The age of the home side is a major talking point but they remain formidable while England have come full of strokemakers and genuine pace
Andrew Miller and Andrew McGlashan07-Nov-20257:23
Will Joe Root finally score his first hundred in Australia?
Top order
Australia Usman Khawaja, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green
England Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Jacob BethellTheir displays in the New Zealand ODIs may beg to differ, but England’s batters arrive in Australia with a rare clarity of purpose, thanks to three years of constant backing from the selectors and an overarching licence to be proactive. In Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, they boast Test cricket’s standout opening partnership since 2019, and if doubts persist about Crawley’s overall returns, then Australians will need little reminding of his 189 at Old Trafford in the 2023 series. How the diminutive Duckett tailors his game to Australia’s bouncier surfaces could be one of the subplots of the series.Related
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England’s obvious issue is the identity of their No. 3 batter, although the debate may prove to be a red herring. Ollie Pope tends to start series very well, and in averaging a notch below 39 since 2022, he is a long way from being a lame duck at first-drop. His removal from the vice-captaincy will make a switch to Jacob Bethell easier if England so choose, but it seems unlikely they will take that option just yet.Their opponents, by contrast, still don’t know which order they will be lining up in, even if the personnel for Perth are now in place. Jake Weatherald’s impending debut could enable Marnus Labuschagne to slot back into his favoured No. 3 berth, but while his Sheffield Shield form is a significant boost, Usman Khawaja’s struggle for meaningful runs remains a worry as he enters what could be the final stretch of his international career. To highlight Australia’s recent uncertainties at the top, if Weatherald debuts, he will be Khawaja’s sixth opening partner since David Warner retired.It could yet be that Cameron Green retains the No. 3 position if he doesn’t play as a full allrounder. He adapted impressively in the Caribbean, but England won’t mind seeing him there.Who comes out on top? England, if the pitches are flat; Australia, if hanging tough is required
Middle order
Australia Steven Smith, Travis Head
England Joe Root, Harry BrookHere lies the engine room, not just of the respective teams, but arguably the series itself. A pair of all-time great batters on either side, in Steven Smith and Joe Root, and two other brilliant contemporary performers in Harry Brook and Travis Head, with a string of match-seizing displays in their repertoire.A big Ashes ahead for Steven Smith?•AFP/Getty ImagesAll eyes are on Root going into this campaign. As the current No.1-ranked batter in the world, he could not ask for better circumstances as he seeks that elusive maiden hundred in Australia – the only significant void in his immense repertoire. His counterpart, by contrast, has 18 already on home soil and, as he showed in racking up two more hundreds in an overall off-colour series against India last summer, Smith’s muscle memory is liable to kick in at any given moment.Brook, currently No. 2 on the rankings, showcased some startling strokeplay in the New Zealand ODIs last week, and as vice-captain, he has an added layer of responsibility going into a seminal series. But his record in Australia is undeniably limited – at international level he’s made just 69 runs at 9.85 in the country, all during England’s T20 World Cup win in 2022, while his solitary BBL campaign for Hobart Hurricanes realised 44 runs at 6.28. It’s unlikely to remain that fallow for long, but it’s a reminder of the magnitude of the Ashes stage.Head, meanwhile, has eight of his nine Test hundreds on home soil, and plays with a freedom that will take England’s own game back to them if he is allowed to get on a roll. Stokes kept him relatively quiet in 2023 with a persistent short-ball ploy, and while he certainly has the pace at his disposal to do so again, it’s a draining method to deploy across five Tests. Smith, for his part, declared he was “ready” before he had had a proper hit back with New South Wales.Who comes out on top? Australia, purely through weight of prior experience
Allrounders
Australia Cameron Green, Beau Webster
England Ben Stokes, Will JacksThis category might as well be Ben Stokes versus himself, given the inordinate importance of England’s captain to… well, every aspect of his team’s challenge. Four years ago, he rushed back to action before he was mentally or physically ready; four years before that, he was the spectre at Australia’s feast as England were devoured in his post-Bristol absence. Now, he’s back as their strategic kingpin, a full 12 years after he alone emerged with a reputation enhanced from the 2013-14 whitewash.Ben Stokes could be the key to it all for England•Martin Rickett/PA Photos/Getty ImagesIt hardly needs mentioning what “the Headingley heartbreaker”, as one Aussie paper described him last week, can achieve with bat in hand. But his break-glass-in-emergency bowling could yet be the crucial aspect of his performances. He’d scarcely featured as an allrounder for two years until his 15-wicket display against India last summer but, between his knack for partnership-breaking and his willingness to take on the old-ball donkeywork, he could prove vital in keeping his quicks fresh and firing.Green, who could slip back to No. 6, has yet to sprinkle the stardust in quite the same way as Stokes, but he still shapes as a pivotal cricketer for Australia over the next ten years. At full fitness, he is, like Stokes, a genuine pace-bowling option and as a batter could easily be the long-term No. 4 when Smith is done. He struggled with the turnaround from IPL to Test cricket in 2023, eventually being dropped for the final Test, and given he’s a rhythm player, his lack of recent cricket could be a telling factor.Beau Webster, meanwhile, has done little wrong in the allrounder role since debuting against India, although England probably won’t lose sleep over him. If Green is fully fit to bowl, he shapes as the fall guy.Who comes out on top? England, if Stokes doesn’t break himself in the process
Wicketkeeper
Australia Alex Carey, Josh Inglis
England Jamie SmithJamie Smith travels to Australia as one of England’s great white hopes. A batter of proven power and untapped potential who ought to thrive on bouncy surfaces. His counterattacking methods and calmness when batting with the tail make him an ideal No.7 in… whisper it… the mould of Adam Gilchrist. Much like Brook, however, the theory has not yet met the reality of Australia’s cauldron-like venues.Jamie Smith could be a game-changer in the middle order•Getty ImagesIn Alex Carey, Australia now have a tried and tested international career. Four years on from his hasty debut, he has become a fulcrum of the side. Events at Lord’s in 2023 will, no doubt, get a few airings during this series and for a time after that, he did struggle. But over the last 18 months, he has been outstanding with an average of 41.89 along with some excellent glovework, until a few drops in the West Indies earlier this year.Who comes out on top? A tight one to call. Experience vs youth. If the series becomes relatively low-scoring, it could be a defining head-to-head.
Fast bowlers
Australia Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc
England Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Matthew PottsHere’s where things get interesting. Pat Cummins’ absence – at least for the first Test – is perhaps the first indication of mortality in an awesome Australia seam attack that has ruled the roost for a decade. Josh Hazlewood, who has bowled magnificently in early-season white-ball matches and is five away from 300 Test wickets, and Mitchell Starc remain formidable performers, while Scott Boland has his 6 for 7 in the 2021-22 Ashes as proof of his credentials.Mitchell Starc is a great of the game but will age finally weary him?•Randy Brooks/Associated PressBut age is not on their side, and given England’s determination to go after their opponents – Boland has already been earmarked as a target in some quarters, which promises a fascinating duel – it seems inevitable that one of the lesser lights in Australia’s seam ranks will be pitched onto centre stage at some key moment, although it may yet be Cummins himself who plays the super sub role.England have their own concerns, of course. Mark Wood is edging back to operational fitness for what will surely be his own last hurrah, while the excitement surrounding Jofra Archer’s miraculous return to all-formats action should be tempered by the four years of frailty that preceded it. If either suffers a setback mid-match, it would be a disaster.And yet, for the first time since 2010-11, England are primed to hit Australia with a battery of 90mph/145kph quicks, all of whom can expect to make an impact no matter how spicy (or otherwise) the Australia pitches turn out to be. They might conceivably miss the old-school skills of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes, but their recent record down under suggests otherwise.Who comes out on top? This is nip and tuck, even in Cummins’ absence. It could come down to further injuries. England need Wood and Archer to stay fit.
Spinners
Australia Nathan Lyon
England Shoaib BashirProven GOAT-tier offspin on the one hand; high-ceiling-ed optimism on the other. On paper, there’s hardly a contest in this department, as Nathan Lyon lays his 562 Test wickets on the table against Shoaib Bashir’s 20 months of on-the-job training. Who knows if Bashir will even feature in the series’ early exchanges – Perth, then a pink-ball Test, might encourage an extra seam option, or even the part-time spin of Will Jacks to enable extra batting depth. But when he does, we shall see whether England’s defiantly biomechanical selection policy stands up to its acid test.England have invested a lot in Shoaib Bashir•PA Images/GettyThe logic has long been that Bashir has the ability to drive his offbreaks into the pitch from a high release point and provide a wicket-taking threat that others, notably Jack Leach, would have lacked in Australian conditions. He’ll be backed up, too, by Stokes’ unfailingly positive captaincy – a few swings for the fences won’t deter England’s captain from persisting in his quest for breakthroughs. Nevertheless, of all the aspects of England’s battle plan, this one feels the most fraught with danger. Not least because of the thrum of inevitable quality twirling down from Australia’s side.One thing is certain, though, and it’s that England won’t let Lyon settle. That was clear in 2023 before Lyon’s series-ending injury, which highlighted how vital he remains to the balance of their side, although the role he plays could be determined by conditions.Who comes out on top? Australia. Surely.