Have England turned nasty in pursuit of the Ashes?

England, by contrast, have been a walking casualty ward as far as fast bowlers are concerned, epitomised by how Archer has spent virtually six years trying to find a way to stay on the park. Wood and others have struggled similarly, leaving the ECB’s Rob Key to lament the difference. “I always find it slightly frustrating how they managed to keep those bowlers fit for almost everything,” Key told the (London) Telegraph last month. “That’s the dream, isn’t it? Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, with the era that they’ve had, it’s been a lot because of those guys. That’s the holy grail, really, being able to keep your best bowlers fit like that for as long as possible.” For England, the sight of Archer steaming in at Lord’s, making a quantifiable difference to the match and how it was played, was dreamy indeed as far as the Ashes are concerned. While it is still a long time between now and the first ball in Perth, Archer’s availability will be a huge factor in the series. The ugly Englishmen? It was Archer who spoke most frankly about how England turned a corner in terms of their decision to start sledging India during the Lord’s Test. That turn, once taken, can be hard to reverse – just ask the 2018 Australian side.

“We all came together as a group yesterday, and said, ‘We’re a bit too nice’,” Jofra Archer said after England’s narrow victory. “When we go to other places, some teams aren’t as nice to us as we are to them. I guess we just tried to shift it.” In the Bazball era, England have been many things to many people. Saviours of Test cricket, tactical revolutionaries, self-appointed role models for the rest of the world, and compulsive producers of flowery rhetoric about all of the above. But as they get to the pointy end of the project with the India series and then the Ashes tour, it’s clear that Stokes and McCullum are concerned more than ever about being winners, whatever it takes. Sam Konstas was bowled for 25 in the second Test in Grenada. Credit: AP That’s an intriguing juncture, given how much of Australia’s recent success has been derived from taking a more holistic view, and trying to stay level irrespective of results.

Loading In September, Lord’s is due to hold a glitzy $500 per head (in the cheap seats) dinner with Eoin Morgan, Kane Williamson and Stokes to memorialise the 2019 World Cup final at the ground. A big dinner to mark a Cup final that took place six years ago is a reminder that English cricket has relatively few major wins to hang on to over their history – it’s difficult to imagine such a fuss being made in Australia about the 2023 World Cup victory, for example. So, with an enormous amount at stake, Australia should be ready for the English red mist to descend this summer. It has equal chances of helping or hurting the Bazball cause, but it will certainly add to the theatre. Australia’s batting order, or battling order? Since his Boxing Day starburst, Sam Konstas’ exposure to Test cricket has been a brutal one. But he’s far from the only member of the Australian top six with question marks over their methods and places in the team.

The national selectors will be compelled to cast widely around for a sturdy opener to partner Usman Khawaja this summer, not least because 38-year-old Khawaja is not exactly at his best either. With the benefit of some time out of the side and a pre-season to work on his game, there is every chance that Marnus Labuschagne may slot back into the XI against England, provided he shows that a technical and tactical reset has refreshed him. Other Australian players of high quality against pace bowling include the likes of Josh Inglis, Mitch Marsh, Marcus Harris, Jake Weatherald, Nathan McSweeney, Matt Short and Campbell Kellaway. Of those, only Harris, Weatherald and Kellaway are specialist openers. All are left-handed. What is critical for Cummins and company is that the top two provide something of a buffer for Cameron Green at three and then Steve Smith and Travis Head at four and five. Smith and Head are much-diminished threats against a brand-new ball, and Green is still new to first drop. Superman Stokes, big Beau and the Green machine

Among the biggest differences between this summer and the 2023 Ashes will be that, so far at least, Ben Stokes has regained the all-round abilities that made him such an explosive cricketer in the first place. Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes. Credit: Getty Images Regarding bowling long spells, Stokes talked about going to “dark places”, sounding like a Northumbrian King fighting off the Vikings. Dark places or not, Stokes’ pace and swing at Lord’s made a huge difference to the outcome, balancing the England side in the way that Australia have lately been able to do with Green and Beau Webster. Whether there is room for both Australian all-rounders is open to debate, as Green works his way back slowly from back surgery. During the 2021-22 Ashes summer, infamously “scrubbed” from the records by Stuart Broad, it was actually Green who troubled England’s best batter Joe Root more often than not, finding the bounce and movement to turn Root’s pet deflections through gully into thin edges behind.

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