Post by Panda on Nov 22, 2017 16:32:17 GMT 1
The Ashes starts on Thursday morning with England looking to retain the urn down under after winning it back in 2015.
Australia go into the series as favourites, with the Aussie media labelling England's inexperienced squad "The Un-nameables". However, Australia's selectors responded by making 7 changes from their last test in Bangladesh and calling-up wicketkeeper Tim Paine after a 7-year absence. And their form is inconsistent, having only won of the last 5 series they have played.
Even in the series victories over South Africa and the West Indies during the summer (3-1 and 2-1 respectively), England's batting looked very fragile, while there are question marks over the durability of an ageing bowling attack - particularly whether the leading wicket-taker Jimmy Anderson's body can hold up for five tests at the age of 35. In addition, all-rounder Ben Stokes remains suspended pending a police investigation following his arrest in September on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm.
England squad:
Joe Root (c)
Jimmy Anderson (vc)
Moeen Ali
Jonny Bairstow (w)
Jake Ball
Gary Ballance
Stuart Broad
Alastair Cook
Mason Crane
Tom Curran (replacement for the injured Steven Finn)
Ben Foakes (w)
Dawid Malan
Craig Overton
Mark Stoneman
James Vince
Chris Woakes
Australia squad for 1st test:
Steve Smith (c)
David Warner (vc)
Cameron Bancroft
Jackson Bird
Pat Cummins
Peter Handscomb
Josh Hazlewood
Usman Khawaja
Nathan Lyon
Shaun Marsh
Glenn Maxwell
Tim Paine (w)
Chadd Sayers
Mitchell Starc
1st test: 23-27 Nov, The Gabba, Brisbane
2nd test: 2-6 Dec, Adelaide Oval (day/night)
3rd test: 14-18 Dec, WACA, Perth
4th test: 26-30 Dec, MCG, Melbourne
5th test: 4-8 Jan, SCG, Sydney
The series will be broadcast in the UK by BT Sport, who agreed an exclusive deal with Cricket Australia in 2015.
Recent series:
2001: England 1-4 Australia
2002/3: Australia 4-1 England
2005: England 2-1 Australia
2006/7: Australia 5-0 England
2009: England 2-1 Australia
2010/1: Australia 1-3 England
2013: England 3-0 Australia
2013/4: Australia 5-0 England
2015: England 3-2 Australia
MrH's session-by-session series scores:
2009: England 29-27 Australia
2010-11: Australia 20-40 England
2013: England 29-27 Australia
2013-14: Australia 42-12 England
2015: England 26-25 Australia
Odds to win series:
4/9 Australia
100/30 England
17/2 Draw
Series scoreline:
5/1 Australia 3-1
13/2 Australia 4-1
9/1 Australia 3-2
9/1 Australia 4-0
9/1 Draw 2-2
10/1 Australia 5-0
12/1 Australia 2-1
14/1 Australia 3-0
16/1 England 3-2
18/1 England 3-1
22/1 England 2-1
33/1 England 4-1
Australia go into the series as favourites, with the Aussie media labelling England's inexperienced squad "The Un-nameables". However, Australia's selectors responded by making 7 changes from their last test in Bangladesh and calling-up wicketkeeper Tim Paine after a 7-year absence. And their form is inconsistent, having only won of the last 5 series they have played.
Even in the series victories over South Africa and the West Indies during the summer (3-1 and 2-1 respectively), England's batting looked very fragile, while there are question marks over the durability of an ageing bowling attack - particularly whether the leading wicket-taker Jimmy Anderson's body can hold up for five tests at the age of 35. In addition, all-rounder Ben Stokes remains suspended pending a police investigation following his arrest in September on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm.
England squad:
Joe Root (c)
Jimmy Anderson (vc)
Moeen Ali
Jonny Bairstow (w)
Jake Ball
Gary Ballance
Stuart Broad
Alastair Cook
Mason Crane
Tom Curran (replacement for the injured Steven Finn)
Ben Foakes (w)
Dawid Malan
Craig Overton
Mark Stoneman
James Vince
Chris Woakes
Australia squad for 1st test:
Steve Smith (c)
David Warner (vc)
Cameron Bancroft
Jackson Bird
Pat Cummins
Peter Handscomb
Josh Hazlewood
Usman Khawaja
Nathan Lyon
Shaun Marsh
Glenn Maxwell
Tim Paine (w)
Chadd Sayers
Mitchell Starc
1st test: 23-27 Nov, The Gabba, Brisbane
2nd test: 2-6 Dec, Adelaide Oval (day/night)
3rd test: 14-18 Dec, WACA, Perth
4th test: 26-30 Dec, MCG, Melbourne
5th test: 4-8 Jan, SCG, Sydney
The series will be broadcast in the UK by BT Sport, who agreed an exclusive deal with Cricket Australia in 2015.
Recent series:
2001: England 1-4 Australia
2002/3: Australia 4-1 England
2005: England 2-1 Australia
2006/7: Australia 5-0 England
2009: England 2-1 Australia
2010/1: Australia 1-3 England
2013: England 3-0 Australia
2013/4: Australia 5-0 England
2015: England 3-2 Australia
MrH's session-by-session series scores:
2009: England 29-27 Australia
2010-11: Australia 20-40 England
2013: England 29-27 Australia
2013-14: Australia 42-12 England
2015: England 26-25 Australia
Odds to win series:
4/9 Australia
100/30 England
17/2 Draw
Series scoreline:
5/1 Australia 3-1
13/2 Australia 4-1
9/1 Australia 3-2
9/1 Australia 4-0
9/1 Draw 2-2
10/1 Australia 5-0
12/1 Australia 2-1
14/1 Australia 3-0
16/1 England 3-2
18/1 England 3-1
22/1 England 2-1
33/1 England 4-1