Stuart Broad is poised for a raucous reunion with David Warner in front of a full house at Edgbaston after pipping Mark Wood for a spot in the first Ashes Test against Australia that gets under way on Friday.
Continuing a trend of his captaincy, Ben Stokes once again opted to name his England team two days out from the start of a hotly anticipated series opener against Australia, confirming a return for Moeen Ali after his two-year retirement from Test cricket and restoring both Jimmy Anderson and Ollie Robinson to the XI.
The pair’s expected returns after minor niggles – plus Stokes previously stating his desire to have 90mph pace in his quiver – had given rise to the prospect of Broad making way initially. This, despite a strong start to the summer with Nottinghamshire and six wickets during the recent mismatch against Ireland at Lord’s.
But an experienced 36-year-old with an insatiable hunger for Ashes cricket has received the nod from Stokes and England’s head coach, Brendon McCullum. It now puts Broad on collision course with Warner, the opener he removed seven times in 10 innings during their last encounter with a Dukes ball four years ago.
The one caveat to this mouthwatering instant rematch is that since Robinson’s return last summer, Broad has been relegated from his usual role as Anderson’s new-ball partner to first change. But it may be that a freewheeling captain like Stokes cannot resist whipping up the famously vocal Hollies Stand and switches back initially.
While naming his England team early is a typically bold move from Stokes, the selection of a trusted campaigner like Broad may also reflect a degree of pragmatism. Battling a knee issue himself, the captain has only just returned to bowling in training and though Wednesday’s latest session was encouraging – Stokes upping his work with roughly five overs of grunt in the nets – a Test match is a different proposition.
Allied with this concern is the late loss of Jack Leach as the team’s ever-present spinner over the past 12 months. At his best, Moeen offers greater attacking threat than the man he has replaced and has four left-handers to target in the Australian top seven. But the all-rounder, who missed training on Wednesday to collect an OBE at Windsor Castle, is also less likely to keep things tight.
Given Wood is a high-velocity pace bowler who would have to be used more sparingly by his captain than Broad, and has not played a Test match since last December himself, deploying both him and Moeen could have left England light. Already without Jofra Archer this summer, they have instead delayed his entry into the series.
The counter to this is an Edgbaston pitch that looks hard and true after a week of hot weather in Birmingham and may end up crying out for a bowler like Wood who can transcend the conditions. During the 2021/22 Ashes in Australia, the 33-year-old was arguably the one England player to emerge in credit, claiming 17 wickets and getting Australia’s top order hopping at the crease.
Wood was confirmed as fit to play this week and with a seven-day gap before the second Test at Lord’s that starts on 28 June, there was no need for England to consider his workload early in the series. Rather, this is a purely tactical call by Stokes and McCullum, a leadership pair who can point to a fair degree of credit built up during a buccaneering run of 11 wins from 13 Tests.
Sitting 18 wickets away from 600 in Test cricket and entering his ninth Ashes series, Broad can hardly be considered a contentious pick. And it may also be that Robinson’s ability to get lateral movement on flat surfaces – as shown during the 3-0 victory in Pakistan – offsets any concerns about England’s potency with the older ball.
Either way, Australia represent the stiffest opponent of the Stokes/McCullum era, World Test Champions no less after last week’s 209-run victory over India at the Oval. The tourists are yet to make a decision on the fit-again Josh Hazlewood. But regardless of whether he can usurp Mitchell Starc or the in-form Scott Boland, an attack led by captain Pat Cummins, boasting superior spin in Nathan Lyon, and augmented by an allrounder in Cameron Green, will still be formidable.
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Hampshire to host 2027 Ashes match
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The Ageas Bowl will host an Ashes Test for the first time during the 2027 series. The England and Wales Cricket Board has announced its venues to host men’s and women’s international cricket over a seven-year period between 2025 and 2031.
Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl was included on the list of grounds to be used for the 2027 Ashes, with Headingley and Old Trafford likely to miss out for that five-match series. The latter two grounds will return as venues for the 2031 Ashes series alongside Lord’s, the Kia Oval and Trent Bridge.
England Women will play at Lord’s during each year of this seven-year international schedule.
It will also present a new challenge for a young turk like Harry Brook, whose rollicking start to Test cricket came on the docile surfaces of Pakistan and then against a fast-medium attack in New Zealand. While the Yorkshireman overcame Neil Wagner’s short ball during the second of those tours, there will now be a step up in velocity.
“Obviously they might have a little bit of extra pace, but if they bowl quicker it tends to go to the boundary quicker,” said Brook. “I’ve heard great things about the atmosphere here, especially in the Ashes. I’ve got a few mates who are going to be sat in the Hollies Stand as well. I’m sure there’ll be a few pints thrown down. It should be good.
England (confirmed): Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Jimmy Anderson.
