A little over three months is all that separates fans from the start of the most anticipated Test series in the English and Australian cricketing calendars.
The last time these two sides met in 2023, a home series for England ending in a gripping 2-2 stalemate, spectators were mesmerised by the theatre of a one-of-a-kind pageant involving two outfits driven by diametrically-opposed dogmas.
Playing the nonconformists, Ben Stokes’ Bazballers – firmly the black sheep of the red-ball arena – approached the 2023 Ashes series with a heterodox view to the game: ‘entertain’ above all else.
Their showman-style of cricket, often dialled up to 11, lit stadiums alight from Edgbaston to The Oval, but ultimately fell short of giving the home supporters the one thing they truly coveted: the Urn.
At the other end of the spectrum sat Pat Cummins’ Australian side.
Fresh off a World Test Championship (WTC) win against India, and comfortably the strongest and most adaptable team at the time, the old enemy was content doing things the old-fashioned way.
No histrionics. No brazen statements. Just an impressive form guide all around the world.
And while their tactics were labelled ‘boring’ and ‘conservative’, there was merit in challenging the hubris of Bazball with a graceful humility.
Ahead of the 2025/2026 series, both sides have retained their respective DNA – Cummins’ classicism juxtaposed against Stokes’ romanticism – but find themselves on pastures new ahead of this winter.
Over the next four weeks, Cricket Paper writer, Mohan Harihar, will analyse the batters, the bowlers, the spinners and the seamers to assess how the two teams are shaping up.
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Crawley and Duckett, stronger together
Since Andrew Strauss‘ triumphant campaign in 2010/2011, England’s misery on Australian soil has started long before a single act of cricket has ensued.
As a team, England have faltered in two key areas during their soul-crushing run of 13 losses and no wins in Australia: 1) clarity in playing personnel, and 2) the quality of cricket played across the five Tests.
Heading into the 2010/2011 campaign, and indeed for a year prior, rattling off England’s top six was child’s play.
Along with death and taxes, England’s top order of Strauss, Cook, Trott, and middle order of Pietersen and Bell, were one of life’s guarantees; above all, you knew what to expect from each of them.
During the 2017/2018 series Down Under, England’s top three were Cook, Mark Stoneman and James Vince.
Fast forward a year following the retirement of Cook, it was Jason Roy, Rory Burns and Joe Denly.
Leading up to the 2021/2022 Ashes series, England were plucking from a merry-go-round of openers, including Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dominic Sibley and Zak Crawley.
Starting in June 2022, Robert Key and Ben Stokes put this selection policy in the rear-view mirror, focussing instead on keeping the faith through thick and thin.
Prima facie, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett possess ideal qualities for an opening duo: contrasting heights and stride lengths to put off bowlers, a genuine off-field friendship akin to that shared between Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, and of course, the much-hyped ‘right-left’ combination.
Individually, they have been hit-and-miss. Together, they have been England’s most stable opening partnership since Strauss and Cook.
After 53 Tests at the top of the order, Crawley averages 30.88 (the lowest among any Test opener in history to play as many games) and his feast-or-famine output has come under heavy fire several times.
In the recently concluded series against India which saw the most runs ever scored in a five-Test series (7,187), Crawley was the only top-order batter across both sides to not score a century.
His familiar pattern of dismissals outside the off-stump has been a bane to his existence at the top of the order, and something the Australian pace-bowling cartel will undoubtedly target on juicier pitches.
Meanwhile, Duckett averages 43.97 after 36 Tests as opener – far more commendable. His ability to continually rotate the strike and keep the scoreboard moving is a far cry from the previous era.
So far, his technique has not opened itself up to rigorous analyses from pundits nor unrelenting examinations from bowlers.
Their true strength, however, comes in unity when the promise seen by Key and Stokes has borne fruit.
Since 2022, the duo have amassed 2511 runs together in 55 innings, averaging 46.50 – an average greater than either of their individual records – including five century- and 14 50-run partnerships.
It is clear that there is some sort of intangible energy that emanates between these two when together, even if it eludes each of them from time to time.
They may be imperfect, particularly on surfaces that are polar opposite to those that have served as the foundation for Bazball’s emergence at home.
But compared with the conundrum Australia’s top three currently face, England will feel quietly content with their tried-and-tested ‘score runs first, defend second’ approach from their openers.
Pope has backing from Stokes, but still lacks consistency in crucial number three position
The vociferous backing Ollie Pope has received, and continues to receive, from the powers that be shows he is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Another in this batch of swashbuckling Bazballers, Pope’s career is one which unsurprisingly treads the tightrope between ‘finally cracking it’ and reliving the same nightmare.
He has the rarest of achievements in being the first player in history to score his first seven centuries against seven different nations – South Africa (away), New Zealand, Pakistan (away), Ireland, India (away), West Indies and Sri Lanka – highlighting an innate ability to score against a variety of bowling attacks across conditions.
Even some of the game’s best cannot gloat about such an achievement.
And averaging 41.60 in 33 Tests in a position which became his own at the start of Stokes’ regime suggests he is not far from the penny finally dropping.
Frustratingly, his lack of consistency, particularly in the second innings, continues to be hugely problematic.
In his career as a whole, he averages 46.69 in the first innings, but just 19.81 in the second when matches begin to take shape.
For Pope, this could be more a battle between the ears than it is on-field. His matchwinning 196 at Hyderabad last year, coming in the third innings of the Test, should be ample proof to himself that he has the goods and the mettle to deliver in the second dig.
More pertinently, Pope’s lowest average (15.70) comes against Australia.
Often described as ‘frenetic’, every conceivable technical and mental aspect of his batting will be thoroughly interrogated by a bowling attack that prides itself on preying on the smallest of deficiencies.
With the vice-captaincy string to his bow and the staunch, vocal backing from Stokes, England’s beleaguered number three will feel safe heading into The Ashes.
But with this contest all but the final frontier for this Bazball team, last-chance saloon territory may not be far for Pope unless he relives his heroics from Hyderabad, or at the very least has a substantial say in proceedings across the series.
Australia face a race against time to find a partner for Usman Khawaja
Australia’s reverence for stability and order among their batters, historically, is well known.
Unusually, the current Australian set-up, spearheaded by coach Andrew McDonald, has tended to adopt a different policy since David Warner‘s retirement in 2024: pick the best seven batters the country has to offer and draw straws to see who bats in the top three.
First there was Steven Smith, a batting savant at number four, who had a brief dalliance with the opening position.
The middle order is sacred ground in the sanctum of Australian Test batting, a place where some of their greatest have resided – Allan Border, Greg Chappell and Michael Clarke to name a few.
Yet Smith’s genius within a distorted reality that often only makes sense to himself – extravagant leaves followed by commentary, idiosyncratic pre-batting routines and a technique all his own – led many to feel he might be the exception to the rule.
His modest returns of 171 runs from 8 innings at an average of 28.50, however, confirmed this trial had been a misfire.
Nathan McSweeney and Sam Konstas debuted during the 2024/2025 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), with the latter replacing the former for the final two Tests.
To lambast McSweeney after a baptism of fire against the world’s best, Jasprit Bumrah, on tough pitches – including a day/night Test to boot – would be an act of sheer folly.
That said, an issue which became apparent was the manner in which McSweeney played – he was a mirror image of Usman Khawaja with scoring intent coming second to survival.
With the scoreboard at a standstill for large portions of the first three BGT Tests, Australia needed someone to complement Khawaja.
The razzle-dazzle of Konstas’ strokeplay and demeanour at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, including a jostle with Virat Kohli and several ramp shots against Bumrah, suggested he might be the perfect foil for Khawaja.
But technical issues in the recent series against the West Indies, where he averaged 8.33, confirm he is very much a work in progress.
Another notable contribution at the top of the order has been Marnus Labuschagne, who lost his number three position after a lean tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year.
Given a one-off Test at the top of the order in the WTC final against South Africa, he failed to make an instant impression scoring 17 and 22, and was subsequently dropped for the tour of the West Indies.
Labuschagne still harbours ambitions to play for Australia, regardless of position, stating: ‘If opener is where I need to bat to be playing in the Test team, that’s fine.
‘If you had asked me where I prefer to bat, obviously I have batted at three my whole career, but at this stage you don’t get a choice.’
Travis Head has also moonlighted as an opener on tours of the subcontinent, including the 2023 BGT and the recent tour of Sri Lanka.
Aside from Khawaja who seems a lock for The Ashes despite a lean patch by his own high standards, Australia’s contenders for the remaining opening position are unclear.
Top-order Test aspirants will play four rounds of Sheffield Shield cricket to stake a claim before Perth, with Tasmanian opening batter Jake Weatherald touted as a credible frontrunner.
Cameron still green at number three
A perfect example of Australia’s new selection policy has been the elevation of Cameron Green to number three.
Green underwent back surgery last October which saw him miss the home summer against India. Since then, he has been phased back into the side as a batter, although Green intends to perform as an operational all-rounder once fully fit.
During his absence, Mitchell Marsh held the number six position before 31-year-old Beau Webster took over.
Webster has impressed in every outing, averaging 40.62 from five Tests at number six.
In addition, his blend of medium pace and off-spin has grabbed him eight wickets at 23.25 apiece, as well as reliably given Australia’s big three pacers ample rest between spells when needed.
The towering Tasmanian’s all-round consistency before a showpiece series at a time where untimely inconsistency has crept into the team means he has become undroppable at number six.
What does this mean for Green, the batter?
Green’s batting potential has been proclaimed ever since his Test debut back in 2020, but he has lacked that eureka moment in the absence of quiet consistency.
He averages 34.96 from 20 Tests at number six, with one hundred and six fifties.
His 174* against New Zealand at number four during Smith’s tenure as opener seemed to be his breakthrough, but a timidness with blade in hand has since accompanied his batting.
Green’s promotion to number three ahead of the WTC final was mixed with apprehension on the outside, but the management holds him in high esteem and, in their eyes, the team is stronger with him in the side.
After four Tests at number three, he averages 23.50 with 188 runs, including an obdurate 52 against the West Indies, a series in which he finished third-highest run scorer in tough batting conditions.
Numbers aside, captain Cummins has publicly backed Green: ‘We see that [Green at number three] as a long-term option.’
With their blessing, Green can rest easy knowing he will be given a good run. The jury is still out on whether number three is the right fit for him, especially once he begins bowling again.
An Ashes series in home comforts will give him the best opportunity yet to establish himself in the role.
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