Cricket’s oldest rivalry and arguably Test cricket’s most coveted series commenced today in Brisbane.
Storied in cricketing folklore, the Ashes is pretty dead even going into 2017 series with each side winning 32 times and drawing five series since the inaugural series in 1882.
England has dominated the early part of the rivalry, but the 1990s Australian team, arguably one of the greatest teams in history kept the urn for a record 16 years. A young English team led by Michael Vaughan finally overcame them in 2005.
That win came on home soil, which was soon followed by a resurgence that saw England capture their first Ashes series victory abroad in 2011. A feat they hadn’t achieved since 1987.
The 2011 campaign seems to be an aberration in a series of losses. Since January 2011, the English have failed to win a test match on Australian soil.
Since 2000, Australia has steamrolled their visitors 15 times in 21 meetings. England has eked out only four wins, of which three came during their 2011 winning campaign.
If England wants to give itself a chance, they need to dismiss Steve Smith early. The Australian captain has a monolithic average of nearly 69 at home. He also loves to score during the Ashes.
Since 2013, he’s scored five centuries against England including a mammoth 215 at Lords in 2015. No batsman on either side has been so prolific. Alistair Cook has scored four, but his powers are waning. Memories of his 235 in 2010 at Brisbane haven’t faded, but he would need to pull out a big score to make a difference.
The hope for England lies with Smith’s counterpart, Joe Root, who has scored three centuries against Australia. Unfortunately for him, none have come in Australia.
Statistically few players in either squad can produce match-winning knocks, but it’ll take a special effort for England to score against a pace attack composed of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, both of whom have played well during the domestic season.
If England manages to field a strong batting line up, it could potentially pose problems for the home team, but at the moment it’s statistically not strong enough to win against an Australian side Down Under.