Aussie Piastri delivers Ashes VERDICT as Root dominates

Oscar Piastri has admitted that he wanted to be a cricketer rather than a Formula 1 driver, talking ahead of the start of the Ashes this week.

The Australian is in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend, but would've had time to catch much of the first day's play from Edgbaston before FP1 began on Friday.

England ended the day 379 runs ahead after declaring on 393/8, Joe Root top scoring with a fluent 118 not out, including two outrageous reverse scoop shots for six. However, Australia will begin Saturday batting on a flat wicket, giving them plenty of chance to take a first innings lead.

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Legends of the game

"When I was a kid, that’s what I wanted to be – an Australian cricketer or a footie player in Australia," Piastri told the media on Thursday. "I looked up to guys like Ricky [Ponting], also some of the bowlers at the time.

"I liked Mitchell Johnson for example, Brett Lee. I’ve looked up to a lot of those guys before racing and even still enjoy watching them play. Looking forward to the Aussies hopefully winning the Ashes.

"I think we’ll be good. We obviously had a successful test against India, so we’re now official world champions, which is nice. Hopefully we can retain the Ashes, I think it’ll be a good fight, but I'm confident in us Aussies."

Piastri's pace in Friday practice looked reasonably good, but two sessions disrupted by red flags and rain made it difficult to judge his true pace – especially given his lack of experience at the track.

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