While superstars like Smith, Root, Labuschagne, Stokes, Cummins and Anderson will hold the key, both Australia and England will need other men to stand up if they are to stake a claim to the Ashes.
In the modern era of cricket, Australia has been a tough place to tour for visiting countries. At times, by the time a visiting side gets used to the pace and bounce of the Australian pitches, the series is already lost. And unsurprisingly, England have won an Ashes Down Under only once since 1988. But this year, there is hope. India since the last Ashes Down Under, have beaten Australia twice in their home conditions.
England
Joe Root and James Anderson, the lynchpins of England’s batting and bowling respectively, have ordinary records for their own standards in Australia and would love to improve on them, as the English hopes reside on their shoulders. Barring them, England’s blue eyed boy Ben Stokes returning can certainly have a telling impact on the Ashes as he did in the 2019 Ashes.Apart from the usual suspects, England fans should pin their hopes on the following three players, as their performance might be a deciding factor in which way the Ashes go.
Chris Woakes
Chris Woakes has been a terrific cricketer for England particularly since 2014 but has had limited opportunities in the Test arena mainly because of the exploits of Broad and Anderson. While his record in England is exceptional, his away numbers are modest mainly due to limited opportunities spread across seasons.
However, he has been excellent in the white ball cricket where he has shown ability not just to move the ball in the air but getting some purchase by hitting the deck as well. Lately in the Oval Test he was the most effective bowler who got extra zip by hitting back of length and picked wickets as well.
If utilised well, he can have a “Shardul Thakur” like effect as he is quite a capable batter too.
Ollie Robinson
Robinson was certainly England’s find of the summer and even has a suitable skillset for the Ashes Down Under. A tall bowler who can hit the deck hard and get the ball to move both ways at decent pace, Robinson can be quite a tough customer to face in Australian conditions. He is expected to share the new ball with Anderson and his wicket taking prowess particularly with the new ball will be crucial. While he is not the fittest guy, but when in rhythm he can even run through the opposition with his penetrative bowling.
Additionally, he is quite handy with the bat and can chip in with useful contributions too.
Haseeb Hameed
There is a famous saying that well begun, is half done. Opening the batting is very crucial in Australia where the new Kookaboora is the most dangerous proposition. In England’s successful 2010-11 conquest it was Strauss and Cook who just batted Australia out of the series. Once a player can get set, Australia can be a great place to bat thus opening stand becomes incredibly crucial.
Thus, a lot rests on the shoulders of the Haseeb Hameed to provide the starts that can help England make a competitive case in the Ashes.
Australia
While England need to really play out of their skins to stake a claim to the urn, the firm favourites Australia need to fix some problems of their own. They would be walking into the Ashes with a captain on captaincy debut on the biggest stage and a keeper on debut as well. Australia also haven’t played a Test match in nearly 11 months and in their previous series they were thrashed at their fortress Gabba by a second string Indian team.Australia will expect a few men apart from their marquee stars to deliver so that they can retain the urn again. Some of them are:
Marcus Harris
Marcus Harris is one of the most promising Australian first class cricketer not just in the Australian domestic circuit but also in county cricket. Despite a slew of opportunities given to him in the national side since 2018, Marcus Harris has not yet delivered significantly in the baggy green. And unsurprisingly, he has neither nailed his spot in the XI or in the Men’s Test Squad. This time yet again the revolving chair of the opening partner with David Warner is back with Marcus Harris.
Harris inspite of looking good in many innings for Australia has been dismissed in unlikely ways and never scored big enough to make the selectors assured of his calibre.
Alex Carey
After the infamous sexting scandal of Tim Paine, Alex Carey gets a nod as the incumbent option for Test keeper. While the left-hander is a safe glovesman, he is also a fairly good batter, and has done really well for Australia in One-Day games. In his last series, Tim Paine scored almost 300 runs at an average of over 40 with a match winning knock in the Adelaide Test, so Carey has big boots to fill that too on debut.
In fact, keeping to the quartet of Starc, Cummins, Hazelwood and Lyon in a pink ball test, with a lot of wobble expected will be another challenge for Carey.
Cameron Green
The blue-eyed boy of Australian cricket has had a phenomenal start to his first class career and has even started off well in Test Cricket. Earmarked as the best batting talent in Australia after Ricky Ponting, Green has a great technique and exciting strokeplay. Apart from his batting, the tall lad can also bowl medium pace consistently in excess of 135+ kmph and should be a good support to the four frontline bowlers. In his debut series on the contrary, his bowling ended up releasing the pressure on the opposition. Both his batting and bowling will certainly be crucial for Australia this summer.
Overall, expect the Ashes to be a cracking contest and some exciting new talent will be on show in the purest form of the game.
