Australia are without Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood this week. They are set to pick two debutants in an Ashes Test and the “Dad’s Army” nickname hurts because it is true. England generally win in Australia when they have a great fast bowler who has the series of his life or their opponents are in a bit of a muddle. Both of those factors are in play.
England’s batting is both exciting and a worry. Can they defy their instincts and work hard to survive when Australian bowlers are on top? Has Harry Brook realised that as vice-captain it is now his job to lead England home and not play wonderful innings but leave it to others like he did against India at the Oval? Is Root really not affected by the talk about his lack of an Ashes hundred in Australia? Will Zak Crawley prove the Bazball hunch that he would come good in Australia was well founded? Will it all be too much for Jamie Smith, who faded in his only five-match series so far?
Can Archer and Wood stay fit? In a long series, spin has to play a part at some point and in Nathan Lyon, Australia boast a world-class bowler. Will Stokes really manage himself and rein it in when the voice in his head keeps telling him “just one more over”?
McCullum openly says he is useless at reading pitches. Have England been duped into thinking it is just about pace and overlooked skills with the ball and evidence that the new Kookaburra ball seams more than in the past? India and Australia lost 17 wickets on day one of the last Perth Test, but that was an outlier. Every other first innings at the Perth Stadium has been worth 400 and it flattens out. Over the past five years it has the highest average of any Australian ground. The outfield is slow and that could frustrate the Bazballers and tempt them to take on a much bigger boundary than they see at home. Are the players really properly prepared after a half-hearted warm-up game?
Stokes would view that all as typical English negative thinking. Practice has been sharp and intense, and Stokes represents the team – he looks fitter and more ready to go than at any stage in his England career.
Stokes is steadfast in his views, and captains need to be firm in Australia. There is no internal struggle over how to go about his business. He backs his team, and former great England players who criticise them are “has-beens”. It was a disrespectful thing to say, but punchy, and England need to be like that to win in Australia.
When Colin Cowdrey left for his first tour of Australia, the victorious 1954-55 campaign under Sir Len Hutton, he was given one final bit of advice by another Ashes-winning captain. At Tilbury Docks, Douglas Jardine told him “when you reach Australia, just remember one thing – hate the b——s”. Stokes declined to reveal what he plans for his last-minute rallying call in Perth before the talking ends and the real stuff starts, but you can easily imagine him channelling the ghost of Jardine. He can also repeat Jardine’s feat of winning in Australia – his team are capable of doing the job.
