Still Questions For Aussies To Answer

There have been the usual verbals thrown around in the build-up to this winter’s Ashes, mostly, it has to be said, by the Australians. The reason for their bullishness factors around the three-pronged pace attack that looks likely to take the field in Brisbane next week for the first time in a Test match.

- Marcus North

There is a lot of excitement about the collective strength of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, but the home side and our somewhat parochial media would do well to remember that England hold the Urn. They know how to play good cricket and I don’t think they will be as easy to shift as the tourists were four years ago when the Australians blew them away 5-0.

The bowling aside, and only on paper, the two sides are very similar. So if I am being asked here and now for my verdict, I would have to say Australia are rightly favourites and they should win because their attack has the firepower to bag the crucial sessions. Plus, it’s just a simple fact of life that winning away in Australia remains one of the toughest tests for any side and history is well against England in that case.

But getting the bowlers onto the park at the Gabba next week is one thing, keeping them fit through to the first week of January is another. There will be bumps and bruises along the way. Of the trio, Starc and Cummins possess the serious pace, deliveries clocking into the mid-nineties that really do unsettle players. When the speed gun ticks into those numbers, panic sets in and it spreads to the opposition changing room. Early nineties is quick; mid-nineties is dangerous. The quicker it comes down, the heavier your feet feel!