Around 141 years ago, a mock obituary by Reginald Shirley Brooks inspired the birth of a Test series that has been played for centuries now – the Ashes. Barring the period between 2005 to 2013, Australia might have held a clear upper hand in Ashes contests in the last three decades and a bit, but there is aura and rich history attached to Australia-England Tests. And just to add a bit of spice to it, Ashes 2023 will be played in the backdrop of Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes’ ‘Bazball’ approach taking the cricketing world by storm.
Can the England batting unit continue to play with bravado against a relentless attack? How will the Australian batters, especially a slew of left-handers, match up against a pace trio, who are known for bowling well against southpaws? Can Moeen Ali find his groove on his comeback to Test cricket? What about some of the individual matchups? Let’s have a deep dive to look at the two sides competing in the Ashes.
When it comes to individual matchups, a few eyes would be zoomed in on the battle between Harry Brook and the Australian pacemen. The England prodigy has started his career by making a truckload of runs in Test cricket: 818 runs at an average of 80. But the cricket cognoscenti is waiting with bated breath to see whether Brook can succeed against a very good Australian attack. The base of Brook is backfoot play, but in the recently-concluded Test series against New Zealand, he did showcase his skills to crack drives through covers.
As a live example, in the first innings of the Wellington Test, with the pitch offering a hint of seam movement, Matt Henry had forced Brook to edge one through the slip cordon. Tim Southee, Henry’s pace colleague, also looked to bowl a fuller length, but this time around, Brook crunched a sumptuous drive through the covers, despite playing away from the body. How was he able to essay such a shot against the moving ball?
A few months ago, the writer had a long chat with both of Brook’s childhood coaches: David Cooper and Martin Speight. And Speight had noted: “He hits the ball surprisingly hard, when you watch his bat-swing, it looks surprisingly slow, but he has got incredibly quick hands through the ball, actually his wrists go up to the ball really quick.”
One could observe in the particular shot that Brook played against Southee that his wrists took over, which in turn helped him to essay the drive. Right through the opening session, and also for the rest of that day, his magical wrists seemed to do a lot of the hard work as he scored a sizeable 37 of his 186 runs via covers.
It would be interesting to see how the likes of Pat Cummins, Scott Boland and Josh Hazlewood bowl to Brook. While watching Brook, it seems as if he could end up edging one to the slip cordon, but he continues to defy logic by cracking shots via covers. Boland, in particular, with his ability to nip a slew of deliveries back into the right-handed Brook and then finding a hint of seam movement away could fancy his chances. It is true Brook also had a few struggles versus spinners in the IPL 2023. But at least a part of his dismissals seemed to be on the back of Brook trying to premeditate too much.
Another one to keep an eye on would be Ben Matthew Duckett. Even though the left-hander has been around for a while, he hasn’t yet played Australia in an international game. Duckett – The Pocket Dynamite – is quite strong square on both sides of the wicket, and in some ways, his batting resembles that of his counterpart, David Warner. In the recent past, he has also been scoring some tough runs against the moving ball – his 75 on a pitch with a decent covering of grass against Somerset this season exemplifies the point to some extent.
So, would that mean Australia trying a similar tactic that Stuart Broad and co. have been successfully implementing against Warner in England? To bowl from round the wicket, not to offer width and also look for a modicum of movement either way. This certainly promises to be an intriguing tussle.
Alongside Brook and Duckett, England’s batting engine would comprise of known names like Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, and the captain Ben Stokes. Among those three players, the obvious plan against Root, the mainstay, would be to trap him in front. Incidentally, Boland and Cummins have troubled him in the recent past with nip-backers and the odd one straightening on the angle. Josh Hazlewood’s line bowling has also given Root enough headaches.
Meanwhile, the England camp might have to again burn some midnight oil to solve the Steven Smith puzzle. The Australian mainstay has amazing numbers against England in England: 1627 runs at 65.08 and with six Test tons to his name. Anderson, the veteran England seamer, believes his side in the past thought too much about how to get Smith out.
“I never really like singling anyone out, but he’s had a lot of success against us in recent times. Maybe in the past we’ve actually gone overboard in thinking of ways to get people out,” he said to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Perhaps Anderson is right. Perhaps England have to stick to one plan for a period of time and try to execute it, rather than turning to Plan B, Plan C and so on. Plan A could be catching Smith on the shuffle with straighter fields, and probably a leg-gully in place. Yes, it could be a double-edged sword as Smith is excellent through the on-side.
If England bowlers misfire, it would lead to him collecting runs via a diet of whips and flicks. India found that out in the WTC final, where Shardul Thakur in particular seemed to be erring a touch with his lines when he targeted Smith’s pads. Plan B could be to shift the line to outside off, and pull the length back a touch. With Plan B, there is a window of opportunity of Smith eking out an inside edge onto the stumps. He certainly did that at MCG in 2021.
From an England perspective, Ollie Robinson, who has a lethal nip-backer and wobble, could come into the picture against both Smith and the No.3 batter, Marnus Labuschagne. In fact, Robinson did dismiss Labuschagne LBW in a recent County game against Glamorgan. Robinson also won an LBW appeal against the same batter at The Gabba in 2021. If selected, Mark Wood’s hit-the-deck skills could come in handy versus the duo. Wood did trouble both at MCG in 2021, and eventually removed Labuschagne.
England also have a new puzzle to solve: The Travis Head puzzle. The southpaw-batter didn’t just shatter India’s dreams in the recent WTC final, but has also played pivotal hands versus South Africa and England in Brisbane and Hobart. Head, whose main scoring areas are square on both sides of the wicket, thrived on some ordinary bowling by Woakes, Wood and also Robinson in Hobart. And to make matters worse for England, they couldn’t prevent Head from playing a game-breaking innings on a green seamer.
In the upcoming Test series, the onus would likely fall on their two fulcrums – James Anderson and Broad – to tuck up Head for room from round the wicket, and extract/generate nifty movement. Both pace bowlers are renowned for bowling from round the wicket against left-handers. Robinson would likely attack from over the wicket and angle/move the ball away from the southpaw. Robinson’s ability to extract some bounce might prove to be useful here.
Head also was troubled by short-pitched stuff against India. So, England too would be expected to try that ploy. As the game progresses, if there is a rough patch or two, Moeen’s round the wicket angle could also come into the equation.
After having a peek through the individual matchups, let’s analyse the two pace attacks. Despite Jofra Archer being ruled out of the Test series due to his persistent elbow injury, England do have enough artillery at their disposal in home conditions: Anderson, Robinson, Broad and Wood as the pace bowlers. Worcestershire pace bowler Josh Tongue showed some promise in the Lord’s Test versus Ireland. Stokes also seems to have overcome his knee problems.
It might come down to whether the core group of pace bowlers remain fit through the course of the series. Remember, one of their pace bowlers is approaching 41 years and the other 37.
Australia also have an enviable pace attack: Hazlewood, Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Boland, Michael Neser and the all-rounder Cameron Green. Boland, who has had an astounding start to his Test career, and also proved his worth in the just-concluded WTC final, could pip Starc for a place in the final XI. Especially in the backdrop of Hazlewood insisting that he is ‘fit’ to play.
Over the years, almost all of Australian pacers have developed their versions of wobble. Back in 2015, Broad and Anderson, at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston respectively, seemed to have a clear advantage over their Australian counterparts as the duo employed the wobble to devastating effect in those two Tests. By the 2019 Ashes though, a lot of the Australian bowlers had added that weapon to their quiver.
The difference between the two attacks could come down to off-spinner Lyon having an edge over Moeen. The England all-rounder has taken just 20 wickets in 11 Tests and averages 64.65 against Australia in Test cricket. Although he would be relishing the prospect of bowling to a string of left-handers.
Last but not the least, we have to touch upon the ‘Bazball’ effect. Will such an approach work against a quality attack? England did play in such a fashion and made a comeback from 0-1 down to beat South Africa at home last year, and they had a very good pace attack on paper. But it has to be said that South Africa had a rather modest batting unit. So, there was that little bit of extra pressure on the South African pacers.
Stokes has also called for ‘flat and fast wickets’ during the home summer. If England lay out such pitches, it could backfire on them, as the Australian batters have been brought up on playing some true wickets back home. But whatever the outcome of the series, McCullum and Stokes have laid out a certain template and they are set to follow it to the hilt. Success and failure in sport is a microcosm of life, but there could be rewards around the corner if you back a certain method through thick and thin.
Let the Ashes begin at Edgbaston!