David Warner has admitted he needed the "kick up the bum" of being suspended and ultimately dropped from Australia's Test side after his punch at Joe Root in a Birmingham pub. Warner's ban over the incident cost him his place in the first two Investec Tests at Trent Bridge and Lord's but he is firmly back in contention for a recall in the third Test at Old Trafford after his 193 during the ongoing match against South Africa A in Pretoria.
Banned after the pub brawl with Joe Root ahead of the Ashes, Aussie top-order batsman David Warner admitted that he deserved to be dropped from the side and added that it his own fault that the ugly incident occurred. Warner's ban over the incident that took place in a Birmingham pub during the Champions Trophy cost him his place in the first two Tests at Trent Bridge and Lord's and he was sent to play with the Australian A team against South Africa A.
The aggressive batter however got back into contention for a spot in the beleaguered Australian side for the 3rd Test with a blistering 193 during the ongoing unofficial Test match against South Africa A in Pretoria.
"Sitting on the sidelines and copping that punishment and not being selected it was a thing that I needed," Warner was quoted as saying by a cricket website.
"I definitely needed a kick up the bum. It was my own fault the incident that happened. My job was then to support our players, support the rest of the group and do everything I could to help them prepare for the games. I did that and I know the other guys on the tour did the same thing. We've all been working very hard," he added from South Africa.
Warner was sent on the Australia A tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa after being left out of the Trent Bridge Test as Cricket Australia felt the opener needed some time in the middle.
Warner impressed by surviving for more than five hours at the crease here, against a South Africa A attack boasting the promising pace pairing of Kyle Abbott and Marchant de Lange.
Bell looking to end Australia hopes
Ian Bell, once derided by Australia, is relishing his lead role in the destruction of the tourists' Ashes ambitions and he is determined to put the final nail in the coffin at Old Trafford next week.
Bell struggled for form during England's 2005 Ashes triumph, scoring just 171 in 10 innings with his only meaningful contributions being two half-centuries in the draw at Old Trafford.
The Warwickshire batsman, nicknamed 'The Shermanator' by Shane Warne after a geeky character from the American Pie films, averaged just 32 in 18 Tests against Australia before this series.
But Bell has matured into England's middle-order lynchpin. He has scored a century in the last three Ashes Tests, including vital innings in the victories at Trent Bridge and Lord's.
"From my first couple of (Ashes) series I knew I had to improve on that," Bell said.
"The (Australian) team I started against was pretty good, so it is nice to be putting my hand up now as a senior player when we've needed it.
"I feel pretty confident right now and it is good to be putting it together in an Ashes series which is what I've wanted to do.
"I don't really feel too bad about the previous series but it is nice to be able to do things when the team need it most and scoring hundreds is what you want to do.
"To have three now against Australia is exactly where I want to be."
Bell has always found Old Trafford to be a happy hunting ground. He has scored two hundreds and a 97 in five Manchester Tests, at an average of 87.
England's record there is positive too, winning six of their nine Old Trafford Tests since the turn of the century.
In short, it is a good place for England to be heading as they look not just to retain the Ashes, which they will do with a draw, but win the urn outright.
But if there is anything Bell takes from that titanic drawn Test in 2005 - the last Ashes match played at Old Trafford - it is that Australia will be battling for their lives.
"I know that the Test matches I've been involved in there, we've got a good record so it is a good place for England to go to now," Bell said.
"The 2005 Test was a game we were looking at (targetting) another win, but Australia battled right to the end.
"They were so excited about getting the draw, so you felt a little shift in the series right there because they were happy to get out of it.
"It was an intense game as all Ashes games are and I would expect another tough game coming up.
"Coming into this series it has been about contributing to the team and at Lord's we had to work hard in different periods of the game and we got our rewards at the end.
"It has been hard work, but these couple of days will give us a nice break from the cricket so we're right for Old Trafford."
Bell's bid for a Lord's hundred could have ended on just three when he fended a rising delivery from Ryan Harris to Steve Smith in the gully, only for the third umpire to rule the ball had not carried.
David Gower, commentating on television, described it as an appalling decision and it reignited the debate about whether a batsman should walk.
Bell revealed he was told to stand his ground by the umpires.
"At the time it didn't look quite right. I looked around and as the umpires got together they told me to hold fire at the crease," Bell said.
"As soon as they say wait there because they're going upstairs it is out of your hands.
"If the umpires had said 'go' then I'd have gone. I didn't see the replay but at the time it looked like it was just in his finger tips so did some of the ball touch the ground.
"Generally the rule is the batsman gets the benefit of the doubt on things like that so it probably goes more in the batter's favour when it goes upstairs."
Trott : I will perform even better :
England batsman Jonathan Trott is confident his best form is yet to come in the Ashes after watching Ian Bell and Joe Root pile on the runs in the first two Tests.
England took a 2-0 lead with wins at Trent Bridge and Lord's ahead of the third Test, which starts at Old Trafford on August 1.
Trott made 48 in the first innings at Trent Bridge before being given out for a controversial duck in the second innings after umpire Aleem Dar's not out decision was overruled by third umpire Marais Erasmus.
Trott believed he hit the ball and his lbw dismissal saw England teetering at 11 for two, before they went on to amass a second innings total of 375 and subsequently beat Australia by 14 runs.
Ian Bell was England's saviour, scoring a vital 109, a feat he repeated in the second Test at Lord's, where Trott was unable to convert his first innings 58 to a century and was again out for a duck in the second innings. Instead, it was Joe Root who shone with a match-defining knock of 180.
However, Trott insists he feels in good nick, and when asked if his best is still to come this series, he said: "I hope so. I've felt good, actually.
"Sometimes you score runs and you're not feeling at the top of your game. I feel like I'm playing pretty well and it's been nice to get a couple of good partnerships, like with Belly at Lord's in a tricky situation, I suppose, at 28 for three.
"We put on 99 and he went on and got the big score that I would have liked. But there are still three games left and personally it would be nice to contribute in a similar way. Anybody can get out quite early in their innings, I suppose.
"You haven't contributed for the team but, if you get 50, at least you have done something towards the team effort - although on a personal note it is pretty upsetting because you have done all the hard work and you're feeling pretty good.
"It's frustrating but I feel in the past that I have contributed and the side has been successful. Other people like Joe and Ian have stepped in, perhaps it is my turn for the rest of the series."
Australia's bowling options :
James Pattinson's tour-ending back injury means under-pressure Australia must make at least one enforced change as they try to stop England winning the Ashes in the third Investec Test at Old Trafford.
Here, we assess the Aussies' options to bolster their attack next week.
MITCHELL STARC :
The left-armer was the fall-guy of Trent Bridge, dropped for Lord's despite having taken five wickets in the first Test. Starc was notable among the tailenders as the only one who made no significant runs in Nottingham. But he is known to be very handy with the bat, and more importantly can swing the ball. His return is by far the likeliest of Australia's possible Manchester manoeuvres.
NATHAN LYON :
Usurped by debutant Ashton Agar at Trent Bridge - and after the teenager's 98 from number 11 in his maiden innings, it was no surprise there was no way back for Lyon in time for Lord's. The off-spinner has 76 wickets in 22 Tests, a record which suggests he could be well worth a go - either in place of or even in tandem with slow left-armer Agar - if it looks like there might be turn at Old Trafford.
JAMES FAULKNER :
Another left-arm seamer, and another whose good batting may yet be a persuasive factor. The Tasmanian has played 11 times for his country in limited-overs matches, but has yet to make his Test debut - and his place in the squad this summer was a surprise to some. Faulkner's clever changes of pace and expert use of the white ball make him an increasingly surefire pick in the shorter formats. It will be a leap into the unknown to ask him to adapt them to five-day cricket in the middle of such a high-profile series, but he has highly-encouraging statistics for his very successful state side in 36 first-class matches to date.
JACKSON BIRD :
Bird too has come to prominence with Tasmania, since moving from his native New South Wales. He averages under 20 with the ball, and has been a key member of a team who have recently been so dominant in Sheffield Shield cricket. Rare among Australia's tailenders, in that Bird looks a rabbit with the bat. But if he is the right man to get among the wickets in England, the tourists may have to budget for runs starting to come from more conventional sources at last.
Other Options :
From outside Australia's squad in England, extra 'cover' could yet conceivably come from any one of four pace bowlers currently with the A team in South Africa - or even Pat Cummins, the quickest of the lot but in harness only as a 'development player' after his succession of injuries. Fawad Ahmed, the Pakistan-born leg-spinner whose eligibility was fast-tracked in time for this summer, just about remains one final intriguing possibility - if Australia decide they need something different to release England's stranglehold.
