A RESURGENT England team begin their quest to regain the Ashes today against the newly-crowned World Test champions Australia.
England have not held the Ashes for almost six years now with successive 4-0 thrashings in the 2017-18 and 2021-22 away series having sandwiched a 2-2 draw at home in 2019.
On the other hand, the last time that an Aussie team won an Ashes series on English soil outright was back in 2001, with four England victories and that draw in the intervening 22 years.
Nevertheless, only 14 months ago when Joe Root stepped down as captain, any chance of a competitive series this summer looked extremely slim.
England had departed Australia in January 2022 in a complete mess - and matters got worse again on the next tour against West Indies as Root's team collapsed to 120 all out in the third Test in Grenada to lose the series 1-0.
That defeat spelled the end for the Yorkshireman's difficult tenure as captain, and - without a skipper, head coach, chief selector or a managing director - England were frankly in complete disarray.
Suddenly, though, at the start of the summer of 2022, Baz-ball arrived.
Led by new head coach Brendan McCullum and his freshly-appointed, similarly-minded skipper Ben Stokes, England began to determine their own fate by attacking with the bat and setting aggressive fields.
Last summer, it felt like just about anything could be chased down in the fourth innings even though it is meant to be the toughest period to bat due to the wear of the pitch.
Indeed, England reached targets of 277, 299 and 296 against New Zealand, and 378 in the rearranged match against India, with a ridiculous amount of ease.
The good form continued into the winter as England toured Pakistan for the first time in 17 years - and, in less than three weeks, more than doubled their number of Test wins there in history.
A 3-0 series triumph featured yet more blistering batting, peaking at an average rate of 7.37 runs per over in the second innings of the first Test as England pushed for victory after the teams' first innings suggested a high-scoring draw was on the cards.
Further victories in Multan and Karachi meant that, having only ever previously recorded two Test wins in Pakistan in 1961 and 2000, Stokes's side had brought the total number of match triumphs by an England team there to five.
In fact, altogether, the hosts head into the Ashes with 10 wins in their last 12 Tests under Stokes and McCullum - a sequence which represents quite the turnaround after having tasted success in only one of their previous 17 under Root.
Certainly, though, Australia will be formidable opponents over the next six-and-a-bit weeks.
The Baggy Greens have only lost Test series against India since 2018, although there have been three such defeats, including a 2-1 home reverse in 2020-21 when an injury-ravaged Indian team recovered from being 1-0 down after the first match when they crumbled to 36 all out.
Nevertheless, earlier this month, the Aussies comfortably beat their bogey team in the World Test Championship final at the Oval after dominating from the very first ball - and, as such, will be as battle-hardened as touring sides get nowadays.
Meanwhile, England had the far easier task of beating a rather weak offering from Ireland which they did easily, despite fielding back-up bowler Matthew Potts and debutant Josh Tongue alongside Stuart Broad and Jack Leach.
Unsurprisingly, with the ailing Jofra Archer ruled out of the entire series, Ollie Robinson previously troubled by a sore ankle, and James Anderson turning 41 at the end of July, England did not want to risk causing further damage to their bowling options.
On that matter, it was a perfect match for skipper Stokes. Still nursing a niggly knee injury, the 32-year-old remarkably became the first captain in Test history neither to bat, bowl, or keep wicket at any stage in the proceedings.
But then came the sort of news which England had been fearing. On 4 June, spinner Leach announced he was out of the whole Ashes series after sustaining a stress fracture to the lower back.
It is a real shame for Leach who had played in every Tests under McCullum and benefited from the greater confidence shown in his ability by Stokes compared to predecessor Root.
Moeen Ali has stepped into the breach and confidently asserted that Baz-ball will also suit his style.
"I spoke to Stokesy about how he talked to batters and there's no question marks over any shots you play; that gives me licence to play a few more rash shots I guess," said Moeen.
"Even with the ball, [Stokes is] more on the aggressive side. I know I go for runs but he knows there's also some wicket-taking deliveries in between, which is all he cares about really."
Nevertheless, the 35-year-old will still be under pressure to improve his distinctly average record against Australia which, even on home soil, reads 15 wickets in six matches at an average of 47.86.
By contrast, Aussie skipper Pat Cummins has an embarrassment of bowling riches at his disposal, including himself of course - to the extent that either Mitchell Starc or Josh Hazlewood will struggle to make the cut.
Instead, Cummins is likely to line-up alongside Starc or Hazlewood, experienced spinner Nathan Lyon, and medium-fast Scott Boland who was a remarkable find during the last Ashes series.
Boland might not have express pace but he looks perfect for classic English conditions favouring swing and seam.
Then again, Stokes has requested "fast, flat" pitches rather than traditional English green-tops with the aim of taking advantage of his side’s batting prowess.
But, while these surfaces have obvious benefits for performance with the bat, they will also make even the strongest bowling unit toil.
And, if England are weakened by further injuries on this front, there could be some particularly painful afternoon ahead this summer, watching the likes of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne rack up the runs.
Now, regardless of all that, a fully-fit England team - at their Baz-ball best - is genuinely capable of blowing away even this talented Aussie outfit.
However, fears of an England implosion are never too far away - and, of all the Australian sides to visit these shores since the heydey of Steve Waugh, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, this particular squad appears to be best-placed to deliver that long-awaited away win.
Excitingly, if both teams play to their maximum, this really could be one of the all-time great Ashes series, akin to 2005.
But perhaps the biggest unknown is just how Baz-ball tactics stand up against an opponent who will simply refuse to take a backward step, especially as England appear to be vulnerable to a mid-series injury crisis.
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| FIRST TEST 16 June-20 June | ENGLAND | 393-8dec & 273 | ▪️ AUSTRALIA won by two wickets | |
| Edgbaston | AUSTRALIA | 386 & 282-8 | ||
| SECOND TEST 28-June-2 July | ENGLAND | 325 & 327 | ▪️ AUSTRALIA won by 43 runs | |
| Lord's | AUSTRALIA | 416 & 279 | ||
| THIRD TEST 6 July-10 July | ENGLAND | 237 & 254-7 | ▪️ ENGLAND won by three wickets | |
| Headingley | AUSTRALIA | 263 & 224 | ||
| FOURTH TEST 19 July-23 July | ENGLAND | 592 | ▪️ DRAWN | |
| Old Trafford | AUSTRALIA | 317 & 214-5 | ||
| FIFTH TEST 27 July-31 July | ENGLAND | 283 & 395 | ▪️ ENGLAND won by 49 runs | |
| The Oval | AUSTRALIA | 295 & 334 | ||
AUSTRALIA ▪️ Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Matt Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner
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