Can the ball-tampering trio carry Australia to Ashes glory?

You are correct. And to go one step further than your comment, all sides have their failings, so no one side/country should point fingers at another. My comment was targeted at not throwing stones in glass houses. You made some accusations, I responded with a few of Australia's more recent failings.

Whataboutery. bbbbut Australia did.......The standard answer/response trotted out by the English to justify their actions and behaviour. The script goes along the lines of: "what about Warner punching Root?" "what about Stuart Broad getting booed?" and so on. Here is the footage of the English vice-captain showing his true colours, mocking a severely disabled boy: https://thetab.com/uk/bristol/2017/09/28/and-now-heres-a-video-of-ben-stokes-impersonating-katie-prices-disabled-son-harvey-30565 So charming. What a stand up guy. Rather embarrassing that the English think someone like this is fit to represent them as a leader. Although you do have Farage, Johnson, Raab, Gove, Javid, Pritti et al as leaders now, so perhaps not. The Aussies at least, had the good grace to ban Warner from ever holding a leadership role again. Anyway, I'm looking forward to your what about the Australian cricketer who did..... response. What will it be? Warne and his diuretic? Clarke and his broken arm comment?

Yep, not so much a juggernaut as a generational thing. It happens in all sports across all nations to a degree. Getting your act back across a series does not automatically create a generation.

The Balmy Army are going to really give it to them. It’s up to the three Aussies to ignore that. Warner I feel is a ticking time bomb. At some stage in the series he will react to crowds badly in some way. Bancroft looks mentally strong. I’m a little worried about Smith. Seems to be a sensitive guy. The crowd could get the better of him

3M would help.

"Just a chance to alleviate the rather massive chip they carry around." People have forgotten the high ground taken by Australian players prior to the sandpaper incident. Made them fall even further. As for Stokes "England cricketer acquitted after jury accepts he had acted in self-defence" was the headline. Which part of Root's face did Warner punch?

Jeff, I think in this instance, we needed to be a target, not only for this incident but for the way cricket was heading in terms of on-field AND off-field behavior. This type of "win at all costs" behavior had filtered right the way through our cricket systems and it needed to be stopped - or at least, shown to be a part of the game we should be stamping out. Part of targeting being done by other nations stems from not only our success, but the humiliating wins we put on many teams. They have to try and get back at the juggernaut which was Australian cricket and which threatens to be again, if we get our act together in this series in particular.

Yep, initially I thought Bancroft was pretty lucky to be in ahead of Burns, given the latter’s Test record. But Bancroft had shown himself pretty handy against the Dukes ball in the second half of the Shield season, averaging over 50, followed by a good season in County cricket. And the South Africa series last year showed he had potential against high quality pace on seaming wickets, and he appears to have a steely temperament. I also like him ahead of Harris, because otherwise we have a few too many left handlers with flashy techniques in the lineup, who will be vulnerable to the likes of Anderson.

Yes, although it can also backfire in terms of admitting mea culpa, when other nations are happy to be blind/naive to the actions of their own players tampering which has been going on for well over 25 years. Just makes Australia a target when other countries and their supporters don't think they have done anything wrong in the past.

Players from Botham down jumped on the “moral high ground” band wagon, Yes, it is very telling how the English have taken this as almost a personal affront, even though they were not involved in any way shape or form. Just a chance to alleviate the rather massive chip they carry around. Meanwhile, the violent thug who was so drunk that he could not remember bashing two guys and who gets his jollies by posting videos humiliating and vilifying disabled kids is rewarded with the English vice-captaincy.

Nice post, Paul. I totally agree.

The headline and the story are two very different beasts, Smudge? Can these 3 guys carry the entire Australian team to an Ashes victory? It would be very sad for Australian cricket, especially the batting side, if that was the case. We have plenty of guys perfectly capable of making runs apart from these 3 and I'd hope the team as a whole would look to contribute each and every game. Will these 3 be able to overcome the slings & arrows that will be thrown at them by English crowds? Warner & Smith have clearly shown the best way to shut crowds up is to make runs and ignore the verbal rubbish, Bancroft if anything, has copped even more of a serve than these guys did when he was announced as captain of Durham. Players from Botham down jumped on the "moral high ground" band wagon, yet Bancroft saw them off and has made plenty of runs, again shutting up his detractors. These 3 guys are clearly important to our Ashes chances and I'm sure will do their best to help win games. If they don't it won't be because of the verballing from the crowd, but simply because the opposition played better than they did.

I maintain that the bans were right; essentially one Australian summer. If nothing else they allow us (as a nation) to take the high moral ground when other countries transgress. "We banned our best two batsman (and another useful one) for 12 months. What are you going to do?" Smith and Warner have already demonstrated that they can come back from their bans and make a contribution. I'm confident Bancroft will do the same.

Of course they can. 2 of those guys are our best bats. IMHO suspending those guys for 12 months was one of the worst overreactions by an administrative body in the history of professional sport in Australia (Folau could top it if RA loses). Davey Warner at least seem particularly aggrieved. I doubt there has been a group of 3 cricketers in history with more to prove, and it seems to be focusing them so far rather than distracting them.

Yep, the Barmy Army will give it to them - all a bit hypocritical given Atherton was guilty of ball tampering years ago and both Trescothick and Monty have confessed to similar antics. The English are so good at looking down their noses at others. Let them sing away with their boorish songs. The best way to shut them up is to just play good cricket. Of course we will never go 18 years without winning the Ashes and we'll never lose a series 5-0. Stay strong boys and do us proud.