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As I wrote recently, the upcoming Ashes will be a closely fought series. This became even clearer when I compiled a composite Ashes XI and found how even the line-ups were.
Judging by comments from Roarers over the past few weeks, many of you believe Australia are a lay-down misère not only to retain the Ashes but to win the series in England.
Some Australian fans have become even more confident of this in the wake of the two recent series in the Caribbean.
Seeing England limp through their three Tests against the Windies, only for Australia to utterly destroy the home side, has convinced a lot of cricket followers that the Ashes will be one-sided.
It may well be. The joy of cricket is that it is wildly unpredictable. When England arrived Down Under in late 2013 they were raging favourites, fresh from a 3-1 Ashes win at home and having slaughtered Australia on their last visit.
Then they received the cricketing equivalent of an atomic wedgie. Who knows what will unfold when the Ashes starts in just under two weeks’ time?
Anyway, here is my combined Ashes XI:
1. David Warner (Australia)
2. Alastair Cook (England)
3. Steve Smith (Australia)
4. Gary Ballance (England)
5. Michael Clarke (Australia)
6. Ben Stokes (England)
7. Jos Buttler (England)
8. Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
9. Ryan Harris (Australia)
10. Nathan Lyon (Australia)
11. James Anderson (England)
The opening combination was made easy to pick by Alastair Cook’s recent spike in form. The English skipper may not have looked imperious at the crease over the past six months but he has been prolific nonetheless.
David Warner’s form has dipped in recent Tests yet he remains the most fearsome top-order batsman in Test cricket. He’s an automatic selection. So, too, is his teammate Steve Smith. I’ve written enough about him recently to explain how he has earned this spot.
I do, however, expect a strong debate to centre around my selection of Gary Ballance at four. The only other alternatives were Ian Bell, who has been out of form for almost two years, and Adam Voges, who has played only two Tests.
Ballance, too, is inexperienced at Test level having played just 13 matches. There are also justifiable concerns about his ability to prosper against quality pace bowling. In his three Tests against New Zealand and Australia he has floundered, making just 61 runs at an average of 10.
Meanwhile, he has butchered the pace-poor attacks of India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. But the fact remains that, at just 25 years old, he has 1096 Test runs to his name at the brilliant average of 52.
Michael Clarke slots into this side at his preferred spot of five. The Australian captain owns a phenomenal record, although he has been all-or-nothing over the past 18 months or so. Like Ballance, he had fairly limited competition for this spot.
Had Mitch Marsh played in the West Indies ahead of Shane Watson there may have been a closer battle for the all-rounder position in this Ashes team. As it is, Ben Stokes grabbed it thanks to his match-winning display against New Zealand, the kind of performance Watson has not produced at a meaningful juncture in years.
The wicketkeeping position was similarly easy to decide upon. As I wrote last week, Australian gloveman Brad Haddin has been in abysmal form with the blade for almost 18 months, averaging only 15 from his past 11 Tests.
While Haddin has been labouring, Jos Buttler has been flourishing. I was skeptical whether Buttler’s bash-em, crash-em style of batsmanship would work in the longest form. But he’s displayed a greater range of gears in his batting than some of us thought he possessed.
Buttler has made a wonderful start to his Test career, creaming 474 runs at 53 from eight matches. Some will argue Haddin is a better keeper. At this point, that is correct, although the margin is by no means massive. What is massive is the discrepancy in their contributions with the blade. And that proved decisive.
At eight, Mitchell Johnson inflicted a rare brand of terror upon England in the last Ashes. He followed that up with a scintillating effort as Australia beat the cocky Proteas 2-1 in South Africa.
Since then, though, he has been merely Mitch the Serviceable, rather than Mitch the Marauder. His pace, left-arm angle, lively fielding and destructive batting still make him highly valuable.
Sharing the new ball with him would be veteran seamer Ryan Harris. No bowler has been more consistently brilliant, in all conditions, over the past few years, aside from South African champion Dale Steyn.
This composite team’s spin duties would be handled by Nathan Lyon. Moeen Ali may be a handy all-round cricketer but, judged purely on bowling ability, this is a no contest.
The final spot in the side was not easy to decide upon. Young beanpole Josh Hazlewood has been astoundingly impressive in his short career. His bowling in the West Indies on dead pitches was of the quality and consistency we used to see from Glenn McGrath.
It is incredibly difficult to leave him out of this side and I think that by the end of the upcoming Ashes he will be in this XI. Right now, though, Johnson, Harris and James Anderson have a far larger catalogue of performances to point to.
I do not rate Anderson nearly as highly as do many English cricket followers, but you cannot argue with his statistical returns over the past 12 months.
So, that’s my team. With six Australians and five Englishman it could not be more delicately balanced.