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‘Cocky tourists’: Australian media torch England for ditching practice for golf with brutal ‘green monster’ warning
Aussie paper mocks England for playing golf before the Perth Test, dubbing the green Perth pitch a “nightmare” for the visitors
The Australian media’s attack on the England team intensified ahead of the first Ashes Test in Perth, after a local newspaper ran a provocative piece slamming the visitors for ditching practice to play golf. The series begins on November 21 at Optus Stadium.
On Tuesday, The West Australian newspaper, which has led much of the local media’s criticism, splashed a photo of the Perth pitch for the opening Test across its front page, calling it: "Pitch Perfect! England's worst nightmare. A Green Monster." It added another jab at the Ben Stokes-led side, noting: "But cocky tourists skip practice to play golf instead."
It’s no secret that England players love their golf, and the habit has drawn criticism before for eating into preparation time — during the India tour earlier in 2024, and now again ahead of the Ashes. Stokes and a few teammates were spotted playing at Araluen Estate, an 18-hole course outside Perth, before their warm-up match for the Perth Test. They did, however, turn out for the tune-up game against the England Lions at Lilac Hill last week, where the captain bagged a five-wicket haul and hit an unbeaten 77.
The visiting team has been under scrutiny over their preparations for the all-important series, but Stokes defended his side.
“I’m not really sure what more we’re supposed to do, to be honest. We’ve been preparing for this for a long time. There’s state cricket going on at the moment — a few of the Australian boys are playing — and of course time has to be taken into consideration as well. Some of our squad members were recently in New Zealand for a series, so the schedule’s pretty jam-packed,” Stokes said last week in Perth.
“Preparation these days isn’t quite like it was 10, 15, or 30 years ago; a lot has changed in cricket. But we’ve put a lot of time and effort into how we prepare for every series, and that hasn’t changed for this one. Come the 21st of this month, we’ll know we’ve done everything possible to be in the right place to start the tour the way we want.”
