The Ashes 2021/22

[chiefdave]

This being Englands strongest squad just shows how short on depth we are. Take Stokes and Archer out and you can't really see anything past a 5-0 defeat unless Australia suddenly rivals England for days lost to rain and we get a draw somewhere.

With how long Archer has been out, and the number of previous breaks due to injury, you have to wonder about his ability to play on the relentless treadmill of international cricket going forward. Given that Jimmy can't go on forever, as much as he wants to, that leaves the bowling as thin on the ground as the batting. Even more so if the Broad injury isn't a one off and we need to look at replacing both of them.

 

[Ed Smith]

I'm curious who'd be in your full-strength, full-fitness side (for the hypothetical, Moeen is available)

Rory Burns
Rob Yates (bats quite like Marcus North)
Sam Hain
Joe Root
Dawid Malan
Ben Stokes
Ben Foakes
Ollie Robinson
Jack Leach
Jofra Archer
Jimmy Anderson

Dom Sibley
Ollie Pope
Jonny Bairstow
Chris Woakes
Stuart Broad
Mark Wood
Matt Parkinson

Couple of debutants in the batting slots because I'm not 100% who to bat in the top three. Could just as easily be Lyth and Vince or similar

I also quite like the thought of experimenting with opener Stokes

Not even sure it'd be much different. It's not that I think they picked the wrong squad. Just that we're woefully under equipped to play Test Cricket. Especially in Australia.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Hold on ECB fans here! I would not say that 5-0 is sure shot. I understand without Stokes and Archer the side is weak but the current Australia side which would have not played a Test since a year will not have a walk in the park. You need some fighters just like how India found 20 last summer/winter. Your main targets should be Marnus and Smith. If you get them early, England can have a chance. I would say both the team are at best par with each other. If you think Australians are ahead, I would say only by 5%.

What good would be the 18 team county championship if you cannot produce good 20 players? I feel Ben Stokes will be another Andrew Flintoff. He will be mostly out and England really should look past him for now. He will be back when he wants to and no body knows for how long before he breaks again. Archer while very raw and early has already shown how he can easily break too through his fitness. So my question as an outsider, you really do not have 30 men competing for 18-25 men squad from the 18 county teams? Is the county championship this bad?

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Is the county championship this bad?

Yes.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

I just really hope England can find one or two batters who can share the workload with Root and a bowler in Broad/Wood who can do the same with Anderson. It was brutal watching those two carry the entire team innings after innings.

As a neutral cricketing fan, would love to see a close contest and not a one sided affair.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

I just really hope England can find one or two batters who can share the workload with Root and a bowler in Broad/Wood who can do the same with Anderson. It was brutal watching those two carry the entire team innings after innings.

As a neutral cricketing fan, would love to see a close contest and not a one sided affair.

From what I remember of the last Ashes in Australia Anderson was mostly left to bowl. His average was pretty good but his strike rate was 78. Broad has a pretty poor record in Australia. There's going to be a lot of pressure on Wood.

I do think Australia have weak links but, where Warner is a walking wicket in England, he is outstanding at home. Then there's Smith and Labuschagne. England have Root. 2021 has felt like if he fails it's over. Other players could succeed in Australia, more than in English conditions. But, everyone goes on about how Malan scored a century in the last series, but no one mentions Mitch Marsh's massive century and how England managed to lose that match by an innings after scoring 400 batting first.

Woakes might be more suited to bowling in those conditions than he has been in the past but I still don't know if he's going to make a difference. I'd expect without Stokes, Moeen and Curran he might get a good run at 7 though.

Going back to the County Championship, a big issue is the time of year it's played, the ball, the conditions. It produces a lot of Ollie Robinsons. Not to diminish how well he did I reckon we could find at least half a dozen guys who could come in and bowl like him in England. The big difference is will that be effective in less favourable conditions. It also leaves us with a situation where we have two spinners who might be considered not worth picking because Joe Root can bowl a bit.

It's unfortunate that with Wood, Stone and Archer we have three bowlers who might actually make a huge difference and two of them are injured.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Don't know how people feel about this but I can see Warner suddenly turning on his beast mode and scores a couple of hundreds, Smith getting back his consistency while Marnus will somehow trouble England.

I also feel Root will suddenly a have lean patch at the start of this tour and probably will come back a little too late in this series.

Anderson is going to have another good series in Australia while others will falter. Woakes will get wickets but will be a little expensive.

Mitchell Starc will once again struggle to keep the runs down while Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will dominate the English batting line-up.

I expect a 3-1 or 4-1 result in Australia's favour.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

'I'm ready for Australia' - Ben Stokes added to England's Ashes squad

Allrounder admits he was in "a real dark place" before succesful surgery on injured finger

www.espncricinfo.com

 

[Ed Smith]

Changing my prediction to 4-1

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Australia still look to be the favourites. I don't think Stokes would make much of difference since he is just coming back from a break. If he bowl those long spells then it can help a bit.

 

[Dutch]

Stoksie.......Cant put it all on his shoulders but man this is a boost no doubt!

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Ben Stokes back will be a huggggeeee boost to England. This makes the Ashes more interesting now.

 

[Velocity]

Big boost for England. Makes the Ashes better with him there now from a neutral perspective. He might win only one game on his own but hoping his presence can somehow motivate England and make the series more interesting.

 

[Umair7]

#TheBattleOfTheUrn

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Do we expect any last moment changes from England's squad? @wasteyouryouth @Ed Smith