It’s finally here. For more than three years, the Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum regime has been building towards a legacy-defining trip Down Under. Reputations are made in Ashes encounters — this series will be no different.
Across the past decade, England have been nothing short of useless in Australia. They’ve played 15 matches, won none of them, and lost 13. But this time, with a clear plan in place and a high-octane style of cricket at the ready, the foundations are in place for an historic series. Win, lose or draw, it is set to be spectacular.
Winning in Australia is one of cricket’s toughest challenges. Since England last won a series in Australia in 2011 — their only victorious Ashes since the 1980s — Australia have lost only four of the 22 series they have played at home.
Australia are good, but they are old. The core of their team are all in their mid to late thirties, and the concern for years has been what happens when their entire team retires, or breaks, all at the same time. Well, it’s started to happen.
Their talismanic captain Pat Cummins is missing at least the first Test through injury, while his fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has also been ruled out of the first Test with a hamstring complaint. Between them, they have more than 600 Test wickets. Australia’s super-strength was their relentless bowling attack and half of it is missing for the first Test. It is a golden opportunity for England.
“I understand all the ‘defining series’ stuff. Personally it’s not going to detract from what I’ve given as England captain. It’s been three and a half years of a lot of time and effort. It’s something I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, I wake up every morning loving what I do. It’s the greatest honour in English cricket to lead this team. I’m desperate to be an Ashes-winning captain.”
Hype has continued to grow with tickets for the first two days at the 60,000-seater Perth Stadium long sold out. When tickets for the series were released, Cricket Australia announced that more than 300,000 had been purchased in a 24-hour period, nearly tripling the record for any single day of sales in Australian cricket history.
The last time these teams played in 2023, the series was a thrilling two-all draw on English soil but left a bitter aftertaste with no outright winner. Two years later, the score should finally be settled.
Stokes in confident mood
England’s plan A for Perth is clear. Pace. In their 12-man squad the two names that will decide the final XI are Mark Wood and Shoaib Bashir.
England are desperate for Wood, arguably the fastest bowler in the world, to play, but the Durham seamer has bowled only eight overs since he last played a competitive fixture in February.
Those overs came in England’s warm-up match against the Lions last week and resulted in the pacer going to hospital for a scan on his hamstring. It came back clear, but there are few players as fragile, or as important to England’s hopes.
But if now isn’t the time to gamble, when is? The pitch in Perth is expected to be fast and bouncy and the opportunity to play Archer and Wood together in the same Test XI for only the second time may well be too good for England to turn down.
Whereas England often name their team two days out from a match, on this occasion they have given themselves as much time as possible to make the final call on Wood’s fitness and also on whether the pitch dictates the need for a spinner.
If they decide the latter, England will need to decide which seamer is the one to miss out. Picking Wood as one of five seamers gives England protection if he goes down, picking him as one of four would be more of a risk.
England are otherwise settled for the series ahead. The only other room for speculation was at No3 where Ollie Pope was forced to bat away a challenge from Jacob Bethell that eventually never materialised.
The group is well settled, with the team considering themselves in as strong a position as they could have hoped for at this stage. “One big thing me and Baz firmly believe in is if you create a tight-knit group, not only on the field, but off the field, then you create an environment where people are enjoying themselves,” Stokes said.
“Particularly when you come to a series like this, two and a half months away from home in Australia. Yes, obviously all the important stuff does happen out on the field, but you spend so much time away from cricket grounds together that if you can have a strong unity together in the team, that’s what we’re trying to create.”
England only had one warm-up match, a result of the crammed international schedule that no longer allows for several matches against state sides being organised. They nevertheless feel well prepared, with the fastest bowling attack in recent memory to call upon and a batting roster headlined by Joe Root and Harry Brook.
Root is yet to score a century Down Under, a stat that is thrown at him at every opportunity by Australian media, but nevertheless remains the key batter for England. In a series where ball should dominate bat, a Root century or two could be the deciding factor in who claims the urn.
Green and golden oldies
The Dad’s Army. The XI that Australia will take the field with on Friday will be the oldest team in almost 100 years of Test cricket with an average age of more than 34.
This Australian team has been historically good, with the fact that they now face the issue of an ageing team speaking more to the continued success they have had rather than poor planning.
Yes, the entire specialist seam attack being aged 33 (Cummins), 34 (Hazlewood) and 35 (Mitchell Starc) isn’t ideal. But each bowler is a generational talent. Who, exactly, should Australia have dropped them for? And what selector is making that call? The all-rounder, Cameron Green, is the only player below 30.
“Old,” Starc joked about how it made him feel to be the only one of the iconic fast-bowling trio left standing for the first Test. “Sadly injuries happen in fast bowling. It’s good to see the depth in the squad.”
Cummins and Hazlewood’s injuries have opened the door for Scott Boland (36) and debutant Brendan Doggett (31) to make their way into the XI. Boland had a difficult tour of England in 2023, but otherwise has a spectacular Test record with 62 wickets at an average of 16.53. Statistically speaking, he is the best bowler in the past 100 years. “We know what Boland can do,” Starc said. “And Doggett has been on a hot streak. We are all clear on our roles. I’ve got a bit more experience but Scotty’s been around for a while.”
Doggett may not be the only debutant in Australia’s team, with opening batter Jake Weatherald also in line for a call-up and set to partner Usman Khawaja at the top of the order.
Of the prospect of facing two debutants, Stokes said: “We won’t be taking them any more lightly. So it’s not the case we’re going to single out two people because there’s nine others you need to keep an eye on and concentrate on as well.”
Pace, bounce and pork bellies
If any further indication was needed that the hype for this series is different, it was provided when Western Australia Head Curator Isaac McDonald fronted up to the media at Perth Stadium surrounded by a scrum of journalists and a dozen TV cameras to talk about the pitch. ‘Pace and bounce’ were the buzzwords after preparations started a day earlier than normal to account for erratic weather. Australia’s training session two days out from the first Test had to be postponed after a nearby lightning strike.
In recent years, Test cricket in Australia has seen spin play a reduced role, with pitches increasingly favouring seam bowlers and scores getting lower. Depending on who you ask, the expectation is that this week will see more of the same with seam dominating, while Starc believes the early preparation means the wicket looks “ready to go now”, indicating that as the match progresses it will get slower and spin will play more of a role. If this is the case, it would make any decision by England to go without a spinner more of a risk.
Away from the cricket, Perth Stadium’s media team sent round a note to journalists proudly stating that ‘The West Test’, will be ‘the biggest single event ever held’ at the ground and that over one tonne of pork belly, two tonnes of butter chicken and two tonnes of lamb shoulder will be prepared. And that’s just for those in Premium Hospitality. Whatever metric is used, the conclusion is the same, that this is the biggest Ashes series in terms of interest, eyeballs and pork belly, of all time.
“A lot has been spoken about the history,” concluded Stokes. “And how it has gone for England. This is our chance to create our own history and it is up to us how that looks.”
