England pick most hostile bowling attack since 1970

Mark Wood, left, Jofra Archer, centre, and Gus Atkinson are all capable of bowling at high speed and generating steep bounce

If at any point in the past year England had been offered the Ashes squad they were able to name on Tuesday, they would have played an extra 18 holes to celebrate.

Moves to assemble this group of players started in the summer of 2024. This will be England’s first James Andersonless Ashes tour in more than 20 years. No matter how great a bowler he has been, the absence of an Anderson-style bowler is a sign England’s plan has come together.

Too often England have arrived at an Australian gunfight armed only with knives.

Now, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts and Ben Stokes can fight fire with fire. It is probably the most hostile group of fast bowlers England have sent down under since John Snow and Bob Willis were at the forefront of victory in 1970-71, the last time England beat a strong Australia team in Australia.

The first Test on a spicy Perth pitch, then the pink-ball Test in Brisbane will not be for the faint-hearted. England might not opt for a spinner in either and will hope to unleash Wood and Archer together in Perth at least.

They will be box-office slugfests. Somehow, the tourists need to buck their trend of starting Ashes tours awfully and get out of the opening two on level terms at worst. There would be no coming back from 2-0 down.

England say Stokes will recover from his shoulder injury by 21 November, but there will be huge concern over the talismanic skipper’s ability to get through the whole series – he has not played a full part in any of England’s past four.

Without Stokes, chances of returning with the urn dwindle to almost nothing. Protecting the captain could be another reason to play four frontline seamers in Perth.

The case of Wood is a curious one. The fastest bowler in the world has not played a Test since last August because of elbow and knee injuries. A comeback has been gradually pushed back to the point where he has not played at all this summer. Wood states he is best when fresh and there is a body of evidence to support his theory. He will certainly be fresh in Perth.

Stokes and Wood are the only two bowlers in the squad that have played a Test in Australia – overall only five players survive from the previous tour four years ago, a churn that is to be expected when England’s record down under is so wretched.

There are arguably questions about the durability of the entire attack, as all of Archer, Atkinson, Carse and Tongue have had injury problems in the recent past. It was ever thus. Fast bowling is hard work. Archer, the trump card, has shown a recent robustness. It is a collective England could only have imagined in their wildest dreams.

Jacks is a batting all-rounder who played two Tests three years ago and has taken only five first-class wickets this year. In being a tall off-spinner, he mimics the qualities of Bashir and the multi-dimensional aspects of his game give England options. He could, for example, cover for an injured Stokes and still allow for the inclusion of four seamers.

(BBC sport)