Recently, the English international all-rounder, Moeen Ali expressed that he is worrying for the future of Test cricket as the on-field spectator attendance was very disappointing during the last Ashes series, which was played in Australia from November 2017 to January 2018.
Now, the Australian head coach Darren Lehmann shares his views on that by denying the same thought of Moeen Ali. Lehmann told cricket.com.au, “No, I don’t. I thought the Ashes crowds were fantastic, our crowds were great. I think they broke all records, whether they were at the ground or watching, streaming or listening on the radio.
“It was an outstanding Test series. I’m not sure where that comes from, from Moeen, but that’s his opinion. From my point of view as a cricket fan, I loved it. It was great.”
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Australia won the Ashes series by the 4-0 margin. However, the Australian coach thought that it was intense cricket. He said, “The games could have gone either way. Four-nil wasn’t probably a fair reflection of how England played. I thought they played quite well.”
Speaking on the Test cricket he added, “For me, I think Test cricket is alive, and we only had to see the way people turned up to the whole game throughout the summer.”
Australia is now touring in South Africa for the 4-match Test series which will begin on 1st March.
The 48-years old Australian former cricketer and the present coach thinks that it will be probably their last Test series meeting with AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and other some top current players.
While AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla will surely feature for the Proteas side from the first Test of the upcoming series, skipper Faf du Plessis and pacer Dale Steyn are recovering from injury and very possible to be seen in the later of the series.
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Lehmann quoted, “This [series] has a little bit of an extra feel I suppose because De Villiers, Amla and those guys might not go around again and we might not see them.”
Darren Lehmann also said, “They’re special players. It’s always an exciting Test series and it’s full on. There’s plenty of action going on the ground and off the ground. Those players are world-class players, we’ll have to keep them quiet to have a really good result on this tour.”
Talking about the Australian side, where some young players are coming up, Darren said, “We’ve got a lot to prove as a young side and keep playing well following on from our summer.”
