‘A weird choice’ - Matthew Potts reflects on Australia’s decision of naming just four pacers for the Ashes

Following the end of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, several of the Australian players would be travelling to England for the much anticipated World Test Championship final against India and then would go on to face England in the Ashes series.

The Ashes series will see Australia face England in five matches over one month. The first match is scheduled to begin on June 16, and with the series lasting for more than a month, player workload management would be one of the biggest concerns on the minds of the team management.

After Ben Stokes opined that England would look to take eight fit seamers to manage the workload better, English pacer Matthew Potts was asked his opinion after Australia just named four frontline pacers in their squad for the Ashes. Australia have included the likes of Pat Cummins, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc, who are the only pacers in their squad that will take on India and England.

"Yeah, I had a look at that when they picked the four seamers. I thought that was a little bit of a weird choice, but I mean, they do have some seamers over here, Michael Neser, played for Glamorgan, is over here and fit, so they will have people they can call upon and bring them in the squad should they need them, and as for us needing eight fit seamers, I think that’s only right that we have that depth in the squad to call upon if we need," Matthew Potts said in an interview with Sky Sports.

Furthermore, Potts also stressed the importance of rotation among the fast bowlers when the Ashes gets underway. He even opined that playing five Test matches in the course of six weeks would be a tough task for any player in the world.

"Fast bowlers do need to be rested and rotated, and with five matches in six weeks, that is a tough ask for anyone. I think if I can be in and around that, which is something that I do hope to achieve, then I think that would be good," Potts said.