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Opinion
There’s exactly one month to go before the most anticipated Ashes series since 2005 gets underway at Edgbaston on June 16.
The build-up has already been huge and will only intensify over the coming weeks as both teams gear up for the cricket’s oldest rivalry.
This will be the 73rd Ashes series and after England regained the lead in the overall standings with three straight series wins a decade ago, Australia now hold a 34-32 advantage with six drawn seasons.
Australia thumped England 4-0 when they last toured 18 months ago but after their stunning Bazball revival under new coach Brendon McCullum, the hosts are the bookmakers favourites to retain the Ashes urn this time around despite Pat Cummins’ team qualifying first for the World Test Championship final.
Both teams will have unusual build-ups to the series with IPL commitments and a lack of red-ball cricket set to have a major effect on several star players.
Pat Cummins and Ben Stokes will lead their teams into battle for the 2023 Ashes. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
One month out, here are the burning questions each side must address before the first ball is bowled in Birmingham.
Both teams have a major deficiency at the top of their order.
For Australia, it is the ongoing struggles of David Warner with the selectors looking like they’re going to take a massive gamble by backing him to overcome his protracted form slump.
Chief selector George Bailey has indicated Warner will open in the World Test Championship final at The Oval against India on June 7 and all signs point to the 36-year-old left-hander retaining the gig alongside Usman Khawaja for the start of the Ashes.
Matt Renshaw and Marcus Harris have been included in Australia’s squad as insurance but for matches this important, can the team really afford to be carrying Warner if he doesn’t produce runs?
He’s been racking up some decent scores in the IPL for Delhi with his 54 on the weekend against Punjab Kings XI his fourth half-century from 10 hits for the tournament.
But whether that translates to the red-ball arena is a big if for the baggy green side.
England also have a selection headache at the top of their order in the form of Zak Crawley and first drop Ollie Pope.
David Warner. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Crawley has long flattered to deceive at Test level and if he is selected for England’s pre-Ashes clash with Ireland at Lord’s, he will pad up with a career average of 25.19, which ranks him the sixth worst in history among players who have opened at least 48 innings.
England’s other opening partner, Ben Duckett, has done OK in his nine Tests but is unproven against Australian bowling while Pope has averaged just 38.52 in the McCullum era and eked out 67 runs at 11.16 from three matches on the last tour Down Under.
“England is, in my opinion, the toughest place in the world to bat for top-three batsmen,” Khawaja told reporters in Brisbane on Monday. “(In 2019) it was a tough series for batsmen. The whole tour will show you that, other than Steve Smith who was on another planet.
Both teams have world-class middle orders with Marnus Labuschagne, Smith, Travis Head and Cameron Green pitted against the likes of Joe Root, Stokes, Harry Brook and Jonny Bairstow – who appears set to get the gloves ahead of Ben Foakes – so protecting these stars from the new ball as much as possible will be of paramount importance to each side.
Alarm bells are not quite ringing in England but they are not far off when it comes to their fast bowling stocks.
England captain Ben Stokes recently said he wanted eight fit and firing quicks at his disposal for the gruelling five-Test campaign which will be squeezed into less than seven weeks on the calendar.
Their veteran spearhead, James Anderson, went down with a groin injury in a county game last week and there is some doubt over whether he will be right for the start of the Ashes.
England’s quickest bowler, Jofra Archer, is not going to be able to replicate his 2019 starring role when he took 22 Australian wickets at 20.27 and rattled Steve Smith with his hostile pace. Archer’s ongoing elbow injury means the hosts will be lucky to get a Test or perhaps two from him.
Steve Smith looks on as Jofra Archer bowls. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Their other out-and-out speedster, Mark Wood, left the IPL early recently, but thankfully for England fans it was to attend the birth of his daughter rather than another injury after playing just two Tests in the past 12 months.
Olly Stone has torn a hamstring so he is unlikely to be available until July at the earliest, and another back-up seamer, Brydon Carse, has been ruled out of county action due to a side strain.
Stokes himself has been hampered by knee and toe injuries and has missed most of the IPL with Chennai.
Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Matthew Potts and Chris Woakes are injury free as England start to get a little nervous about their options.
For the Aussies, their main concern is over Josh Hazlewood. He has played four Tests in the past two years, mainly due to side strains and an Achilles problem.
He’s returned to action recently with three matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL but he has broken down in recent years when he hasn’t had a lot of bowling under his belt before red-ball fixtures.
Scott Boland is in the squad as the alternative option to support Cummins and Mitchell Starc while Michael Neser and Sean Abbott have been called into a pre-Ashes training camp from their county stints so they could also be in the mix.
It’s the way of the modern cricket world that teams don’t bother with warm-up tour fixtures much anymore.
Australia’s squad is currently split between some players in the IPL, others getting in some match practice in short county stints with the rest in Brisbane this week for a three-day training block before jetting out to the UK.
It’s a bigger issue for Australia who will have some players coming in from the cold after not playing since the India tour in March.
Most of England’s line-up is at least getting used to the format and conditions via the county circuit.
Australia have repeatedly said they won’t worry about England’s smash-and-grab tactics under McCullum with off-spinner Nathan Lyon on the weekend reiterating that they would “control what we can control and worry about what is in our backyard and not be worried about what they’re doing”.
It’s easier said than done. England have taken down some pretty big scalps already, including India and South Africa at home and a rare 3-0 clean sweep in Pakistan, with their hyped-up tempo with bat and ball.
England captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum. (Photo by Steven Paston/PA Images via Getty Images)
Stokes has openly admitted he’s told the groundstaff that they want fast and flat pitches to suit their style.
There’s a danger that it will play into Australia’s hands because the pitches will be less like the green seamers that have caused problems for their batters on recent tours.
The fascinating part about this subplot to the Ashes story is no one really knows how it will play out – not even the opposing sides until they’ve seen how England’s new style fares against arguably the best Test team on the planet.
Not that the side will particularly care either way but England are firming by the day with the bookmakers to claim the series.
When they left Australian shores at the start of last year with their tails between their legs after Sydney’s wet weather was the only thing that saved them the embarrassment from a third 5-0 drubbing in the past 15 years, you could have named your price on England winning the next Ashes series.
After they have won 10 of their past 12 Tests in emphatic fashion and coupled with the fact that Australia’s last series win in England was in 2001, the hosts have shortened to $1.85 with the tourists out to $2.50 and a draw paying $7.
Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
It’s a line-ball call – England have the home-ground advantage and rousing form but Australia have consistently been the best Test team apart from their struggles with India in recent years.
For the likes of Smith, Warner, Khawaja, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon, this is almost certain to be their last chance to win an Ashes series in England.
Australia appear to have the stronger all-round side and should probably be slight favourites.