Should England take James Anderson on the next Ashes tour?

[Robert]

My initial answer is no. He will be 39 years old and has a moderate record there. I think a pace attack of Archer, Wood, Broad and Stokes is the way, and a much more effective attack that the medium pace array that was murdered by Smith etc. on the last Ashes tour.

Then I think again....



On Anderson's first tour, the ill-fated Flintoff 0-5 reverse, he was a tyro and pitching too full.

On the second he was very effective, though he never took a fivefer, anchoring the bowling while Finn and Tremlett took wiclets. It is important to remember that he had a mountain of runs from Strauss, Cook, Trott, KP, Bell, Collingwood and Prior to bowl at.

The numbers look less attractive on Captain Cook's tour, but consider that he had Australia in touble in the first innings all five tests. But then Haddin would scrap fifty, the England bowling would ablate against Johnson and Harris, and Anderson would be bowling again in two sessions. He played the last two matches with a cracked rib.

Most interesting is the Root tour where Anderson did a good containing job, going at just 2.11 an over and averaging a respectable 28. But there was no fast bowler to exploit these tight overs. Of course he was helped by the pink ball test.

I don't think England should play him every match but maybe on a horses-for-courses arrangement - try to pinch a win with the pink ball at Adelaide, strike at Perth with the quicks, and hang in for draws eleswhere.

Of course the England batting is nowhere as good as that Strauss lineup. I suspect that Crawley, Root and Stokes will have to spend a lot of time at the crease to keep England in the series.

 

[Varun]

Anderson is like fine wine, if he's up for it and willing to last out the 5 tests - England should pick him.

Not that picking him would make England favourites to win or anything though.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

it is a difficult and controversial choice for a selector.. as he is a man with 600 wickets.
But I would drop him, as his style is not suited to Australian wickets, except may be for Pink ball test.
He has never been successful here.

 

[angrypathan]

Take him along. Only play him in the pink ball test or in the day tests if one of the other quicks breaks down or has a shocker of a game

 

[Robert]

it is a difficult and controversial choice for a selector.. as he is a man with 600 wickets.
But I would drop him, as his style is not suited to Australian wickets, except may be for Pink ball test.
He has never been successful here.

So you didn't read my OP.

 

[ElRaja]

even if he doesnt make it to the first xi, could you ask for a better squad player in terms of experience and stepping up cold if he needs to play in the xi.

should deffo be in the squad until he retires, or he has two or three poor tests.

 

[Majestic]

Undoubtedly. The most skillful bowler of all-time. He must play, he has been aged like a fine wine.

How can any team think of going to their rivals dent and give them a fight without having an arsenal like Jimmy Anderson, who is arguably the best bowler of his generation by a fair margin and of all-time alongside McGrath, Marshall and Hadlee?

Having Anderson in your team alone puts England as favourites based on his reputation and legacy as a test bowler.

 

[Rana]

Not sure what there is to gain? Time for Chris Woakes to step up and lead the attack

 

[Saj]

Ashes 2021-22 schedule confirmed

The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) have confirmed the Men’s and Women’s Ashes schedule for 2021-22 to be staged in Australia.

Men’s Ashes Test Series

The first Men’s Ashes Test will begin at Brisbane’s Gabba from 8-12 December ahead of a day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval from 16-20 December. The traditional Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (26-30 December) and Sydney Cricket Ground (5-9 January) respectively, with the final Test scheduled for Perth’s Optus Stadium (14-18 January).

Women’s Ashes

The multi-format Women’s Ashes series will begin at Manuka Oval, Canberra, with the Women’s Ashes Test match from 27-30 January.

The white-ball matches, which combine with the Test match to form the multi-format series, kick off with three T20Is, to be played at the North Sydney Oval, Sydney (4 and 6 February) and the Adelaide Oval (10 February).

The multi-format series concludes with three ODIs at Adelaide Oval (13 February) and the Junction Oval in Melbourne (16 and 19 February).

At the end of the Women’s Ashes series, England will depart for New Zealand to participate in the ICC Women’s World Cup in a year that will also see them represent Team England at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Tom Harrison, ECB’s Chief Executive Officer, said:

“An Ashes series in Australia is a global highlight of the cricketing calendar and is always a focus series for England teams.

It’s a hugely exciting prospect that both men’s and women’s squads will be heading to Australia. It promises to be a highly competitive and close contest with teams in both series, evenly matched. I have little doubt that the rivalry and drama will once again capture the interest of sports lovers across the globe.

“2022 is going to be an amazing year for Women’s cricket. With an Ashes, a World Cup in New Zealand and a home Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, this could be a landmark year for our team. It represents a huge challenge, but one Heather Knight and her talented squad are very excited about.”

Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia’s Interim CEO, said:

“We are absolutely thrilled to announce our men’s and women’s international fixtures for the 2021-22 summer of cricket. The lessons learned from successfully delivering a safe summer in 20-21 gives us confidence on what we’re able to achieve, and we’re all hoping for a summer of full crowds and an Ashes atmosphere we’re all accustomed to.

“The Ashes is one of the great global sporting rivalries and seems to grow ever larger with each series and generation. We cannot wait to host England Men over five Tests this summer. The most recent Men’s Ashes series was a remarkable contest that captured the imagination of the entire cricketing world and I expect this summer to be no different.

“In a perfect world, we would welcome England fans back to these shores for a summer of singing and sportsmanship. Of course, we will be guided by the Australian Government on all things related to international travel.”

CA has considered quarantine periods for all international series into its 2021-22 fixture in line with current guidelines. CA continues to work closely with relevant Federal and State Government agencies and will provide updates on international quarantine, domestic biosecurity and crowd measures in due course.

England Men’s warm-up schedule, ahead of the Ashes, will be announced in due course.

Men’s Ashes Schedule – 2021-22

1st Test: 8-12 December – Gabba, Brisbane
2nd Test: 16-20 December – Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (Day/night)
3rd Test: 26-30 December – MCG, Melbourne
4th Test: 5-9 January – SCG, Sydney
5th Test: 14-18 January – Optus Stadium, Perth

 

[Hasan123]

He probably won't be able to play all 5 tests. They will definitely take him and pick for the tests suited to him.

 

[SangasCoverDrive]

No. He's too old for it now. He can't play more than one match in a series. Taking him for one game would be wasting a spot tbf

 

[moghul]

Anderson was a failure down under at his peak and youth. At this age, only Aussies would like to have him in English team. No chance , there is no Misbah among English selectors.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Anderson.
Archer
Olly Stone
Broad.
Wood
These 5 bowlers should be taken to Australia, Anderson can play 3 out of 5 tests (sure selection for pink ball test). He can be rotated with other bowlers.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Anderson has done well when the conditions have helped him. In the 2010-11 tour, the pitches were helpful and he was decent. In 2017/18 tour, he bowled superbly with the pink ball to take a fifer but apart from that he was quite ordinary. But he was still better than the rest of the English attack so he should probably play if he is body is up to it.

 

[Robert]

Undoubtedly. The most skillful bowler of all-time. He must play, he has been aged like a fine wine.

How can any team think of going to their rivals dent and give them a fight without having an arsenal like Jimmy Anderson, who is arguably the best bowler of his generation by a fair margin and of all-time alongside McGrath, Marshall and Hadlee?

Having Anderson in your team alone puts England as favourites based on his reputation and legacy as a test bowler.

35 average in Australia shows he isn’t anywhere near as good as those guys.

But he can do a decent stock bowler job there, holding an end while others take wickets.

 

[Robert]

Anderson.
Archer
Olly Stone
Broad.
Wood
These 5 bowlers should be taken to Australia, Anderson can play 3 out of 5 tests (sure selection for pink ball test). He can be rotated with other bowlers.

This looks about right, and Stokes can chip in if fit to bowl.

 

[AMSS]

If Broad and Anderson are going to feature in most of the Ashes tests, ENG can expect a socking.

Not something I mind but it amazes me nobody in ENG set-up can see how these two veterans have stunted the growth of bowlers around them with a higher ceiling than either of them in away conditions.

Take a look at the recent ENG tour of India. Anderson has cute figures but he did not really pull his weight. Broad had a horror show. OTOH, Stone looked a bowler who was going to make Indian batsmen think and he only played one match. Mark Wood hasn't played enough matches for a 32 year old ENG player, and I feel he might struggle in AUS - simply because his development has been hindered.

 

[sindhiboy]

If Broad and Anderson are going to feature in most of the Ashes tests, ENG can expect a socking.

Not something I mind but it amazes me nobody in ENG set-up can see how these two veterans have stunted the growth of bowlers around them with a higher ceiling than either of them in away conditions.

Take a look at the recent ENG tour of India. Anderson has cute figures but he did not really pull his weight. Broad had a horror show. OTOH, Stone looked a bowler who was going to make Indian batsmen think and he only played one match. Mark Wood hasn't played enough matches for a 32 year old ENG player, and I feel he might struggle in AUS - simply because his development has been hindered.

Anderson was brilliant in india. Averaging 15 in india as a seamer is exceptional. He outbowled all the Indian seamers.

I agree that broad and anderson have prevented other talented seamers from making the team. Bowler like porter and coad have been taking truckloads of wickets in county and have not been considered for selection

Olly stone looked high quality in the one test he played in Chennai, averaged 17. His length is perfect for Australian conditons.

Ollie Robinson is another bowler to look out for.

Broad and anderson playing every test of the ashes is a strategy that will guarantee eng losing the ashes.I wouldn't be surprised if none of them feature in a few ashes tests.

England will still follow a rotation policy and the can afford to do so considering the options they have

We might see an attack of jofra, wood and stone and stokes

 

[Ahmed216]

Undoubtedly. The most skillful bowler of all-time. He must play, he has been aged like a fine wine.

How can any team think of going to their rivals dent and give them a fight without having an arsenal like Jimmy Anderson, who is arguably the best bowler of his generation by a fair margin and of all-time alongside McGrath, Marshall and Hadlee?

Having Anderson in your team alone puts England as favourites based on his reputation and legacy as a test bowler.

Most skillful bowler of all time is wasim akram. Anderson is not even close.
Best bowler of his generation was dale steyn.

 

[Robert]

If Broad and Anderson are going to feature in most of the Ashes tests, ENG can expect a socking.

Not something I mind but it amazes me nobody in ENG set-up can see how these two veterans have stunted the growth of bowlers around them with a higher ceiling than either of them in away conditions.

Take a look at the recent ENG tour of India. Anderson has cute figures but he did not really pull his weight. Broad had a horror show. OTOH, Stone looked a bowler who was going to make Indian batsmen think and he only played one match. Mark Wood hasn't played enough matches for a 32 year old ENG player, and I feel he might struggle in AUS - simply because his development has been hindered.

Broad’s performance in India will have little bearing in Australia. If he is properly fit he will cause problems there with accuracy and lift. I would not play him in the same tests as Jimmy A though.

Wood has had injury issues but lengthening his run has sorted those and I would pick him ahead of Archer.

A first test attack of Broad, Wood, Stone, Stokes and Leach is my pick.

 

[Titan24]

I think it will depend upon how is the fitness and form of Anderson leading upto that Ashes. Yes he will be 39 but, if he does well in the 7 tests leading upto the series then in my opinion he can definitely add value to the English team in Australia (Like he did in atleast two out of last 4 Ashes in Aus, one Eng won).

Yes for Aus tours it is believed you need pacers who can ball fast and hit the pitch hard and I agree but, at the same time you need to form bowling combinations. Archer and one off Wood/Stone would be expected to be pacers that would fall into that conventional Aus style bowling, add Stokes to that who generally has the ability to slightly alter his style of bowling according to the surface. Having someone like Anderson in the mix I believe gives a good variety and more importantly control.

Also lets not forget he was still bowling around 140 kph in quite a few spells in Ind, Srl tours as well recently. Further this will be his 5th Ashes in Aus, so he knows how to ball their as he showed atleast on two occasions when he ended with impressive series numbers, so he can definitely share some insights with the other pacers on and off the field

So unless Anderson form or fitness have any issues leading upto the Ashes, I think he definitely should be on that plane to Aus.

 

[Markhor]

It'd be an Ashes tour too far for Jimmy. Australia is not a place to take ageing seamers bowling 80mph.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Broad’s performance in India will have little bearing in Australia. If he is properly fit he will cause problems there with accuracy and lift. I would not play him in the same tests as Jimmy A though.

Wood has had injury issues but lengthening his run has sorted those and I would pick him ahead of Archer.

A first test attack of Broad, Wood, Stone, Stokes and Leach is my pick.

He was properly fit the last time he toured Australia and he averaged 46 with the ball. He is 4 years older and he he has lost a lot of pace.

 

[Last Monetarist]

Anderson will be selected for the trip if he's fit, it's as simple as that. He's improved significantly over the course of the last two years bowling with the kookaburra, and he's actually been bowling quicker than at any time over the past 5 years.

If he's bowling around 84-85 mph and able to hit a nagging line outside off-stump, the Australians will find it hard to prevent him from bowling dry, which is a necessary role in Australia. England will be happy to leave Archer and Wood to attack from the other end.

 

[Robert]

He was properly fit the last time he toured Australia and he averaged 46 with the ball. He is 4 years older and he he has lost a lot of pace.

I don’t think he was fully fit on that tour, he looked down on pace to me. Ball wasn’t coming out right. Looked quicker the next English summer.

I don’t know. Maybe’s he’s close to finished, he has bowled a lot of overs in fourteen years.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

I don’t think he was fully fit on that tour, he looked down on pace to me. Ball wasn’t coming out right. Looked quicker the next English summer.

I don’t know. Maybe’s he’s close to finished, he has bowled a lot of overs in fourteen years.

His pace over the last 4 years has been around 83 mph. That's pretty much the pace he bowls nowadays. From what I've seen, he bowls fairly quick in his first spell and then his speeds drop considerably. So I don't thnk he was unfit in the last Ashes. He just doesn't bowl any quicker nowadays.

 

[Forward Defensive Push]

Anderson is the best England can offer and should be picked each time he's fit. Don't understand why it's a question!

 

[AMSS]

Anderson is the best England can offer and should be picked each time he's fit. Don't understand why it's a question!

Because their best (and his understudy) has not been good enough in AUS. Across multiple tours.

 

[street cricketer]

People for some reason tend to assume that the key to bowling in Australia is unearthing 150k bowlers. Yes, bringing a battery of 80mph medium seamers is not going to cut it in Australia, but if people believe Australians are scared of or vulnerable in playing extreme pace and bounce, they're misguided. Most of the Australian batsmen play against some of the quickest bowlers in the world in net practice. Australian batsmen are not vulnerable against extreme pace and bounce, but "well directed" pace in the channel.

The holy grail for any bowler, no matter in which part of the world, is the off bail. The objective should be to hit the off bail more often than not, with the odd variations like short ball, inswinger, yorker, etc. Naturally, the length that's needed to hit the off bail will change with the conditions you play. So on less bouncier conditions like the subcontinent, you need to bowl shorter while on a more bouncy pitch like the Perth or the Wanderers wicket, you need to bowl slightly more fuller as short of good length will take the ball above the stump height due to extravagant bounce.

Also, what pace you bowl at is also very important. You are not going to trouble any batsman if you bowl at 80 mph unless there's seam movement. But at the same time, it's very hard to hit that perfect box in the channel when you strive for extreme pace. It's why Starc, who is easily the quickest of the Australian trio, gets smashed around the most because he cannot control his lengths due to his high pace and slingy action. The reason England mostly struggles in Australia is because it usually arrives with a pack of 80-85 mph medium pacers, which is simply not going to trouble the Australian batsmen. At the same time, I'm not too eager to get on the hype train about the likes of Overton, Wood and Archer giving it back to Australia unless they can prove that they can bowl in the channel relentlessly, which I'm not so sure about. Even Archer, who is the best of the three, tends to bowl that short of good length aimed at rib cage more when he needs to pitch it up probably a bit more. One of the reasons why India found success in Australia twice is because they finally developed a battery of quicks, who could bowl at a good speed and be very accurate in terms of bowling in the channel. They are not necessarily the quickest in the world, Shami/Bumrah/Siraj are not 150k bowlers but they all bowl around 140k speed or thereabouts and bowl accurately in the channel.

Anderson doesn't bowl at 140ks speed, but he has matured greatly as a bowler with age in terms of bowling overseas. He will be the prime threat in the pink ball test and in the other matches, he will bowl dry without necessarily picking a cluster of wickets. I don't think he's going to uproot trees in Australia, but he's still probably England's best bowler even in Australia, if Archer doesn't play. I do think Archer has all the tools needed to be successful in Australia, but needs to keep his pace around 140s consistently in the 2nd and 3rd spells and bowl slightly fuller to his natural length.

 

[Ahmad-GERMANFC]

Anderson has done well when the conditions have helped him. In the 2010-11 tour, the pitches were helpful and he was decent. In 2017/18 tour, he bowled superbly with the pink ball to take a fifer but apart from that he was quite ordinary. But he was still better than the rest of the English attack so he should probably play if he is body is up to it.

Pitches weren’t helpful in 2010-11 by any stretch. Aussie batting wasn’t in form though.

 

[Robert]

Pitches weren’t helpful in 2010-11 by any stretch. Aussie batting wasn’t in form though.

Key to the Strauss win was burying Australia in runs, led by Cook. Then bowling tight and waiting for mistakes.

 

[AMSS]

People for some reason tend to assume that the key to bowling in Australia is unearthing 150k bowlers.

Except nobody is saying that. People are in fact hinting that Wood and Archer may not succeed in AUS despite their speed because they lack the experience of bowling in that country.

 

[Robert]

His pace over the last 4 years has been around 83 mph. That's pretty much the pace he bowls nowadays. From what I've seen, he bowls fairly quick in his first spell and then his speeds drop considerably. So I don't thnk he was unfit in the last Ashes. He just doesn't bowl any quicker nowadays.

Since that away Ashes series he has averaged 22 in tests, strike rate 49, despite the mare in India.

Maybe he has been bowling at weak batting lines though - India in England couldn’t cope with seam movement, then SA, WI, Pakistan and SL.

 

[street cricketer]

Except nobody is saying that. People are in fact hinting that Wood and Archer may not succeed in AUS despite their speed because they lack the experience of bowling in that country.

The general consensus that I've seen even among many English fans is that their usual medium pace battery is not going to cut it in Australia (which is true) and they'll need the likes of Archer, Wood and Overton to match the Australian attack (which I'm not so sure about).

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Since that away Ashes series he has averaged 22 in tests, strike rate 49, despite the mare in India.

Maybe he has been bowling at weak batting lines though - India in England couldn’t cope with seam movement, then SA, WI, Pakistan and SL.

Broad has been extremely accurate, 2nd only to Anderdon, and particularly in his first couple of spells in England, he has been fairly quick as well. He has made use of the new Dukes brilliantly and bowled fairly quick, very accurately and with supportive pitches as well. The problem for Broad has been the away tours in India and NZ. In Nz he was clocking 77 mph and on that flat Mt. Maunganui track, he looked hopeless. Ditto with the SG ball in India.

If that trend continues , I dont expect him to do any better in Australia either. Ideally, England shouldn't play Broad or Anderson but the problem is that your most accurate bowlers (Broad and Anderson) are not quick enough to begin with and they seem to bowl quicker in English conditions if at all they do. On the other hand, the ones with pace are not nearly accurate enough.

This might just be a disastrous tour for England.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Pitches weren’t helpful in 2010-11 by any stretch. Aussie batting wasn’t in form though.

Pitches were relatively helpful that summer not that roads that Australia produced in later seasons. Athers talked about that tour on Sky Cricket. English style bowling worked perfectly that season. Australia didn't have the attack to threaten the English lineup back then.

 

[Robert]

Pitches were relatively helpful that summer not that roads that Australia produced in later seasons. Athers talked about that tour on Sky Cricket. English style bowling worked perfectly that season. Australia didn't have the attack to threaten the English lineup back then.

As I recall they had Johnson, Siddle and Harris for some or all of the tests.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

As I recall they had Johnson, Siddle and Harris for some or all of the tests.

That was MJ before he got his arm higher and his run up was straightened out etc. Also they didnt play all3 of them together except once I think. They brought in Hilfenhaus, Bollinger etc. as 3rd seamers and they didnt have a decent spinner either - they relied on Doherty, marcus north.

 

[Robert]

That was MJ before he got his arm higher and his run up was straightened out etc. Also they didnt play all3 of them together except once I think. They brought in Hilfenhaus, Bollinger etc. as 3rd seamers and they didnt have a decent spinner either - they relied on Doherty, marcus north.

Johnson had that explosive start against SA, but then his radar failed. He was still striking at Lillee / McGrath frequency in 2010/11 but got hit for a lot of fours too.

Doherty was a mistake because ACB bought into the myth that KP couldn’t play the SLAs. KP hit 200...

 

[mastimasti]

This is the Ashes schedule as per one of the earlier posts:

1st Test: 8-12 December – Gabba, Brisbane
2nd Test: 16-20 December – Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (Day/night)
3rd Test: 26-30 December – MCG, Melbourne
4th Test: 5-9 January – SCG, Sydney
5th Test: 14-18 January – Optus Stadium, Perth

I think the day/night test at Adelaide is the best time to play both Jimmy and Broad. Beyond that I can't see their usefulness. Jimmy is too old and slow now while Broad has lost too much pace.

The bigger issue is who replaces them? Archer is now notoriously unreliable, both fitness and mentality. Wood breaks down but at least gives his all.Let's say these guys can play 2 games each, who else does England have?

I personally think Overton just isn't that good but could be given a chance again. Then there's the Curran brothers who are ok-ish in LO but their test performances are hardly great, especially on pitches which require some pace, not dibbly dobbly stuff.

Then there's Robinson who is again, a decent, lower pace bowler with some seam but hardly going to make the Aussies hop around.

It's a tough ask, especially with average spinners doing the rounds.

The best hope is for Archer and Wood to be fit for all 5 matches...

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

People for some reason tend to assume that the key to bowling in Australia is unearthing 150k bowlers. Yes, bringing a battery of 80mph medium seamers is not going to cut it in Australia, but if people believe Australians are scared of or vulnerable in playing extreme pace and bounce, they're misguided. Most of the Australian batsmen play against some of the quickest bowlers in the world in net practice. Australian batsmen are not vulnerable against extreme pace and bounce, but "well directed" pace in the channel.

The holy grail for any bowler, no matter in which part of the world, is the off bail. The objective should be to hit the off bail more often than not, with the odd variations like short ball, inswinger, yorker, etc. Naturally, the length that's needed to hit the off bail will change with the conditions you play. So on less bouncier conditions like the subcontinent, you need to bowl shorter while on a more bouncy pitch like the Perth or the Wanderers wicket, you need to bowl slightly more fuller as short of good length will take the ball above the stump height due to extravagant bounce.

Also, what pace you bowl at is also very important. You are not going to trouble any batsman if you bowl at 80 mph unless there's seam movement. But at the same time, it's very hard to hit that perfect box in the channel when you strive for extreme pace. It's why Starc, who is easily the quickest of the Australian trio, gets smashed around the most because he cannot control his lengths due to his high pace and slingy action. The reason England mostly struggles in Australia is because it usually arrives with a pack of 80-85 mph medium pacers, which is simply not going to trouble the Australian batsmen. At the same time, I'm not too eager to get on the hype train about the likes of Overton, Wood and Archer giving it back to Australia unless they can prove that they can bowl in the channel relentlessly, which I'm not so sure about. Even Archer, who is the best of the three, tends to bowl that short of good length aimed at rib cage more when he needs to pitch it up probably a bit more. One of the reasons why India found success in Australia twice is because they finally developed a battery of quicks, who could bowl at a good speed and be very accurate in terms of bowling in the channel. They are not necessarily the quickest in the world, Shami/Bumrah/Siraj are not 150k bowlers but they all bowl around 140k speed or thereabouts and bowl accurately in the channel.

Anderson doesn't bowl at 140ks speed, but he has matured greatly as a bowler with age in terms of bowling overseas. He will be the prime threat in the pink ball test and in the other matches, he will bowl dry without necessarily picking a cluster of wickets. I don't think he's going to uproot trees in Australia, but he's still probably England's best bowler even in Australia, if Archer doesn't play. I do think Archer has all the tools needed to be successful in Australia, but needs to keep his pace around 140s consistently in the 2nd and 3rd spells and bowl slightly fuller to his natural length.

Completely agree with you, actually I think one English bowler who can succeed in Aus is Olly Stone, he consistently bowls 135-145 and he aims for that 3rd 4th stump line.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Johnson had that explosive start against SA, but then his radar failed. He was still striking at Lillee / McGrath frequency in 2010/11 but got hit for a lot of fours too.

Doherty was a mistake because ACB bought into the myth that KP couldn’t play the SLAs. KP hit 200...

Their spin stocks were at the lowest I think. Until Lyon emerged a few months later, they had some awful spinners .

 

[sindhiboy]

This is the Ashes schedule as per one of the earlier posts:

1st Test: 8-12 December – Gabba, Brisbane
2nd Test: 16-20 December – Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (Day/night)
3rd Test: 26-30 December – MCG, Melbourne
4th Test: 5-9 January – SCG, Sydney
5th Test: 14-18 January – Optus Stadium, Perth

I think the day/night test at Adelaide is the best time to play both Jimmy and Broad. Beyond that I can't see their usefulness. Jimmy is too old and slow now while Broad has lost too much pace.

The bigger issue is who replaces them? Archer is now notoriously unreliable, both fitness and mentality. Wood breaks down but at least gives his all.Let's say these guys can play 2 games each, who else does England have?

I personally think Overton just isn't that good but could be given a chance again. Then there's the Curran brothers who are ok-ish in LO but their test performances are hardly great, especially on pitches which require some pace, not dibbly dobbly stuff.

Then there's Robinson who is again, a decent, lower pace bowler with some seam but hardly going to make the Aussies hop around.

It's a tough ask, especially with average spinners doing the rounds.

The best hope is for Archer and Wood to be fit for all 5 matches...

Stone and robinson will definitely be the main bowlers.
The tests against nz and india wlll show how good Robinson is. He is also not injury prone and has the fitness to play all 5 tests

Olly stone bowls the ideal Australian line and length and did well on a seamers graveyard in Chennai. But he will unlikely be fit enough for all 5 tests due to his history with injuries

I rate wood over jofra as he is more consistent. And he is englands quickest bowler. But injury prone also

If aus struggled against siraj then im sure anderson, with all his experience, will be useful(anderson outbowled siraj in india also).

Injury problems are eng bowling attack's main weakness. Otherwise they have the potential to be successful in Australia

Englands batting is a much bigger issue than their bowling

 

[ChTab]

Whether Jimmy goes with the English squad or not, England will really struggle to win a test match in Australia.

Australian players will lift up their game after the humiliation they received from the Indian C side last summer.

 

[Ab Fan]

Jimmy will obviously be part of Ashes this year. He has aged like a fine wine, getting success in the countries where he failed during the initial years.

However, there is no way he or any other England pacer will play all five tests.

I am more interested to see how Mark Wood does in Australia. Will he even survive more than one test given his fitness issues? These conditions should suit him more than anywhere else.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

If England relies on Mark Wood to be their main threat then their defeat is a foregone conclusion, Mark wood can be an OK support bowler but he doesn't hit the right lengths in tests and surely he can't be your spearhead. Jofra is way better than him even if he is slower on average. England needs Joffra to fire at his full potential if they want to do well in the series, there's no other option.

 

[sindhiboy]

If England relies on Mark Wood to be their main threat then their defeat is a foregone conclusion, Mark wood can be an OK support bowler but he doesn't hit the right lengths in tests and surely he can't be your spearhead. Jofra is way better than him even if he is slower on average. England needs Joffra to fire at his full potential if they want to do well in the series, there's no other option.

Wood has improved alot over the years and Australian conditons will probably suit him the most.
He took 9 wickets on a flat pitch in Johannesburg.
Flat south african pitches are not too far off from an Australian pitch.

Wood is a bit more consistent than Archer in tests. Archer has been quite poor since his debut series in the ashes.

Wood will be used in short bursts.
He will definitely not be Englands main bowler
Robinson, stone, jofra, broad, woakes, anderson will all rest and rotate

 

[mastimasti]

Stone and robinson will definitely be the main bowlers.
The tests against nz and india wlll show how good Robinson is. He is also not injury prone and has the fitness to play all 5 tests

Olly stone bowls the ideal Australian line and length and did well on a seamers graveyard in Chennai. But he will unlikely be fit enough for all 5 tests due to his history with injuries

I rate wood over jofra as he is more consistent. And he is englands quickest bowler. But injury prone also

If aus struggled against siraj then im sure anderson, with all his experience, will be useful(anderson outbowled siraj in india also).

Injury problems are eng bowling attack's main weakness. Otherwise they have the potential to be successful in Australia

Englands batting is a much bigger issue than their bowling

I can't believe I didn't mention Stone but yes, he would be in the squad of course. I guess Robinson, Archer and Wood would round it of, bar injuries. Two more seam bowlers in Broad and Jimmy? Or does one of the younger guys drop off?

Stone may maintain fitness, I guess Robinson should, he has played a lot of FC cricket but that leaves 4 bowlers to float around in England's biggest test series.

 

[Firebat]

Jimmy has only been getting better with age, and he's still England's best Test bowler even at the age of 38. He's the one bowling the game-changing spells, getting the crucial breakthroughs. He has to be on the plane to Australia.

Maybe he doesn't play every game if you're worried about his effectiveness in the conditions, but he 100% has to be on the plane.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Would be one of the first picks in the team by England.

Anderson
Wood
Woakes/Stone
Stokes
Leach

Broad may come in if Jimmy isn't doing well.
Broad should have had a great record in Australia as the conditions massively suit his style of bowling but for some reason he just hasn't done well there.

Don't think Archer is going to have much match practice behind him for Ashes to slot right back in after his surgery. Rehab is going to be a good tough challenge for him as well.

Australia isn't as strong now as people believe it to be. Their bowling attack has been pretty okayish since Starc lost form. Starc was taken to cleaners by India. Unless he finds his mojo back, Australian selectors don't seem too keen to get Pattinson in the attack. They can't just rely on Cummins and Hazelwood to win them matches.

Aus don't really have a good enough top 7. It's all Warner, Labushagne and Smith. Paine isn't a 40+ averaging wicketkeeper bat. He would score a few arrogant 50s here and there but he isn't scoring a century. Unless Pucovski recovers well enough, Harris and Burns don't seem like good enough options.
Green and Head have a lot to prove.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

[MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] This Lords Test was a flattie and Jimmy was comfortably outbowled by Ollie Robinson. Ollie was more accurate, naturally gets more bounce and seam movement. I think Jimmy should retire before the Ashes. He'll cop a hiding if OZ roll out flat pitches.