The last Australian Test captain to bowl first at Edgbaston still gets grief about it nearly two decades later, but the world Test champions insist they will not fear bucking coin-toss convention during the Ashes.
And the numbers suggest the Aussies may be best served by inserting England over the coming weeks if they hope to put the brakes on their opponents' overwhelming Test momentum.
Steve Smith's twin tons in 2019 aside, Birmingham is perhaps best remembered by fans Down Under as the venue where Ricky Ponting sent England in during the 2005 Ashes.
Inclement weather leading into the Test prompted a mis-read of the pitch, with England racking up 407 opening-day runs and claiming a famous last-gasp victory.
Since then, Tim Paine has been the only Australian captain brave enough to win the toss and bowl in a men’s Test in the UK. He did it twice in 2019, though neither time was it a success, drawing at Lord's and losing at The Oval.
Yet coach Andrew McDonald insists his side's willingness to go against cricket tradition will continue over the course of the five-Test series against England beginning Friday in England’s midlands.
Batting first has been the norm in Test cricket for decades, with statistics pointing to teams following that orthodoxy being twice as likely to win.
But several factors that make the prospect of bowling first in England a more appealing option are now being considered by Australia.
The introduction of The Hundred into an exclusive window at the height of the UK summer-holiday period, combined with the absence of tour matches between Tests, means this upcoming Ashes will be the first ever hosted in the UK to not go into August.
Pitches are expected to then be exposed to less sun by the time they are used, and in theory should not deteriorate as quickly as ones that were prepared later in the northern summer on previous Ashes tours.
It is more or less what played out in last week’s World Test Championship final at The Oval, where Pat Cummins admitted he would have bowled first had the coin landed in his favour last Wednesday.
It didn't, and Rohit Sharma sent Australia in. But despite Steve Smith and Travis Head's centuries leading Australia to a big first-innings total of 469 and ultimately a 209-run win, hindsight does not necessarily suggest it was the wrong decision.
The pitch did not break up considerably and it did not appear significantly more difficult to bat on by the end of the Test.
"Both captains were going to bowl here," McDonald told reporters after his side took out their maiden WTC title on Sunday. "We've been more prepared to bowl first in recent times – I don't think that's going to change."
Doing so may well negate what has been an immensely successful avenue to victory for England under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.
England have won on all four occasions Stokes has won the toss and bowled during his 13-Test tenure since taking over from Joe Root, with each of those wins coming at home.
They have also won all four of their Tests in which they bowled first after losing the toss.
The manner of some of those victories would have prompted Bazball optimists to wonder if the 444-run fourth-innings target India briefly threatened (before folding swiftly on Sunday morning) could have been in reach if England had been the side doing the chasing.
England have hared down 277, 299, 296 and 378 during their remarkable recent Test run and the fact they did not lose more than three wickets in any of those pursuits suggests they could well have chased down much bigger totals.
Conversely, their only two losses under their current regime came when they batted first. How relevant that is, however, is up for debate given one of those losses was by a solitary run in New Zealand, while they also have recorded three convincing wins batting first.
"The question you always ask yourself is, 'Is it going to be easier to bat first innings or fourth innings?'" Cummins said. "That's mainly the decision.
"I think both teams (in the WTC final) thought there was probably more chance to get 10 wickets on that first day than in the fourth innings.
"That's the main question you keep asking yourself. (If) there are overheads in your conditions, there's a bit in (the pitch) on day one and you feel like you're going to take 10 wickets, you just go for it.
"I think the stigma around bowling first and not bowling them out (cheaply) has gone a bit."
Another consideration for Australia outside of weather, pitch and their opponents' batting capabilities is how their coin-toss decision will affect their most prolific bowler.
Nathan Lyon's value in this Ashes series should only be magnified following England losing their reliable left-arm spinner Jack Leach to a back injury for the entire series, with Moeen Ali brought out of retirement to replace him.
Should he play, Moeen undoubtedly adds extra batting firepower to an already power-packed team, but a Test bowling average against Australia north of 60 (which drops slightly – to 48 – in home matches) combined with his long absence from Test cricket suggests the visitors should have a major advantage on the spin front.
"You consider how difficult 10 wickets might be in the fourth innings of the game versus what happens up-front – that's your decision point," said McDonald.
"Is the wicket going to deteriorate, will reverse swing come into it, will spin come into it?
"That's the other thing we've got to recognise that we've got an all-time great spinner in Nathan Lyon, the fourth innings is when he gets to work in conditions in his favour.
"We've got a lot to weigh up and go through."
https://www.cricket.com.au/news/aus...gland-bazball-edgbaston-first-test/2023-06-12
