some of that experience in and hopefully build some big innings in that format as well.”
There have been calls for Hales to be included in the ODI squad in particular, so that he can be part of the World Cup in Australia, with pundits feeling he would be a better option than Alastair Cook or Ian Bell at the top.
