Australia, England set to reignite Test cricket's biggest rivalry

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Overview

Australia vs England, first Test
Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane
December 8-12, 10:00 am local

A new era beckons for Australia under the leadership of Pat Cummins who will be keen to make a great first impression when they take on England in the opening game of the Ashes in Brisbane.

He will be the first fast-bowling captain to lead Australia since Ray Lindwall in 1956 and will be in the company of the same bowling line-up consisting of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon that wreaked havoc the last time England travelled Down Under, ending 4-0 in the favour of the Aussies.

Behind the stumps, Alex Carey is set to don the gloves in the absence of Tim Paine, who is currently on an indefinite break from cricket. David Warner, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will form the spine of Australia's batting lineup. Smith, in particular, has a tremendous Ashes record, with 2800 runs and 11 centuries against the arch-rivals.

Australia have already named their playing XI for the first Test, with Marcus Harris, Travis Head and Cameron Green completing the XI along with the aforementioned names.

England, on the other hand, have kept their cards close to their chests, though they have named a 12-member squad for the first Test that sees Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson miss out. England's decision to bench Anderson is down to workload management as they want to keep him fresh for the pink-ball Test in Adelaide.

England's batting will be heavily dependant on their captain, who has been in a league of his own in 2021. Having amassed 1455 runs in 12 matches, Joe Root is the only Test player across the world to have aggregated more than 1000 runs this calendar year.

The visitors' biggest worry is the fact that their next most prolific batter this year, Rory Burns, has scored more than 1000 runs lesser than their skipper. The return of Ben Stokes is going to be a massive boost, but only time will tell if the lack of game time for the talismanic all-rounder, who last played a competitive match in July, will prove to be costly.

Remember the last time

The 2019 Men's Ashes was the first series to be contested under the inaugural ICC World Test Championship cycle. The series also marked the Test returns of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft after they served the bans for the ball-tampering incident in South Africa in 2018.

Smith marked his return in style with a Player of the Match-winning twin centuries that helped Australia clinch the series opener by 251 runs.

The rain-truncated second Test ended in a stalemate. The action then moved to Headingley for one of the most memorable Tests in recent history.

After Australia posted 179 in the first innings, England were skittled out for just 67. Marnus Labuschagne's 80 helped Australia set a target of 359. In response, half-centuries from Joe Denly and Joe Root kept England in the hunt, but they lost their way after quick wickets, slipping from 245/4 to 286/9.

Ben Stokes, then batting on 61*, played a wonderful counter-attacking innings with Jack Leach at the other end. The two strung together a stunning partnership of 76, with Leach contributing just one run as England scripted a heist with one wicket to spare.

Steve Smith played a starring role in the fourth Test in Manchester with a double hundred and a fifty in the two innings. The 185-run win ensured Australia retained the Ashes, even though England won the final Test at The Oval.

What they said

Pat Cummins (Australia captain): "I look around our team and we've got a pretty special side. We've got some of the greats of all time of Australian cricket in our changing room and when you get most of them clicking we're going to be a pretty tough team to beat. We get along really well and have a lot of fun, so hopefully a tight-knit group. We are enjoying our cricket and we're relentless when we have our chance to play."

Joe Root (England captain): "I’m absolutely determined to put the record straight. Look at the last two tours and in many respects we can only expect better. Performances weren’t good enough. We have to make sure we rectify that this time around. If we go and approach things in the exact same manner, then we’re likely to get similar results. So it’s really important we are brave in that respect and look to take the game to Australia."****