Today’s back pages: Ben Stokes and England will rough up Australia’s ‘sandpaper three’

A round up of the sport headlines from UK newspapers on 31 July

Australia cricketers Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft train at Edgbaston
Australia cricketers Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft train at Edgbaston
(Image credit: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images )

Stokes is ready for battle

England cricket star Ben Stokes has urged his team-mates to go on the attack “from ball one” against Australia, the Daily Express reports.

The Ashes first Test begins tomorrow and the Daily Mirror says England will “hit ’em fast and hit ’em hard” at Edgbaston.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Australia have included Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft in their 17-man squad for the five-Test series. The trio were banned last year for their part in the ball-tampering scandal against South Africa.

Vice-captain Stokes says Aussie opening batsman Warner will be a “big target”, The Times reports. i Sport adds that England will aim to rough up all of the “sandpaper three”.

Since the sandpaper scandal Australia have worked to improve their image, both on and off the pitch. But The Daily Telegraph quotes Stokes who says that the “Aussie nice-guy image does not fool us”.

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.