England May Be Quietly Confident, But They Shouldn’t. After England’s escape against Ireland in possibly one of the most bizarre and unsatisfying tests I’ve ever watched last Friday, many pundits pointed to the skill of Woakes and Broad, arguing that the upcoming Ashes series will be a battle fought more with the ball than with the bat. After Tim Murtagh was bowled by Chris Woakes to conclude a lacklustre final effort by the Irish on Friday morning, Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton sat in the Sky commentary box with David Gower predicting England would win the Ashes because the skill of the English bowlers in English conditions is far superior to the skill of Australian bowlers in English conditions. I would agree with them both more times than not, but comparing the two squads, I have to disagree. First, let’s look at the batting for both sides. It comes as no surprise (and has been well established as a cliché of cricket) that England’s top order is...
Tips for the Ashes 1. Rain is coming up at Edgbaston this week, meaning that the first test is likely to be a draw. 2. England’s squad is weaker than Australia’s. 3. Cummins likely to be top Australian bowler in terms of wickets (only bowler absolutely sure of his place no matter of the conditions). 4. Smith likely to be top Australian batter in terms of runs. 5. Warner, Smith, Head; Stokes, Buttler all 250+ runs 6. Smith, Warner, Stokes all 300+ runs 7. Cummins, Anderson, Broad, Lyon all 12+ wickets 8. Cummins, Anderson, Broad all 15+ wickets 9. Anderson, Cummins 18+ wickets 10. Stokes likely to be England top run scorer 11. Cummins likely to dismiss Root the most times of any bowler in the...