The third and final test of the Ashes will take place at Headingley commencing on Thursday.
The stand-in spinner for Australia, Todd Murphy, anticipates being targeted by both the England squad and the home crowd.
During Australia’s 43-run victory at Lord’s, off-spinner Nathan Lyon sustained a calf injury, which would terminate his tour and force the team to replace him with Murphy. Lyon was playing in his 100th straight Test at the time of the injury.
With a 2-0 lead in the five-match series, Australia has arrived in Leeds needing only one victory to claim their first Ashes campaign victory in England in almost two decades.
The fallout from Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal at Lord’s, in which the England batsman was given out stumped even though he thought the ball was ‘dead’ at the end of the over, means that Australia can expect to face an even rowdier atmosphere than usual at the home ground of the Yorkshireman. This is bad news for Australia, as it means they will have to play in front of the Yorkshireman’s supporters.
For Murphy, who is 22 years old and has just 12 first-class outings and four Tests behind him, it promises to be a new experience; nonetheless, he has done his best to prepare for it after observing England’s attempts to attack Lyon in the first two matches of the series, which were played at Edgbaston and Lord’s.
“I think they’ll probably come even harder at me,” he told reporters at Headingley on Tuesday. “I’m not sure what to expect.”
“Obviously, I haven’t played a hell of a lot of Test cricket, so it’s a challenge that presents itself,” he said. “It’s a game that’s played over five days.” They are going to keep fighting their way through the game.
“I believe it’s just a matter of attempting to find one’s way through that and coming up with a few different ideas that could be used.”
Because this is my first trip to England, everything is fresh and exciting to me.
Murphy is prepared to play in an atmosphere that is far more hostile than the ones he faced in his four prior Tests, all of which took place in India earlier this year when Australia was on tour there.
He said, “I think that this might be a bit different to the Indian crowd,” and I believe he was correct. “Despite the fact that they made a lot of noise, everyone of them was really pleasant. According to what I’ve heard from the lads, this is arguably the most hostile turf you can find in England, and I can’t wait to experience it for myself if I ever have the chance.
He continued by saying, “I’ve always grown up watching the Ashes cricket, and I love what the Barmy Army bring to the game.”
“I have no doubt that they won’t pull any punches. But I’m simply going to have to accept it and work on having fun in spite of it. Everything is done in good spirit.”