The headlines since England arrived Down Under have not been complimentary. Ben Stokes was ‘Cocky Captain Complainer’, Joe Root ‘Average Joe’. God knows how the West Australian newspaper will contain its glee if England blow next week’s first Test at Perth.
And yet if the local hacks want a real story, they might try looking at Australia’s increasingly fragile band of fast bowlers.
First Pat Cummins, their captain, was ruled out of Perth because of a back niggle, and now faces a race to be fit for the second Test at Brisbane, starting on December 4.
Now Josh Hazlewood has suffered a hamstring scare, while Sean Abbott – his New South Wales team-mate – has been ruled out of Perth altogether, also with hamstring trouble. Abbott wouldn’t have played next week anyway: his role in the 15-man squad was purely as back-up. But only one team are hobbling towards the Optus Stadium, and it isn’t England.
Traditionally, it has been the other way round, with England dropping like flies the moment they touch down in Australia, inviting ridicule as the insult of defeat is compounded by the misfortune of injury.
In 2002-03, the future England coach Chris Silverwood was flown out because Darren Gough and Simon Jones had both been incapacitated, then thrown in for the third Test at Perth when Andrew Caddick failed a fitness test on a dodgy back. Inevitably, perhaps, Silverwood bowled four overs for 29 before hurting his ankle. He never bowled for England again, finishing as little more than an emblem of Pommie frailty.
Josh Hazlewood has suffered a hamstring scare as injury-hit Australia hobble towards the Ashes start line
The Aussie press have been quick to criticise England and Ben Stokes, labelling him ‘Cocky Captain Complainer’
They have also questioned Joe Root’s record Down Under – but perhaps they should look closer to home as the Aussie problems mount up
More than two decades later, though – and with all the usual caveats about how there is still time for the narrative to change again – England are gearing up nicely.
Mark Wood has recovered from the knee injury that prevented any cricket over the summer, while Jofra Archer is raring to build on the impressive return he made to the Test fold against India.
Brydon Carse is a happier bunny now that his boot manufacturers are cutting a hole for his problematic left toe, and Gus Atkinson’s most recent Test, against India at The Oval, earned him first-innings figures of 21.4–8–33–5. It’s easy to forget, too, that Stokes himself – England’s best bowler against India – is ready to go once more after shoulder trouble.
And while it’s hard to imagine that England’s coterie of quicks will go through the five-match series unscathed, there is no doubt they look better equipped to hit the Perth turf running than their opponents.
Missing Cummins – an all-time great whose 309 Test wickets have cost just 22 – is galling enough for Australia. It is not even certain he will be fit for the day/night second Test at the Gabba.
To now face concerns over Hazlewood, whose record (295 at 24) is not far behind, is a headache the home selectors could do without. Cricket Australia have been quick to insist he will be fine after he complained of tightness in his right hamstring and was instructed by NSW and stand-in Australia captain Steve Smith to leave the field on the third day of their Sheffield Shield game against Victoria at Sydney.
But Hazlewood has a recent history of missing the first Test of a home series, and at nearly 35 is more in the autumn of his career than a spring chicken. Assuming he does play in Perth, it’s hard not to conclude he will be a calculated risk. If he is ruled out, Australia would have to turn to the uncapped 31-year-old Brendan Doggett who was unspectacular during a three-game spell with Durham this summer.
For an Australian team already batting off jibes about their ‘Dad’s Army’ – among their 15-man squad, only the 26-year-old all-rounder Cameron Green is the right side of 30 – this is the nightmare scenario: an injury cloud hanging over their first-choice attack, with their second-tier quicks falling by the wayside.
Australia captain Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the first Test and faces a fight to be fit for the second
While Ben Stokes looks to have a full complement of England quicks to choose from
It’s not even as if they have resolved matters at the other end of the batting order, with plenty hinging on Green’s availability to play the role of fifth bowler at Perth. He sent down only eight overs of the 105 bowled by Western Australia in Queensland’s first innings of their ongoing game at the WACA, leaving open the possibility that Beau Webster begins the Ashes as Australia’s all-rounder instead.
If that happens, Green will have to bat at No 3, where he averages 20 from eight Test innings, and the in-form Marnus Labuschagne will have to move up to open, away from his preferred slot at first drop. Two players out of position in the top three would, for England, feel like Christmas come early.
The Ashes are a marathon, not a sprint, and the long gaps early in the series – eight days of inactivity between Perth and Brisbane, and between Brisbane and Adelaide – will help Australia’s band of 30-something seamers to rest and recover.
But, right now, the dilemmas are exclusively the hosts’. England will need everything to go their way if they are to win only their second series in Australia in nearly 40 years. As the West Australian will no doubt reflect in even-tempered fashion, the early omens are not bad at all.