“Australians have made me fight for every run I have ever made. It is a hard game against them. The grounds are hard, the ball is hard, the men are hard. You need to be harder than they are to beat them.”

Len Hutton was consumed by beating Australia in Australia, one of cricket’s toughest tasks. He managed it once when captaining England in 1954-55 not least because he could call upon the frightening pace of Frank ‘Typhoon’ Tyson. That side’s 3-1 victory was England’s first Ashes win Down Under for more than 20 years.

England have only won only five series in Australia since the Second World War, their last coming in 2010-11. That trip, meticulously masterminded by head coach Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss, also saw their last Test match win on Australian soil. Whitewashes and humiliations have followed in the period since.

Frank Tyson, the Typhoon, blows through Australia in Adelaide in February 1955 (Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The blueprint for victory in Australia looks simple on paper — score big runs, catch all your catches, take 20 wickets per match — but much harder to do in practice; particularly that last bit.

Bowling at run-hungry batters on largely unforgiving pitches in vast, cacophonous stadiums with huge outfields in front of a partisan and at times baying crowd — plenty of English bowlers have found bowling in Australia akin to a Sisyphean task.

England’s head coach Brendon McCullum knows he needs what he describes as a “cartel” of fast bowlers fit and firing to challenge for the urn this winter. With the Ashes squad to be announced imminently, The Athletic spoke to one of the main men responsible for making sure that happens.

England’s elite pace bowling coach Neil Killeen tells us how the pace unit is shaping up and what attributes they each offer that could go some way to securing England’s first victory in Australia in a generation.

“Fast bowling is in my blood, there’s nothing like it,” says Killeen. “There’s a lot of miles spent on English motorways in this job but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Killeen has been in the role since 2023. A former fast bowler with Durham, he took 262 first-class wickets for the county before moving into a coaching role there, a position — along with stints as part of England Under-19s and Lions squads — that has seen him nurture the talents of Mark Wood, Ben Stokes, Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts from their teenage years up to the present day.

Neil Killeen, England’s elite pace bowling coach (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

He describes the job as an “emotional rollercoaster”, being there for the players during their highest and lowest moments, through garlanded performances on an international stage but also the injuries that are more or less baked into a fast bowler’s lot. Not to mention the ensuing, and often numerous, stints of rehab.

“Of course you get emotionally invested,” says Killeen. “The job is as much about being there for the bowlers psychologically as it is about doing physical work with them. You are a confidant and offer an arm round the shoulder; at times that’s much needed. Sometimes the conversations you have over a coffee are like gold dust, you need that honesty and that trusted relationship.

“These guys go to some pretty brutal places both mentally and physically.”

Apt then, that first bowler we discuss is England’s Test captain…

Ben Stokes

Age: 34
Style: Right arm fast
Test record: 115 matches, 230 wickets at an average of 31.64

Killeen on Stokes: “Ben and I did a huge amount of work on his bowling before the India series this summer. That got him back to a place where he probably hadn’t been for a while; he bowled beautifully through that series. I know he pulled up with a niggle at the end (and missed the fifth game at the Oval), but it’s quite exciting to see him back in that sort of position because the makeup of the side with him bowling at his best and playing that all-rounder role is massive.

“I’ve worked with Stokesy since he was 15. The schedule is such now that you don’t actually get much time, if any at all, to do technical work on your bowling action. With Ben a lot of the stuff I’m looking at is around his straight lines and the positions he gets his body into; how he approaches his angles on the crease. He sometimes dips in a little bit too far towards the stumps and comes around himself.

“So, we worked through that, getting him to release his action a little bit more which allows him to bowl with more pace and allows him to get right behind the ball with his wrist.

Ben Stokes bowling in the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford (Andy Kearns/Getty Images)

“When Ben’s at his best and he’s bowling at his top speed, he has a fully braced front leg. He comes in straight and lands with a stronger back leg; he’s then able to drive through the crease, stretch out and get that zip. The body has to be robust enough to hold these positions so, as well as the technical side, it takes a huge amount of strength and conditioning work too. Ben is hugely committed. He has a real focus and appetite for it.

“Seeing him bowling above 90mph consistently and able to hold that across spells, days and Test matches was brilliant. Yes, he got a niggle at the end but the schedule was so crammed. If you look at the Ashes schedule, there’s a lot more breathing room between matches which is crucial for bowlers… on both sides.

“The word that I use to describe Ben Stokes is ‘relentless’. He just keeps coming. His physicality allows him to keep bowling — sometimes too much, but you’re never going to knock him for that. He’s trying to win games of cricket for his country. He just wants to make things happen. I can’t wait to see what he can produce in Australia.”

Mark Wood

Age: 35
Style: Right arm fast
Test record: 37 matches, 119 wickets at an average of 30.42

Killeen on Wood: “I’ve known Woody since he was a kid. He’s had some fantastic highs and, obviously, some lows with injury (Wood underwent knee surgery in March and has missed the entire English summer). When Mark is fit and firing he’s England’s quickest bowler, maybe ever. Fingers crossed he will be available for that first Test in Perth because Woody is pure pace.

“He can hold that top end of pace too, which not many can do. He also gets lateral movement with the ball. He can swing the ball and has good variation. He uses his wobble seam well and has a good, fast bumper. He’s worked really hard at combining being really fast but with skill, too.

England’s Mark Wood has tasted success against Australia (Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)

“When Woody’s pumped, he just keeps coming at you and he attacks the stumps. His enthusiasm for bowling is a huge strength. He just loves bowling fast, and his resilience in coming back time and again is a massive attribute. There’s a steely core behind that beaming smile. As with Stokes, if you can move the ball at 90mph it is just ridiculously hard to face.

“Woody’s had success against Australia, home and away, and he’s doing everything he can to play a big part in this winter’s Ashes.”

Jofra Archer

Age: 30
Style: Right arm fast
Test record: 15 matches, 51 wickets at an average of 30.62

Killeen on Archer: “He’s got pace, he’s got skill, he’s got bounce, and he’s got real intelligence. He reads the game incredibly well. He’s a deep thinker, he really understands situations and how he’s going to get batsmen out. He creates angles, gets very close to the stumps and he’s very accurate.

“Jof’s worked so hard to get back into Test cricket. It’s been a long road and we had to trust the science and medicine, but he went really well in the summer which was really gratifying. He’s not back to the finished article yet either, which is hugely exciting.

“He often puts the hard yards in by himself, away from Sussex and England. He’s been so committed and has always been fuelled by that desire to get back playing Test cricket for England. A first away Ashes tour for him is a mouthwatering prospect.”

Jofra Archer returned from a four-year absence against India this summer (Stu Forster/Getty Images)Josh Tongue

Age: 27
Style: Right arm fast
Test record: Six matches, 31 wickets at an average of 30

Killeen on Tongue: “Josh has a real knack for taking wickets and breaking partnerships. We’ve seen he’s also been fantastic at blowing away the tail, which is a massive skill too have in your locker.

“He has a slightly different release point, from slightly past the vertical, which just creates an angle and makes it difficult for batters to make their decisions. It always looks as if it’s angling into you, but then he’s very good at taking the ball away, sometimes very late.

“He bowls at very good pace and can get into the 90s (mph) on the speed gun. We’ve had a long journey with Josh to get him back on the park and I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights wondering whether or not it was going to happen. All credit to him for the work he’s put in and also the teams around him at England and Nottinghamshire.

“He’s a strapping lad, a big unit, and he can get on these hot streaks of taking wickets in clusters; if he gets one he does tend to pick up two or three quickly which is a great attribute to have. He can play that enforcing role on flatter pitches but he is also a skilled performer and is dangerous when he gets it up there and moves it about late.”

Josh Tongue’s release point makes him an awkward bowler to face (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)Gus Atkinson

Age: 27
Style: Right arm fast-medium
Test record: 13 matches, 63 wickets at an average of 22.01

Killeen on Atkinson: “He tore it up last year in his first taste of Test cricket. He’s tall, he gets bounce and he’s a little bit different from an action point of view. He’s a really exciting bowler, we’ve been working with him lots recently as he comes back from a hamstring injury, but he’s getting some games under his belt now at the end of the summer.

“When he gets that rhythm there’s a smoothness to his action and he can work up to a really decent pace. We’ll get some work into him before the plane takes off, building up his strength and conditioning. He’s hungry to perform well and build on the success he had last year.”

Gus Atkinson has made an eye-catching start to Test cricket (Stu Forster/Getty Images)Brydon Carse

Age: 30
Style: Right arm fast-medium
Test record: Nine matches, 36 wickets at an average of 30.11

Killeen on Carse: “Brydon is a bit taller than the rest of the attack so he creates that different release point. He hits a pitch hard and gets steepling bounce. He bowls at a really good pace as well.

“We’ve been working him moving the ball because, although he does swing it, at the moment he’s probably not doing so as much as some of the other guys in the attack. But he’s building on those skills all the time.

“He is extremely good at coming back with the old ball and making things happen. He’s got a knack of taking wickets and he breaks partnerships, finding wickets when it looks like they aren’t going to come. He has that relentlessness, too. He’ll run in all day for you.”

Brydon Carse hits the pitch hard and generates steepling bounce (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Those six bowlers are expected to travel to Australia, if fit, and there are other contenders who will hope for a call up from Stokes and McCullum. Killeen casts his eyes over the best of the rest:

Chris Woakes

Age: 36
Style: Right arm medium
Test record: 62 matches, 192 wickets at an average of 29.61

The experienced spearhead of England’s home attack in the wake of the retirements of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, Woakes was player of the series against Australia during the home series of 2023 after taking 19 wickets in the last three Tests. A shoulder injury suffered whilst fielding on the Oval outfield during the final Test against India in August sees him in a fight for fitness for the Ashes.

Australia hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for him, his 16 wickets in seven Tests at an average of 51.68 a stark contrast to his home record. He has even gone on record to say he is not “at peace with the Kookaburra ball” that they use Down Under. “It just does not suit me! I’ve tried all sorts over the years and it hasn’t really happened.”

Killeen on Woakes: “I think we’re just going to watch this space with Woakesy and kind of see where he is at. He’s such a wholehearted cricketer and, when he’s on song, he’s obviously a class performer.

“He moves the ball and he’s relentlessly accurate. He’s not got the pace that he once had, but you know he’s still there and thereabouts and quick enough when the ball is moving. He can get on hot-streaks too and nip out wickets in clusters.”

Chris Woakes may not recover from a shoulder injury to feature this winter (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)Matthew Potts

Age: 26
Style: Right arm medium
Test record: 10 matches, 36 wickets at an average of 29.44

Killeen on Potts: “I’ve known Pottsy since he was a little nipper at Durham. He just keeps coming at you all day long; he’s very accurate and bowls those heavy lengths, six to eight metres from the bat.

“He’s aggressive and he’ll sit on that length which can be relentless for batters to face.”

Matthew Potts has fallen down the England pecking order this summer (Andy Kearns/Getty Images)

And the Ashes bolter? The quick bowler who might just force his way into the reckoning for the tour as a wildcard?

Sonny Baker

Age: 22
Style: Right arm fast
First-class record: Seven matches (no Tests), 22 wickets at an average of 33.90

A pint sized but bustling young seamer with a penchant for a hooping in-swinger, Baker was included in the England Lions squad to tour Australia at the start of the year and impressed enough to earn an England development contract. His first taste of international cricket was a chastening experience, chalking up the worst bowling figures for an England ODI debutant with 0-76 off seven overs against South Africa at Headingley.

But Baker has a voracious appetite for learning his craft and is a prolific note-taker. “I write all sorts of stuff down,” he told The Guardian earlier this year. “Ground dimensions, ways to grip different balls, action stuff. Analysis on batters — I love my analysis on batters, love having a detailed plan.”

Sonny Baker will learn from the trauma of his England white-ball debut (Philip Brown/Getty Images)

Killeen on Baker: “Sonny’s a great character, I love working with him. He’s so intrigued by life. He’ll take the learnings from his white ball debut and use it to get better. That’s the sort of lad he is.

“He is a very exciting prospect and can move the ball both ways, both in the air and off the pitch. He attacks the stumps and he makes it really uncomfortable for batters because they have to play an awful lot.”

(Top photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)