The Ashes Preview

  • November 23rd, 2017
  • Charlie Bull

Cricket fans, The Ashes is back. It simply doesn't get any better than this. England travel down under in what is a strangely anticipated series. England currently hold the famous old urn, having beaten Australia 3-2 on home turf in 2015 - regaining the Ashes back from the Aussies in the process.

England


It was an interesting summer of cricket in England - as they didn't have a set team at all. Head Coach Trevor Bayliss chopped and changed in an attempt to find a settled and reliable XI but that outcome remains fantasy. Alastair Cook is in the form of his life - his position is cemented at the top, and it appears that England have settled on Stoneman to open with him after extensively assessing options. Ballance is a liability at three, but James Vince is also in the squad and in contention. It's a very important role in the side and the failings here have usually meant the middle and lower order are required to rescue the innings for England. Captain Joe Root is very open about the fact he wants to bat at four.

The biggest talking point at the end of the summer and going into the Ashes tour is undoubtedly Ben Stokes. The Durham man is suspended indefinitely by the ECB, after the infamous nightclub incident. Stokes has been heroic in the last couple of years and placed himself up there with the best all-rounders in the world. Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali are two stars for England and will be crucial lower down the order if there are failings further up. Anderson, Broad and Woakes leading the bowling attack will provide potency and the Poms will need these three at their best to stop the Aussie batsmen.

Australia


Australia have only won one of their last four test series, including a 1-1 with Bangladesh last time out. These recent results mean Steve Smith and co will have something to prove in this Ashes series. When added to the fact that the urn is in the hands of England, there will definitely be good, hard cricket over the 6 weeks of tests. You can guarantee David Warner will score runs on the hard tracks down there, and in stark contrast to England, the top order seems pretty stable. Khawaja at three, Smith at four and Handscomb at five who has made a fantastic start to life as a test cricketer, with an average of 53.

The only question marks going into the series were the number 6 and wicket-keeper spot. There were a couple in contention for each, but Darren Lehmann has gone for Shaun Marsh at 6. England might have been expecting an all-rounder here but Marsh doesn't bowl. Behind the stumps Nevill, Wade and Henriques were all in contention. However, Tim Paine has received a call-up at 32. Interestingly, Coach Lehmann has scored a more recent test century than Paine! The Australian 'Big Four' pace attack won't be coming together as Pattinson misses out. All have struggled with injuries over the last few months but Starc and Hazlewood at least are back to their frightening best and will be gunning for the Poms' top order. Ever-reliable off-spinner Nathan Lyon plays in order to give some balance to the bowling lineup.

Summary


It will be a hard one to call as always, but it's difficult to see past Australia this time out. It would seem there are too many question marks and frailties in England's batting; and when Mitchell Starc is on fire, there aren't many in the world that can stop him. However - the English love an underdog story. We'll wait and see.