The Ashes

Can the return of Ben Stokes bring England glory as the action begins at the Gabba?

-  RICHARD MCCLURE

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England begin their quest to regain the Ashes on Tuesday night when captain Joe Root’s side take on Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane.

England have not won an Ashes series in Australia since 2011, and will face a big challenge to wrest the famous urn back from the Aussies, who thrashed England 4-0 on home soil in 2017-18 before retaining the trophy with a drawn series in 2019.

Australia will be on a high after their triumph in the T20 World Cup, though England did beat them convincingly in the group stage, while Australia will also be rusty in the five-day format, having not played a Test since January after tours to South Africa and Bangladesh were cancelled. Here, we look at six players set to have a big influence…

1 JOE ROOT