Australia chairman of selectors John Inverarity warned England fans to not write off tourists for this summer’s Ashes.
The Aussies were eliminated from the ICC Champions Trophy on Monday after defeats to the hosts England as well as Sri Lanka. The Baggy Greens have recently come off the back of a 4-0 series hammering to India and are currently without captain Michael Clarke, who is nursing a back injury as he tries to get back to fitness ahead of the Ashes.
With their on-field performances well below par, Australia have also had problems off the field with the recent incident involving David Warner and Joe Root.
Warner punched Root following Australia’s 48-run defeat to England and was fined £7000 and banned from all cricket up until the first Ashes Test in Nottingham on July 10.
Warner will miss the two warm-up games against Somerset and Worcester but Inverarity insists he is in contention and has warned people who think the tourists will struggle.
He said: “In 1968 it was said that we had one of the weakest squads, that was 1-1 and another time I remember the English press said it was most certainly the weakest team to come to England. That was in 1989 and Australia won the series 4-0.
“We have got in that squad of 16 the best players available. We are looking forward to them acquitting themselves well and we will see what happens.
“There have been one or two hiccups but basically they are a very decent, nice bunch of young men who behave themselves extremely well.”
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