Piastri, Selwood, Howard: Australians attract a crowd at training before second Test

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London: Pat Cummins’ Australian team may not get the opportunity to drive like Oscar Piastri on their bus tour around England, nor dive head-first into a pack of footy players like Joel Selwood while playing a non-contact Test match.

Yet in the Lord’s Test this week they will live out the same sensations Piastri knows from Formula 1 and Selwood from AFL grand final day: being the central entertainment for a crowd travelling from far and wide to see an event that transcends the actual sport.

As underlined by the presence of Piastri, Selwood and a gaggle of other hangers on including former prime minister John Howard, former treasurer Joe Hockey, and MCC president Stephen Fry among others, Ashes Test matches at Lord’s are their own distinct events, transcending the usual circles.

Nathan Lyon (centre) chats with retired AFL player Joel Selwood and F1 driver Oscar Piastri.Credit: Getty Images

Piastri’s visit to the nets featured the incongruous sight of the racing driver bowling gently to Marnus Labuschagne, then later facing some off-breaks from Nathan Lyon and a few very slow left-arm seamers from Starc.

Selwood, meanwhile, was clad in full team kit, a nod to his ongoing association with the head coach Andrew McDonald, who lives in Geelong and has shared professional development concepts with the Cats’ coaching group.

The week ahead of the Lord’s Test generally starts with the traditional function at Australia House, where the Australian high commissioner to the United Kingdom, this time the former cabinet minister Stephen Smith, holds forth on their love of cricket and, in this case, disdain for the excesses of Bazball.

Piastri had a bowl in the nets.Credit: Getty Images

So pronounced was the Cricket Australia presence at the high commission that no fewer than three chairs of the governing body – Richard Freudenstein, Lachlan Henderson and the incumbent Mike Baird – were present for the formalities. Tickets are in such demand that it was not always a sure thing that all family members of the Australian team would be catered for.

Baird carried on from that event to be one of a large group looking on from behind the nets as the Australians trained at the Nursery End of Lord’s, watching Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland go through their paces in another duel for the last spot in a settled XI.

It is a common sight to find Australian administrators taking a look at training ahead of the Lord’s Test; Baird won some extra credibility with the national team for turning up in Ahmedabad earlier this year when temperatures neared 40C.

This time, however, the interest has been ramped up still more by the fact of Australia’s memorable two-wicket victory over Ben Stokes’ England at Edgbaston, a finish that held the attention of some 700,000 broadcast viewers at 4am on home soil.

Watch every ball of the 2023 Ashes series live and exclusive on Channel 9 and 9Now.

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