How England and Australia are shaping up for the Ashes

Jonny Bairstow – How England and Australia are shaping up for the Ashes – PA/Danny Lawson

The Ashes start in one month’s time and this is how the two teams are shaping up with the series just around the corner.

FormEngland

Mixed. Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett have all made hundreds in division one of the championship. Crawley’s 170 against Essex is backed up by two fifties and four single-figure scores (as well as an 11) for an average of 38 but at least it is higher than his career mark.

He will still be looking over his shoulder. Pope is averaging 58 and Duckett scored a good hundred at Lord’s. Both are secure. Jonny Bairstow has looked scratchy for Yorkshire but to be expected after such a long lay off. As for the other batsmen, it is not pretty reading.

Harry Brook has been dropped in the IPL, Ben Stokes cannot get a game at the moment for Chennai and is heading home on Saturday after their last group game, and Joe Root has played one innings for Rajasthan – 10 off 15 balls. Apparently he has spent most of his time in the nets facing the red ball.

Ollie Robinson is bowling majestically for Sussex, while Stuart Broad has put overs in his legs, as had James Anderson until the weekend, when he was injured. Jack Leach is ticking over for Somerset with 14 wickets at 33 at a quiet time for spinners.

Ollie Robinson – How England and Australia are shaping up for the Ashes – Reuters/Andrew Boyers

At least he is playing and bowling, which has not always been the case at this time of the year. Ben Foakes will be nervous about his place but is averaging 52 with one hundred. What more can he do?

Australia

Steve Smith’s county sojourn has been frustrating for him and possibly good for England. He has managed just two innings out of four due to Sussex only batting once in each game he has played and has twice been out lbw missing straight balls. Robinson is watching closely in the nets for any weakness and reporting back to the bowling group.

Smith’s highlight so far has been a blinding slip catch at Leicester. Smith has one more match this week at Hove against Glamorgan where he will face Marnus Labuschagne, his Aussie clone.

Labuschagne smacked 170 last week, is averaging 72 from six innings and has morphed from a part-time leg spinner to an off spinner, taking four for 81 against Durham. Could we see that in the Ashes as a partnership breaker?

Opener Marcus Harris started strongly for Gloucestershire but has faded in recent rounds. Potential back-up players outside the Ashes squad at the moment – Sean Abott and Michael Neser – are gathering form and confidence for Surrey and Glamorgan. Neser is due to join the Aussies pre-Ashes training camp.

Cam Green has had an up and down IPL for Mumbai, Josh Hazlewood is in India too and made tentative steps as he recovers from long-term injury while the David Warner soap opera rumbles on.

He smashed a 23-ball fifty at the weekend but his side Delhi became the first team to be knocked out of the semi-final stage. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon are the senior players with their feet up resting.

FitnessEngland

Jofra Archer is out of the whole Ashes summer, Anderson is a doubt for the first Ashes Test while Olly Stone is also out of contention. Bowling is still proving a problem for Stokes and potential back-ups Brydon Carse and Jamie Overton are injured too.

Mark Wood is home from the IPL for the birth of his child after playing only four games, the last of which was a month ago. At least he is fit and raring to go, so that is good news. England must be wondering why Anderson played for Lancashire against Somerset last week given that Broad and Woakes were both rested.

James Anderson – How England and Australia are shaping up for the Ashes – Getty Images/Harry Trump

Anderson had bowled enough for his county to find rhythm but Lancashire had not won a game in division one so perhaps he felt the need to get their season going. It could prove costly for England. Saqib Mahmood bowled 38 overs for Lancashire in a deathly dull draw with Somerset as he feels his way back, having been left out for the previous two rounds.

Australia

No real fitness worries for Australia, the result of resting bowlers from the IPL and senior players either deciding to warm up gradually in the championship or taking a well-earned break. Hazlewood has endured two injury hit-years and is making a slow recovery from an Achilles problem.

He played three games for RCB in eight days but whether he can bowl long spells with a red ball again is unknown. He has managed just three Tests since the last Ashes series but with Scott Boland’s emergence and suitability for English pitches, he may not be seen as important as he once was to Australia’s hopes.

What the teams are saying

Nathan Lyon: “You look at the way they [England] played against New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan, they have been able to force the opposition into panicking. We just have to worry about us.”

Stuart Broad (in full Aussie wind-up mode): “I’ve written it [the last Ashes] off as a void series.”

Biggest challenge

For England, it is keeping their bowlers fit and getting the most out of Anderson and Wood at the right time. For Australia, it is ensuring they are not undercooked with no county matches scheduled before the first Ashes Test.

Instead they are playing golf in Liverpool and relying on the Test championship final against India at the Oval for preparation, but that will only involve 11 players. Warner will need runs in that match to stop the speculation over his place and an inevitable build-up of his showdown with his kryptonite – Broad.

Verdict

England have their injury issues but their batting is settled, more so than Australia’s, and they know exactly how they are going to approach the series. Australia are less sure of their Bazball response.

What are you expecting from this year’s Ashes? Join the conversation in the comments section below