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Daily Mail, Thursday, August 1, 201985
THE ASHES
NASSER
HUSSAIN
PAUL NEWMAN
ENGLAND 3-2 AUSTRALIA
ANYTHING could happen. The only thing
I’m sure about is there will not be any
draws. I’m actually more worried than
usual about a home Ashes because
England risked this series by rightly
and understandably putting so much
emphasis on the World Cup. I just think
they are better than Australia.
RICHARD GIBSON
ENGLAND 3-1 AUSTRALIA
WITH so much rain about there is bound
to be a stalemate somewhere, but
otherwise I foresee a similar pattern to
the 2015 series when England excelled
whenever the ball got off the straight,
and Joe Root’s team being better
equipped on flatter surfaces thanks
to Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.DAVID LLOYD
ENGLAND 3-2 AUSTRALIA
I HAVE to say England, but I’m not
holding my breath! There will be one
Test in it and somebody will be the
hero. There’s vulnerability on both sides
and I’m just shading England because
they are at home. The weather is a
nuisance but we do not usually lose
much time.LAWRENCE BOOTH
ENGLAND 2-2 AUSTRALIA
FRANKLY, it could be 4-1 to England. Or
Australia. So I’m going with a happy
medium, and working on the basis that
one of the Tests will be rain-affected.
England have a vulnerable top order,
Australia a vulnerable middle order.
Both teams have potent attacks. So
how to separate them?BATSMEN CAN
WIN THE URN
IF THEY DIG IN
best player bats. You can
counter-attack after an early
wicket or build on a good start.
He is ideal for both situations
and always plays with the
perfect tempo.
It also gives him a bit of
leverage further down the line if,
for example, he wants to move
Jonny Bairstow up the order. By
moving up a place from his
favourite position, Root is telling
his team that sometimes
sacrifices have to be made.
But I’d still swap round Joe
Denly and Jason Roy. Denly
looks like more of an English-
style opener than Roy because
he plays the ball later.
Yes, Roy made 72 in the second
innings against Ireland, but he
came in after the nighwatchman
when the ball was a bit softer.
For me, it showed why he should
be at No 4.
The bottom line is it is going to
be a gruelling series, mentally,
for the batsmen. Five Tests in six
and a bit weeks gives you very
little respite, and guys like
Bairstow and Moeen Ali are
going to have find some form
pretty quickly.
For the bowlers, the issue is
physical rather than mental. It is
going to be about resting and
rotating the seamers, depending
on conditions.
After Edgbaston, if the pitch
looks flat, I’d pick Jofra Archer
ahead of Stuart Broad or Chris
Woakes. But if there is going to
be swing or seam, Broad and
Woakes are your men.
But, like I said, don’t go in with
preconceptions. In a supposedly
bowler-friendly series, it could
be a grinding hundred that tips
the balance your way. It’s going
to be fascinating to see who is
willing to apply themselves.Moving up: Root’s at No 3 REUTERST
HERE was a lot of
talk before the
World Cup about
how it would be
350 plays 340, but
it didn’t turn out that way.
Now, we are hearing that
this Ashes will be bowler-
friendly. But preconcep-
tions are dangerous.
If a batsman or two on either
side are prepared to knuckle
down, they could win their team
the series.
That is why I’d like England to
be willing to tweak their
approach if the conditions
demand it. I was a bit worried
when Joe Root had a pop at the
pitch after the Lord’s Test
against Ireland. After all, it was
good enough for nightwatchman
Jack Leach to make 92, and for
England to reach 171 for one in
their second innings.
The fact is the ball does swing
and seam in this country — that
is no secret. Hitting your way out
of trouble can occasionally work:
Stuart Law used to bat that way
for Essex if he thought he wasn’t
going to survive for long and
Kevin Pietersen famously hit out
against Australia in 2005.
But it doesn’t always have to be
the answer. There has to be room
for the over-my-dead-body
approach to batting — an
approach that says the bowlers
are only going to get me out if
they send down an unplayable
delivery. We have not seen enough
of that from England recently.
If they need any examples to
look at, try two of the blokes in
their backroom staff: Graham
Thorpe and Paul Collingwood.
You’d never see either of them
giving it away because the pitch
was a bit green. They’d get stuck
in, knowing life would get easier
the longer they hung around.
England do have the ability
to take a leaf out of their
books. Look at Jos Buttler’s
maiden Test hundred last
summer against India at Trent
Bridge. He didn’t tee off from
the start, he played himself in.
Buttler and Ben Stokes did the
same thing in the World Cup
final against New Zealand. The
ball was doing a bit so they took
their time. If Buttler and Stokes,
two of England’s biggest hitters,
can bat that way there is no
reason the others cannot.
Having said all that, I think
Root has done the right thing by
moving to No 3. It is where yourRun machines:
Roy (right) and
Bairstow have
dominated with
the white ball
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