Section:GDN 1N PaGe:42 Edition Date:190801 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 31/7/2019 20:20 cYanmaGentaYellowb
- The Guardian Thursday 1 August 2019
(^42) Sport
Cricket First Ashes Test
Stat of the day
Percentage of
England’s XI
called Joseph,
with Root, Denly and Buttler united
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England
Australia
Venue Edgbaston, Birmingham
Umpires Joel Wilson (WI) and Aleem Dar (Pak)
TV umpire Chris Gaffaney (NZ)
Referee Ranjan Madugalle (SL)
11am
The captains
The coaches
The history
Joe Root v Tim Paine
Two more Mr Nice Guys. Root
endured a 4-0 defeat in his fi rst
Ashes as captain but his 54% win
ratio includes a 4-1 win over India.
Paine takes his 10th Test in charge
today with his fi ve-day experience
in England limited to a two-match
series against Pakistan in 2010.
Trevor Bayliss v Justin Langer
Sons of New South Wales and
Western Australia take diff erent
approaches into battle. Bayliss tends
to let players do their thing; Langer
had his charges walking barefoot
around Edgbaston during the World
Cup to capture positive energy.
Recent series
2005 England won 2-1
2006-07 Australia won 5-0
2009 England won 2- 1
2010- 11 England won 3- 1
2013 England won 3-0
2013- 14 Australia won 5-0
2015 England won 3- 2
201 7-18 Australia won 4-0
England
Rory Burns, Jason
Roy, Joe Root (capt),
Joe Denly, Jos Buttler,
Ben Stokes, Jonny
Bairstow (wkt),
Moeen Ali, Chris
Woakes, Stuart Broad,
Jimmy Anderson
Australia
Possible
David Warner, Cameron
Bancroft, Usman
Khawaja, Steve Smith,
Travis Head, Matthew
Wade, Tim Paine (capt),
Pat Cummins, James
Pattinson, Peter Siddle,
Nathan Lyon
27%
Old enemies
ready for battle
but series much
too close to call
Vic Marks
This is the summer that keeps on
giving. It is debatable whether fans
are ready for another gut-wrenching,
umbrella-handle-chewing sequence
of cricket matches, let alone the pro-
tagonists in the middle, who have
roller coasted as far as the fi nal and
semi-fi nal of a World Cup, which came
to its sensational climax little more
than a fortnight ago. But the Ashes
are here after a necessarily truncated
build up.
There has not been enough time
to squeeze in all the usual hype.
The prospect of 5-0 has been only
briefl y circulated and no one is too
bothered by that ; it is such a well-
worn path; there has been little talk of
headbutting the line, elite honesty or
the magic of the baggy green , though
Cameron Bancroft did take the pre-
caution of packing his Australian cap
when setting off to play for Durham,
a wise move as it turns out.
There has barely been time to
speak of sandpaper in advance of
the Edgbaston Test when the three
prodigals return to the fray for Aus-
tralia. Bancroft is expected to be back
at the earliest opportunity alongside
Steve Smith and David Warner, which
removes the charge that a nascent
Test career was ruined for ever by
the myopic sensitivities of the senior
members of the Australia side in Cape
Town. He has been batting adhesively
in tricky English conditions for the past
two or three months, so their selectors
will surely seize this chance to clear
some consciences and renew Ban-
croft’s international career.
Meanwhile Ben Stokes is restored
as England’s vice-captain. There
is no time or inclination to agonise
whether that is appropriate. The Bris-
tol incident is now ancient history.
So the build up to an Ashes series,
so often reminiscent of a poor
pantomime accompanied by a bit
of cod psychology, has been none
the worse for the shortage of time.
Instead, both teams have hurriedly
assembled in Birmingham with more
serious matters on their minds – such
as what constitutes their best team.
Neither side can be sure.
Australia have two decisions to
make: who bats at No 6 and who joins
Pat Cummins, James Pattinson and
Nathan Lyon in their bowling attack.
There are three surprising con-
tenders for that No 6 spot: Marnus
Labuschagne – the defi nitive pro-
nunciation will become clear once
Jim Maxwell wraps his tongue round
those syllables – off ers a bit of leg-
spin ; Mitchell Marsh, who enjoyed his
comeback in the last Ashes series could
give assistance with his medium-pace
bowling; and there is Matthew Wade,
once the team’s wicket keeper but now,
following the modern trend, a prolifi c
specialist batsman. The better the pitch
looks for batting the more likely one of
those who can bowl gets a place.
More surprising to the casual
onlooker is that Australia are highly
likely to split up the quartet who were
their wicket-takers in the last Ashes
series two years ago. The expectation
is that Mitchell Starc, supreme
throughout most of the World Cup,
will be on the sidelines, a handy bowler
to fi nd himself ferrying the drinks in
a yellow bib. At best he is competing
with Josh Hazlewood and Peter Siddle
for the third pace slot.
Australia are setting great store
on Siddle’s eff ectiveness in English
conditions, which has been enhanced
after playing for Essex in the Cham-
pionship. In the meantime they can
legitimately claim that they have a fast
bowling unit that is the envy of every
Test nation.
England had some tricky choices
to make in this department but they
have decided not to delay them. Their
four-man pace attack will comprise
Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris
Woakes and Stokes. They have gone for
experience rather than pace, presum-
ably on the assumption there will be
some assistance for the seam bowlers
at what has become England’s favour-
ite ground, the Brummie Colosseum.
Both sides have the resources to juggle
with their attack according to condi-
tions and fi tness. And they will surely
do so.
The England batting line-up is no
longer a puzzle either but it is a curious
thing. The Joes will be at three and four
but the surprise is that Root will be
ahead of Denly. What has happened
- apart from being bowled out for 85
- for the plan to change so abruptly
after that bizarre Test against Ireland?
The hope is that Root actively
favours this move and that it is
not a case of him dutifully, though
reluctantly, kowtowing to his senior
advisers. Root is the captain and Eng-
land’s best player and it is important
he feels comfortable.
The old Australian adage, promoted
by Trevor Bayliss, that the best players
always bat at three, may be outdated.
Steve Smith now bats at four; Allan
Border seldom came out higher than
that; Steve Waugh was always at fi ve or
six. In previous Ashes series the Root
at three conundrum might have been
debated for a month; there has been
little time for it here.
All is set for the off ; palms are sweat-
ier and heartbeats quicker as more
melodrama awaits on the horizon.
Thankfully there has not been much
time for too many predictions either
but here are a couple. If England can
get to 80 for two on a regular basis,
then they will win the series but, as
they say down under, that is a big
ask. A personal guess is a 3-2 victory,
given the frailty of both batting sides,
the potency of their bowlers and the
wonderfully devious Duke ball. But
to which side?England
R Burns 27
J Roy 20
J Root 66
J Denly 24
J Buttler 63
B Stokes 55
J Bairstow 51
M Ali 18
C Woakes 19
S Broad 8
J Anderson 9Also in squad:
J Archer ( 22 ),
S Curran ( 58 ),
O Stone ( 26 )Australia
C Bancroft 43
P Cummins 30
M Harris 14
J Hazelwood 38
T Head 62
U Khawaja 1
M Labuschagne
33
M Marsh 8
N Lyon 67
M Neser 18
T Paine 7
J Pattinson 19
P Siddle 10
S Smith 49
M Starc 56
M Wade 13
D Warner 31Today will give
us the fi rst sight
of Test shirts
with numbers
on the back. Here
is who’s who:Numbers game
▲ Peter Siddle is expected to play
due to his record in English conditionsРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS