Australian bowler Mitchell Starc has laughed off Stuart Broad’s claims the 2021/22 Ashes series was “void” due to England’s harsh quarantine restrictions.
The series was played amid COVID-19 protocols, with the England team forced to undergo 14 days of quarantine at a Gold Coast resort, which Australia won 4-0.
While Australia faced their own challenges during the series, with skipper Pat Cummins missing the day-night Test in Adelaide and Travis Head testing positive for COVID-19 ahead of the New Year’s Day Test, Broad, who played three Tests during the one-sided series, claimed that series did not count.
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“The funniest thing out of that was they called it quarantine on the Gold Coast. I did seven of them. That was the easiest by a country mile,” Starc told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“The Poms had the pool, the gym, they were in a resort on the Gold Coast, they trained at Metricon, weren’t confined to their rooms and had their families there.
“Was that really quarantine? They were still allowed to play golf on tour. Is that an excuse for 4-0? Dunno. It was a pretty good series to be a part of.”
Speaking to The Daily Mail last month, Broad said there was “nothing harsher than the last Ashes series.”
“In my mind I don’t class that as a real Ashes. The definition of Ashes cricket is elite sport with lots of passion and players at the top of their game.
“Nothing about that series was high level performance because of the COVID restrictions. The training facilities, the travel, not being able to socialise.
“I’ve written it off as a void series.”
Australian vice-captain Steve Smith also questioned Broad’s comments earlier this month, labelling his point of view “a little bit odd”.
“We were all there and playing so it was a little bit odd, you know? He’s a nice guy and loves throwing out some good banter, so it’s all part of it,” Smith said.
“It certainly wasn’t ideal scenarios. But the whole world was going through it and we were in the middle of a pandemic, so we couldn’t really complain too much.
“We were actually out there being able to do what we love, so I don’t really have much more to add to it.”
The first Ashes Test between England and Australia gets underway at Edgbaston on June 16, giving England a chance to continue their solid form since that disastrous 2021/22 series which has seen them win nine of their 12 matches under new coach Brendon McCullum.
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