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Speak to those who have faced the first Ashes salvo and they fall into two camps. Those who say "it's just another ball" and the others that call them bluffers. So to the first ball, an occasion owned by Australia: Steve Harmison's wide, Michael Slater's four and Rory Burns being castled by Mitchell Starc.
It is their disciplined lines to Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne that will be so important because they like to bat for long periods, which will be series-winning if it happens again. One of the forgotten successes of the last Ashes series was how England found a way to get on top of Smith and Labuschagne, both fading as the series wore on. Robinson holds that key with his accuracy, nip off the seam and air of narkiness that will be used to rile Australia. He is the unofficial leader of the sledging.Australia face the prospect of some fine batting conditions on Saturday. England can look forward to some hard yakka. Although the pitch seems like a featherbed now, there is a suggestion of low bounce and turn. Key also knew Stokes was set to hit the task hard as the clouds of bubble life and his mental health problems the previous summer lifted. Had he sought to offset the captain’s returning flame with an intense “drill sergeant” head coach or one who was overly technical and fastidious, the result of this fire and ice, to quote the Spinal Tap bassist, Derek Smalls, would have been lukewarm water. Moment of the series Lyon limps out to bat at Lord’s. There was the comedy of him having to leave the dressing room alongside the previous batter to have a chance of not being timed out, the shame of a brilliant player being ruled out of the series through injury, the sheer grit involved in forcing himself through the pain barrier and the knowledge with hindsight that Lyon’s departure contributed to Australia surrendering a 2-0 lead. The new collection features a number of items to get fans in the mood or to show their support ahead of the first test. Castore have not only unveiled items for supporters such as t-shirts, hats and hoodies but also replicas of the men and women's shirts the players will wear throughout The Ashes. Bazball verdict Like Louis Armstrong said when they asked him to define jazz, “if you have to ask, then you’ll never know”.
Australia: Pat Cummins, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner. On the one hand, it was un-Australian. Not fighting fire with fire, but trying to avoid it by diligently completing a risk assessment. On the other, pragmatism can be seen as a sign of strength, having enough confidence in your team to adapt to the situation. The earliest, by the way, was three matches ago in the day-nighter against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui.England are enchanting, riding the wave of hope and expectation from fans that believe in them again. It has been there all night. That feeling in your stomach, part excitement, part dread, part nervousness - a feeling yet to be named. Joe Root knows a thing or two about Ashes plans after three series captaining England against Australia. Farewell to … Low-key retirements. Sure, Broad deserved a send-off but the mawkish buildup to his guard of honour felt longer than Oppenheimer.
Mike Atherton's team steamrollered Australia for 118 on the opening day of the 1997 series at Edgbaston, but then lost 3-2. One will say the atmosphere turns into white noise, the other will tell you they hear every word as their heart beats in their throat. England piling up 393-8 at more than five runs an over was made all the more compelling by Australia's attempts to contain them, but that was nothing compared to Ben Stokes' jaw-dropping declaration half an hour before the close. Would it have been better to continue to flog the sun-sapped Australians for the remainder of the day and possibly even into the second morning? Something towards 450 sounds nice, doesn't it?The players emerge for their warm-ups, if that's what they are still called. As the crowd slowly builds, England have their football and Australia their Aussie Rules equivalent. Go deep beneath the waves: Hidden cameras give incredible perspectives on ingenious ocean creatures McCullum was in the foothills of a Twenty20 coaching career but had been the name buzzing around Key’s mind since the start, impressed by his captaincy of New Zealand. That joyful team had already been the muse for England’s white-ball resurgence under Eoin Morgan and Trevor Bayliss, with the former asked for a reference on an admittedly close friend but having also seen first-hand his nascent second career at Kolkata Knight Riders. There's also an array of training gear available from long sleeved zip tops to hoodies and joggers. Men's boxer shorts, baseball caps and t-shirts branded 'The Ashes 2023' are also on sale now. Anticipation is building ahead of the first test and the Castore range could be the ideal way to show your support for England this summer.
David Warner v Stuart Broad. Steve Smith's path to becoming the most prolific Ashes run-getter since Don Bradman. Broad and James Anderson's final stab at the Aussies. Moeen Ali's return. Travis Head's moustache. Zak Crawley's outside edge. Castore have released their Ashes clothing range on the eve of the first clash between England and Australia at Edgbaston. What we know is it is 22 years since Australia have won in this country. In that time, England have never failed to win at least two Tests in a home Ashes. For any team to win an Ashes series away is incredibly difficult, even if that team does happen to be the world champions.It did mean Travis Head and Nathan Lyon were chosen to spend pretty much all day on the fence, closer to the rowdy England fans than their own team-mates. Less remembered are England being rolled by Glenn McGrath on the first day at Lord's in 2005 and Andrew Strauss' third-ball dismissal in 2010-11, both series England won. Stokes always says that results come at the bottom of his list of his priorities and, perhaps, at this very moment in the history of the game, the result of this particular Ashes series is not as important as the style with which it is achieved.
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