Mistake Poms ‘can’t afford’; why series could cruel Root forever — Ashes State of Play

Following the conclusion of the enthralling Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, England turns its attention towards the sport’s oldest rivalry — the Ashes.

It’s been more than a decade since England lifted the coveted urn, while the nation’s most recent Test triumph on Australian soil was way back in 2011.

But England will touch down in November with a rejuvenated and confident squad, led by mastermind Brendon McCullum and inspirational captain Ben Stokes.

Australia, meanwhile, will be brimming with confidence after topping the standings during the previous World Test Championship cycle and a 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies in the Caribbean.

Australia, ranked No. 1 in the world, has not lost a home Test series since Pat Cummins took charge of the team in late 2021.

The first Test of the Ashes gets underway at Perth Stadium on November 21.

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ENGLAND’S 12-YEAR SPIN HEADACHE

England spinners have endured a rough time on Australian soil over the last decade.

During the 2013/14 Ashes whitewash, Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar collectively claimed ten wickets at 81.70 across the series, while one-Test wonder Scott Borthwick leaked 6.30 runs per over during the New Year’s contest. Four years later, Moeen Ali took five wickets at 115.00 in five matches while Mason Crane finished the Sydney Test with figures of 1-193.

Jack Leach snared six wickets at 53.50 during the 2021/22 Ashes, missing selection for Tests in Adelaide and Hobart — but England was left red-faced after choosing not to play a strike tweaker for the pink-ball Test in the South Australian capital, with seamer Ollie Robinson switching to spin in comical scenes.

While England’s spinners have struggled on Australian soil since the start of 2013 (35 wickets at 72.28), veteran tweaker Nathan Lyon has been a class above, taking 56 scalps at 27.66 in home Ashes matches.

“It is a massive role, and it can be a massive challenge for people who haven’t done it in the past in these conditions,” Lyon said last week.

“Our guys know how to play spin really well in this country. That’s probably what helped me produce my skill to where it is at the moment.

“I know I’ll keep trying to get better, and we’ll see how their spinners go.”

Lyon has fine-tuned the delicate craft of bowling spin in Australia throughout his 15-year career, while England hopes it has found an answer in the form of Shoaib Bashir.

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The 21-year-old has shown glimpses of excellence during the early stages of his Test career, taking five-wicket hauls against the West Indies, Zimbabwe and India – but facing Australia in the Ashes is a different kettle of fish.

Speaking on Sky Sports, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting implored England to pick Bashir for all five Tests of the upcoming Ashes campaign, arguing he boasts a similar skillset to Lyon.

“He’s as similar to Nathan Lyon as anyone around the world, and Lyon’s record in Perth and Brisbane, particularly in Australia, are very good,” Ponting explained.

“He’ll have Mitchell Starc’s footmarks that he can bowl into as well. Australia will have probably three or four left-handers in their line-up which will aid the right-arm off-spinner as well. And it’s the overspin that you need in Australia.

“Finger spinners in Australia historically haven’t done well because I think there’s a lot of sidespin. Get some overspin on the ball, then you’re in the game. I’d be playing Bashir for sure.”

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‘CANNOT WAIT’: THE MOUTH-WATERING X-FACTOR BATTLE

The battle between Harry Brook and Travis Head could decide the Ashes.

The No. 5s are counterpunching weapons capable of taking the match away from the opposition within a session, possessing a similar approach to the game – when your back’s against the wall, attack’s the best form of defence.

The duo have repeatedly walked to the crease in a dire situation before digging their teammates out of a hole by whacking rapid half-centuries in challenging conditions – and often converting to triple figures.

Head was the player of the series when England previously toured Australia in 2021/22 with swashbuckling hundreds in Brisbane and Hobart. Since that breakout summer, the South Australian has accumulated 1530 runs at 54.64 in Australia with six hundreds and a strike rate of 88.90.

Meanwhile, Brook has enjoyed a phenomenal start to his Test career, racing towards ten hundreds in just fifty innings — he currently boasts the seventh-highest batting average in Test history (minimum fifty knocks).

During the fifth Test against India at the Oval, the Yorkshireman almost helped England chase a daunting 374-run target in the fourth innings by slapping a 91-ball hundred.

He’s yet to score a Test century against Australia, but Pat Cummins’ men got a glimpse at his destructive potential during the 2023 Ashes.

“I cannot wait to see Harry Brook in Australia,” veteran cricket reporter Robert Craddock told SEN 1116 this week.

“He just could be anything this kid, I’ve never seen anything like him.”

However, former Australian opener David Warner predicted that Brook would be tested by short-pitched bowling this summer.

“Guys like Brooky can come out and play the way he wants, but he is going to have to start practising more on the short ball because I think that’s what he is going to get,” Warner aid on Wednesday.

“They will target him early through the slipstream and the cordon will look to be brought into play, but knowing the Australian bowlers, they will target those things.”

ENGLAND SUPERSTAR NEEDS TO VANQUISH AUSSIE DEMONS

Joe Root has been the best cricketer in the world over the last five years.

Since the start of 2021, the Yorkshireman has accumulated 5720 Test runs at 56.63, with 22 hundreds in 61 matches, including three centuries during the recent Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy campaign against India.

Root is now second on the list of leading run-scorers in Test history, while only three players have more centuries than the former England captain – Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting.

“He’s not a big one for landmarks, but I think that’s a pretty cool one, second-highest Test runs is incredible,” England vice-captain Ollie Pope said of Root last month.

“The hunger he has, I wouldn’t be surprised if he chased (Tendulkar) down.”

Stokes continued: “He’s just the absolute GOAT.”

However, one blemish remains in Root’s otherwise impeccable Test record. The right-hander boasts 39 hundreds in the game’s longest format – but none in Australia.

Root’s three previous tours have been disastrous, failing to register a win across 14 matches. He was dropped at the end of the 2013/14 Ashes campaign, when England was whitewashed 5-0, while he gave up the captaincy shortly after the forgettable 2021/22 tour to Australia.

Root averages 35.68 down under; hardly disastrous, but it’s comfortably the lowest figure among nations where he’s played at least three matches.

Joe Root of England. Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images for Surrey CCC Source: Getty Images

Warner has already taken a swipe at Root ahead of the Ashes, and there’s no denying Ben Stokes’ men will struggle to win back the urn if he can’t produce his best this summer.

“Joe is a hell of a cricket player, look at the runs he has scored, the second leading run-scorer in the world, there are not too many things you can say to him that he doesn’t have an answer for,” Warner said on Wednesday.

“But I’m sure he’d like to score a hundred in Australia. It’s one that has eluded him. I think that will be on his mind.”

He continued: “The way that he brings down his bat playing on Australian wickets, it can bring him undone and I’ve seen it in the past.”

“I think he will have nightmares before he gets over here about Josh Hazlewood.”

Australia is Root’s final frontier — if he can vanquish his Australian demons this summer, he’ll be remembered as an undisputed legend of the game.

“They talk about Joe Root being a phenomenal batsman — and he is — but he’s never scored a hundred in Australia,” former Test all-rounder Brendon Julian told Fox Cricket this week.

“Until you score runs in Australia, then you are truly world-class.

“The pressure’s really on Joe Root; a lot of expectation is on him.

“He’s the key, no doubt he’s the best player in the team.”

Meanwhile, former Australia captain Michael Clarke predicted that the hosts would be wary of Root’s underwhelming Test record down under, further motivating Cummins’ men.

“(Root’s) last challenge is to make a hundred or hundreds in Australia, so that adds more fuel to the fire for the Aussies as well. They’ll want to try and stop that,” Clarke told the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.

“I would imagine that would give the Aussies a bit more fuel to try their best to stop Joe Root making a hundred in Australia.”

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ENGLAND’S INJURY-PRONE AND VULNERABLE PACE CARTEL

Australia boasts one of the greatest bowling attacks of the modern era, with the star quartet taking more than 1500 Test wickets between them.

However, following the retirements of Stuart Broad and James Anderson, England will arrive in Australia this November with an inexperienced, vulnerable pace cartel packed with promising, but unproven talent.

Speedsters Jofra Archer and Mark Wood are undeniable threats, with the duo already tormenting Australia’s batters on multiple occasions in the Ashes arena. However, Archer has spent the last four years in the casualty ward, while the 35-year-old Wood was sidelined for the entire Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy campaign due to a knee injury.

The ageing and injury-prone quicks rarely play consecutive Tests, while it’s unlikely either will feature in more than three matches during this summer’s Ashes due to workload management.

But Julian has implored England not to wrap Archer in cotton wool — four years ago, the touring side came under heavy scrutiny after resting Broad and Anderson for the series opener in Brisbane.

“They’re going to have to pick their best bowlers. Archer has got to play at least the first two Test matches,” Julian said.

“They can’t afford to rest and rotate early on, they’ve got to get out of the blocks early.

“They need their full squad and best bowling line-up to beat Australia.”

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Chris Woakes, the other experienced seamer in England’s squad, has a modest Test record outside of the United Kingdom, while the shoulder injury he sustained at The Oval could rule him out of the Ashes altogether.

Aged 36, he may have played his last Test for his country. His final contribution to English cricket could be bravely walking out to bat at The Oval with his left arm wrapped in his jumper.

The shining light of England’s bowling attack over the last 18 months has been Gus Atkinson, who already has 63 Test wickets at 22.01, including four five-wicket hauls. There’s also South Africa-born Brydon Carse, who has made a promising, albeit unremarkable start to his Test career with 36 wickets at 30.11.

But elsewhere, England’s pace options are fairly mundane.

Josh Tongue was England’s leading wicket-taker during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, but between flashes of brilliance with the Dukes ball, the Nottinghamshire speedster produced some comically poor spells against India.

Olly Stone and Saqib Mahmood could cause plenty of damage on Australian decks, but rarely get opportunities at international level due to their fragile bodies.

Sam Cook and Josh Hull each have one Test cap, while Ollie Robinson and Matthew Potts have seemingly fallen out of favour with national selectors.

Meanwhile, Adelaide Strikers all-rounder Jamie Overton couldn’t repay the national selectors’ faith at The Oval last week, finishing with match figures of 2-164 in a thrilling six-run loss.

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‘CHANGE THEIR GAME-PLAN’: JUICY DECKS COULD THWART BAZBALL

England’s Bazballers have benefited from flat wickets in the United Kingdom, which have aided their aggressive style of play over the last few years.

Each match during the recent Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy campaign went for five days courtesy of the batting-friendly decks and soft Dukes ball — but that won’t be the case in Australia this summer.

Australia’s juicy decks have been a nightmare for top-order batters over the last few years, with pace bowlers dominating in the Test arena — only two of the 14 most recent Tests in Australia have reached the fifth day, with 300 becoming a par first-innings score.

The redesigned Kookaburra has proven a dangerous weapon for Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, who have maintained phenomenal records on Australian soil.

With seaming and bouncy decks to tame, England’s top-order batters may struggle if conditions play as expected this summer — but then again, Ben Stokes’ men have time and time again proven doubters wrong.

“In Australia, it’s different pitches (to England),” Julian said.

“They won’t be able to be aggressive like they are in England.

“If they try to be aggressive, and try to play too many shots, then that’s good for us, we’ll knock them over.

“So they’re going to have to change their game-plan a little bit.”

Warner continued: “In Australia, there is not one place where you can drive on the up and play shots willy nilly.”

Additional reporting from Dane Heverin

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