England will unleash two 150km/h quicks in The Ashes

Good point about Lillee in 75, Peter, although to me it shows the triumph of skill over raw pace, reversing the order in which Thommo and Lillee finished in the wickets column in the immediately preceding series against England in Australia. McDermott certainly did Ok in 85 but hardly killed it with an average of 30. Lillee in 72 was also as much about skill as raw pace, ditto Gillespie in 97. Sure, there’s a role for good skilful quicks, but it’s the Aldermans, Andersons, McGraths, Bothams and Lillees (of his later years) that are the real key. Cummins and Starc can come into that equation, as can Hazelwood, but it won’t be because of pace alone.

Lillee got 32 I think in 72 and that was bowling his super quick stuff pre the back, and with Massie snaffling 16 in one test. Lillee was still pretty quick when he did well again in 75. Pascoe was serviceable in 77 and had an elite test in 80 but the deck suited his skiddy cutters. In 81 Lillee did well with Alderman but his pace was a bit down by then, as evidenced by Botham's 100 at Old Trafford : ( McDermott bowled raw and got 30 at 30. Pretty standard fare for pacers debuts over there. Lawson did well in 89 but his pace was probably a bit down on 81 and even 85 (when he was crook), due to his back. Dizzy bowled like Lightning when switched on in 97 and had some serious hauls - 16 at 21. Mitch Johnson actually did well in patches in 09, he intimidated with his lift. He averaged the same as Siddle I think in that series? But he also had baaaad spells. I would love to have seen what Harris could have done if fully fit for all of 13. he Patinson and Starc or Siddle would have got us closer. Last time, the batsman lost us the series. Johnson should have retired before it anyway. So great thinking quicks can do well. I think Cummo and richardson are in that space. Supplement with one of the rest, maybe even two on some decks. Not sure what that means for Haze and Starc. I like the look of Frankie Worrall as a latter day Alderman now they are going with the old Dukes? I guess it's nice to have options???!!!

Raw pace has never been a big weapon in England though. Unless they are really getting the ball to move, the pitches seem to make the super quicks come on to the bat more easily and go to the boundary. Recall Brett Lee - had an average of 45 over two series - 45! And Jeff Thomson in 1975, at the height of his pace, was defanged by the pitches after the first Test, played on a green top. M Johnson was similar as mentioned by Ronan. Mark Wood average 45 in England, like Lee. What will be key is Starc’s capacity to regain his swing and some accuracy and Cummins’s accuracy and ability to seam the ball occasionally.

He's not bowler who is likely to benefit much from seam movement, though. English pitches traditionally suit accurate bowlers who can move the ball off the deck, rather than out-and-out quicks. That's why Johnson and Starc struggled at times in England. They weren't accurate or patient enough to exploit the conditions.

It is on English pitches though he will be introduced to the Ashes so wont need as much patience as he would on Australian pitches.

Jofra arcer is exciting stuff...looks like modern day holding moreso with that hair type...he is raw pace with minimum looking effort, u always feel he is not letting his best it's like casual and disinterested approach

Archer also averages 31 with the bat in first class cricket! #lifeisunfair

Ronan, much was made of Wood's efforts in that last Test and it can't be denied he bowled fast, but the reality is, this guy is only a "maybe" to play in the Tests, despite what Broad says. That Test in the West Indies, was a dead rubber, the WI skipper had been suspended and the WI team never lifted for the game. I remember a line of captains from Border through to Ponting lamenting the Australian team's inability to close out series to nil and I suspect this was the case here. I'd have thought the Australian batsmen would e delighted to face a guy who goes for more than 36 runs a wicket and gets a scalp every 60 balls. As for Jofra, obviously an exciting prospect but a good County bowler but it's a case of wait and see with him. I think the only way these two guys would play in the one game would be if Australia had already won the Ashes. I just don't think the English selectors are that brave to play them together earlier.

And it's the guys who seem to just get speed naturally with good rhythm, rather than extra effort, that seem more likely to still be able to bowl a quick spell late in the afternoon after a long day of test cricket. I agree that with most of what I've seen from Wood his speed has been a real effort thing, meaning that as the day goes on and he tires, his speed has tended to really drop. But I haven't seen him bowl in the last couple of years, so I don't know if anything has changed in that regard.

Ronan mentioned above that he hit 150 in the most recent ODI Australia played. So he certainly can. He tends to bowl within himself a bit more in tests though. Still quick enough to hurry batsmen, and if the time called for it he could probably bowl a super quick spell. But you are right, in test cricket he generally operates more around the 140 mark.

If Starc looks like he's trying to bowl fast, then he probably isn't. He bowls his fastest when he just has good rhythm and everything clicks, rather than because he's putting more effort in. Which is why he often seems to be at his most accurate when he's bowling his fastest. He's not the sort of bowler to drop the pace a bit to improve his accuracy. He just needs to get his rhythm right in order to get both.

That was the big thing in the last Ashes in Australia. England came in with all the talk about how good their tail was, but they failed pretty badly in Australia, becoming almost a 6-out all-out team. I suspect they will be better than that in England though.

This story is referring to "The Ashes". So it is test cricket.

For the most part in test cricket this summer Cummins was more around the high-130's to low 140's. But he's a smart bowler, he has more tricks than most people give him credit for. He's spent most of his time bowling with a ball that's not swinging, so he does lots of cross seam stuff which can get varying bounce and sometimes even a bit of slight sideways movement. But when he's had a swinging ball in his hands he suddenly is bowling beautiful seam position to swing it both ways. And then when he wants he can absolutely crank the pace up. If I was a betting man I'd have Pat as my bet for top wicket taker in the Ashes.

Wood certainly has frightening pace but like a lot have commented he fades quickly in tests when the pressure is on him to bowl long spells, simply due to the amount of effort required for him to bowl 150+ so unless they keep him contained for 3-4 over bursts alongside another 2 strong and fit steamers I doubt he will carry enough of a threat. Basically if they play both Anderson and Broad then it will be Curran or Archer just due to fitness concerns over wood. However if they mix it up and rotate the ageing Broad then you could see Archer and Wood lineup alongside Anderson, Stokes and Ali. Which sounds pretty intimidating. Watching Archer against Pakistan his speed seems completely effortless and the scariest part is his change up bouncer, as it almost comes out exactly the same as his length ball with no extra visible effort yet still clocks 145-150. He doesn't have test level experience yet so it will be interesting to see how he goes but he certainly looks the real deal so far. Should be a terrific series!

He was rested for one game and has a little niggle in next one. But it's not serious just a precautionary rest.

Hey Ronan, I’ve noticed James Pattinson has been missing from Nottinghamshire’s last couple of matches. He missed their one day semi final and the current 4 day match in progress. Any idea why he’s not playing? I’ve got to say I’m concerned

I suppose it's true that our bats struggle more against cunning mediums than they do against raw pace. It could actually work in our favour as long as they haven't got it on a string like Broad and Anderson sometimes seem to.

I'm not sure we can count Cummins in the 150k club anymore. It's been a while since I've seen him break 145 but it doesn't matter anyway. He's already way quick enough considering that bowlers brain he's got.