North says nothing to hide from England ahead of Ashes

SYDNEY - Marcus North has said it would have been pointless to have withdrawn from today’s tour match against England to deny the tourists a look at him before the Ashes.

Western Australia will go into the match having four players with international experience, although Adam Voges, Luke Ronchi and Luke Pomersbach have only played limited-overs matches.

“If you ask whether I’m worried they’re going to come hard at me, well, they’re going to come hard at me in the first Test, so I expect nothing different come tomorrow,” he said.

“I’ve played five Test matches against England and a lot of county cricket so I’d be very surprised if they don’t know my game inside-out,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted him, as saying.

North said he never hesitated over the chance to face England’s bowlers before the series began, irrespective of how he performs in the three-day match.

“When Western Australia gets the opportunity to play a touring side, it’s something that we always want and look forward to as state players,” he said.

“For me, only playing one format of the game [for Australia], it just gives me a great opportunity to play another first-class game against quality opposition. It gives me an opportunity to play against them, and if I make some runs that’s going to be good.

North said there was no need for him to contact Ricky Ponting to find out whether the Test captain had any tactical plans for the English that he wanted to test before the Ashes. (ANI)