Australia ‘neutralizes England’s secret weapon’ to hone batting skills ahead of Ashes

MELBOURNE - Cricket Australia has equipped their out of form batsmen with the latest technological breakthrough to sharpen their techniques

Ricky Ponting and his teammates will use the baseball-inspired ProBatter training device when they start their Ashes preparations at Brisbane’s Centre of Excellence on Monday.

Using the same Hawk-Eye technology as in tennis, ProBatter produces a projected image of a bowler running into the crease before a cutting-edge bowling machine unleashes the ball through the video screen, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

England has been using the system in recent months and the manager of sport science at the Centre Marc Portus indicated that the expensive new training tool had the potential to give Australia’s cricketers great preparation.

“It’s a very significant event, it’s been three years in project work so it’s fantastic to actually have it here and in time for such an iconic series,” he said.

“England have been saying it’s giving them a great advantage for the Ashes and well we’ve neutralised that for now,” Portus said.

ProBatter’s computer archives vision of bowlers and their repertoire of deliveries, which can then be selected and bowled in the nets.

The technology will also allow Australia to film any bowlers in action around the world later on, but at this point none of the current England bowlers have been archived. (ANI)