Overshadowed, uncertain Ashes series steps out of the shade

➡️ SCHEDULE

Date	GMT		Venue
8-12 December	00:00	FIRST TEST	Brisbane
16-20 December	04:00	SECOND TEST	Adelaide (D/N)
26-30 December	23:30	THIRD TEST	Melbourne
5-9 January	23:30	FOURTH TEST	Sydney
14-18 January	TBC	FIFTH TEST	TBC

ENGLAND captain Joe Root has admitted that the Ashes series, beginning tonight at midnight in Brisbane, will define his four-year tenure in charge of the Test team.

Root will lead his side on a tour Down Under for a second time, hoping to fare rather better than four years ago when England were soundly beaten 4-0 in his first away series as skipper.

Australia currently still hold the Ashes, of course, after securing a 2-2 draw in England in a first tied series between the teams since 1972.

Incredibly though, even accounting for the coronavirus pandemic, the Aussies have only played nine Test matches in three series - and none abroad - since retaining the urn in the summer of 2019.

As such, the comments from their then-skipper Tim Paine, which seemed to cast aspersions on the tentative attitude of the England players towards the harsh Australian coronavirus restrictions, were the height of hypocrisy. 

Just this week, less than 48 hours before the first ball of the series, Perth was stripped of the hosting rights to the fifth Test due to the extreme requirements set by authoritarian Western Australia leader Mark McGowan.

Not that any of this is the concern of Paine now. The 36-year-old married father-of-two shed tears as he was forced to quit his position after sexually explicit messages between himself and a female colleague were revealed. 

Rather ludicrously, this affair had been going on at the exact same time that Paine had been appointed captain in an effort to clean up the image of Australian cricket. 

That was required because his predecessor Steve Smith - along with David Warner and Cameron Bancroft - had been exposed for ball-tampering in one of the biggest scandals in the sport in recent times. 

Paine's replacement Pat Cummins is a rookie skipper but was an obvious choice from the shortest of shortlists having led the bowling attack over the last few years. 

Nevertheless, Cummins will also be ably assisted by Smith whose unquestionable quality with the bat has largely restored his reputation Down Under, alongside that of fellow sandpaper cheat Warner. 

Understandably, most England fans view the pair rather differently. 

For, although their cheating was uncovered during a match against South Africa, it remained a mystery throughout the 4-0 drubbing four years ago why Australia were able to reverse swing the ball while England could not. 

Of course, English cricket itself is not in a particularly healthy place right now. 

The serious racism allegations from Azeem Rafiq, while referring specifically to his own treatment while he was a Yorkshire player, suggest there is a wider far deep-rooted problem in the sport. 

Rafiq may have personally lost some credibility when his own historic anti-Semitic comments were subsequently uncovered. 

However, his appearance in front of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on 16 November will have left a few members of the "old-school tie" at Lord's shuffling uncomfortably in their seats - and this is an issue which will not just conveniently go away. 

Back on the field of play, England - like Australia - will head into this series badly undercooked in terms of recent First Class cricket, with both of the inter-squad warm-up matches against England Lions severely affected by heavy rain. 

In the first match against the Lions, only 29 overs were possible across the three days - while the second game fared only a little better with the first two days of four completely washed out. 

Ben Stokes looked in fine nick with bat and ball during the play that was possible, taking 2-31 and bashing 42 not out off 56 balls, as he settles well into the squad following his late selection. 

Previously, on 30 July, Stokes had made himself unavailable, citing the need to prioritise his mental wellbeing and rest his injured left index finger as the reasons for his decision to take an indefinite break from all cricket. 

For sure then, Stokes has made a brave choice to return to the fold at this very moment, immediately before this incredibly intense series. 

Furthermore, the introduction of squad bubbles in the post-COVID-19 world has made life even more difficult for the cooped-up players with doubts at one stage over whether the players' families would be admitted by Australian immigration control. 

Then again, Stokes was clearly determined not to be absent for another Ashes series having been omitted from the tour four years ago following his infamous scrap outside of a Bristol nightclub.

Of course, Root could not hide his joy at the news that Stokes was on board. 

After all, the Durham all-rounder is the heartbeat of this team and carries the same sort of aura against the Australians as his predecessors Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff.

England may have been unable to regain the Ashes at home in the last series - but Stokes's batting heroics at Headingley, where he made 135 not out and batted for an hour with last man Jack Leach, have now been seared into the history of this contest.

The 2-2 draw also kept England unbeaten in home Ashes series since 2001, but their recent touring record against the top three sides in the world - Australia, India and New Zealand - does not make for pretty reading at all.

A surprise victory in Chennai was England's first - and, so far, only - away Test triumph against that trio of opponents under Root's captaincy. 

Even then, India roared back, winning each of the last three matches, including the third Test on a highly suspect pitch in Ahmedabad inside two days. 

The forecast in Brisbane continues to be unsettled and points possibly towards a rain-affected draw in the first Test at the notoriously tough Gabba where Australia have lost only once since 1986. 

That defeat against India was as recently as January, though - and there is now also the prospect of James Anderson being able to swing the ball under the lights in two day-night Tests. 

Nevertheless, world number one bowler Cummins relishes the fast, hard and bouncy surfaces Down Under and the English batting order remains frighteningly brittle. 

Add in England's dreadful away record against the top sides in the world - and it is extremely difficult to look past another comfortable home Ashes win for Australia.

Prediction: Australia win 3-1
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➡️ SQUADS

ENGLAND	Age		Tests	100	50	HS
Joe Root (c)	30	Yorkshire	109	23	50	254
James Anderson	39	Lancashire	166	0	1	81
Jonny Bairstow (wk)	32	Yorkshire	78	6	22	167*
Dominic Bess	24	Yorkshire	14	0	1	57
Stuart Broad	35	Nottinghamshire	149	1	13	169
Rory Burns	31	Surrey	29	3	11	133
Jos Buttler (vc) (wk)	31	Lancashire	53	2	18	152
Zak Crawley	23	Kent	15	1	4	267
Haseeb Hameed	24	Nottinghamshire	6	0	4	82
Dan Lawrence	24	Essex	8	0	3	81*
Jack Leach	30	Somerset	16	0	1	92
Dawid Malan	34	Yorkshire	17	1	7	140
Craig Overton	27	Somerset	6	0	0	41*
Ollie Pope	23	Surrey	20	1	6	135*
Ollie Robinson	28	Sussex	5	0	0	42
Ben Stokes	30	Durham	71	10	24	258
Chris Woakes	32	Warwickshire	39	1	6	137*
Mark Wood	31	Durham	21	0	1	52

AUSTRALIA
Pat Cummins (c), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Steve Smith (vc), David Warner

ENGLAND LIONS
Alex Lees (c) (Durham), Tom Abell (Somerset), Josh Bohannon (Lancashire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Matthew Fisher (Yorkshire), Ben Foakes (wk) (Surrey), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Liam Norwell (Warwickshire), Matt Parkinson (Lancashire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Robert Yates (Warwickshire)

➡️ ENGLAND TEST TOUR WOES since the start of the 2013/14 Ashes series
• Away record versus Australia, India and New Zealand: P23 W1 D4 L18

2013-14	AUSTRALIA	lost 0-5 [5]
2016-17	INDIA	lost 0-4 [5]
2017-18	AUSTRALIA	lost 0-4 [5]
2017-18	NEW ZEALAND	lost 0-1 [2]
2019-20	NEW ZEALAND	lost 0-1 [2]
2020-21	INDIA	lost 1-3 [4]

• NOTE 38.8% of the defeats (7/18) have been by an innings