ENGLISH BLUES V/S BAGGY GREEN- A GLIMPSE OF NEVER ENDING VENGEANCE; THE ASHES

December 07, 2021

ENGLISH BLUES V/S BAGGY GREEN- A GLIMPSE OF NEVER ENDING VENGEANCE; THE ASHES

The Ashes.

Nothing in cricket gets colossal than this for the arch-rivals England and Australia. The century-old and most boisterous rivalry battle in cricket history. In 1882, when England and Australia battled each other in test series, no one thought that it could be the beginning of a new chapter in the cricketing folklore. Decades later, the battle became so combative and the thirst for the win so aggressive, that witnessed the use of bloody body-line tactic, for the coveted urn.

(credits: getty)

In 1882, Australia beat England in their home, upsetting the pioneers of the game, disturbing the English fans as well. The obituary from a renowned newspaper declared it as the death of English cricket and said that the ashes were to be taken to Australia after cremation. With this soul-stirring statement, the English captain promised to return with the Ashes by beating Australia in Australia. The promise was fulfilled and thus began the eminent series between both nations.

(Credits: Wikipedia)

There was huge drama ahead of the Ashes this year. Tim Paine stepped down as Australian captain due to the sexting scandal, which created a buzz. For the first time in the history of Aussies, a fast bowler got assigned to lead the national test side. Pat Cummins became the Test captain. Steve Smith as the vice-captain and Alex Carey to keep the wickets were decided for the Ashes.

Australia retained the Ashes in 2019 in England, courtesy of one of the great series performances from Steve Smith. It happened for Australia after 18 long years on English soil.

Australia will start as the favorites for the series, with the likes of Steve Smith, Labuschagne, Cummins, Hazlewood, and Warner being in the mix. It will be a daunting task for England to beat them. Aussies still have a few headaches to counter, like whom to bat at 5 and whether they should go with Jhye Richardson or Mitchell Starc. They are set to start with Starc and Head, but we might see a few rotations as they have learned a lesson from the last Border Gavaskar trophy.

England has a big boost with their lion heart Ben Stokes returning to the Ashes after missing the India Test series, IPL, and T20 World Cup. He will be less on match practices, yet he is a crucial asset in all departments. One vital absence for England will be Jofra Archer. Since this time it's in Australia, they will miss the raw pace of Archer, which can trouble Australian batters through the series.

(Credits: Ben Stokes, twitter)

England squad:

Joe Root (Captain), Ben Stokes, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Predicted England XI:

Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, Jack Leach/Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson.

(James Anderson has been rested for the first test.)

Australia squad:

Pat Cummins (Captain), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Steve Smith, David Warner, Alex Carey.

Australian playing XI for the first test:

Marcus Harris, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (WK), Pat Cummins (C), Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

(Pat Cummins confirmed the XI on December 5th)

Players to watch out for:

Steve Smith - The best Test batsman of this generation, he always rises when he plays the Ashes. It was a memorable series in 2019 for Steve and he will be looking to continue the terrific performance. He had a quiet summer in the last couple of seasons, and therefore it'd be the best time to come back into his usual best and pile up runs. He has amassed 2800 runs at an average of 65.12 against England in the longer format.

Ben Stokes - Stokes is returning to cricket after a hiatus of 4 months. He missed out on a lot of cricket during his break, but his return is a huge positive for England with his all-around skills. It gives Root various options to try out and adds lots of flexibility to the team. He bowled well in practice matches too. His capability to bowl long spells if the team needs him is always a plus point. His return gives that breathing space to Root, as he has been solely carrying the batting unit this year.

History:

Ashes is a pride contest for both Australia and England cricket. Many fans and cricketers rate this as bigger than any ICC tournament from their respective countries. This shows the legacy and tradition of this series.

Australia has won 33 Ashes tournaments, one more than England to date. Australia has won 134 tests whereas England has won 106 tests. There was total domination when Australia ruled cricket in the 90s and 2000s. For the last 20 years, it's often the home teams, that have an extra advantage. ( Apart from the 2010 series when England won in Australia and the 2019 series when Australia drew the series in England.)

Prediction:

Though they have issues after Steve Smith down the order, in the lineup, Australia starts as favorites. Also, England lacks quality as to Australia to match a five-match series in Australia. The scoreline is likely to be 4-0/3-1.