England and Australia squad ratings: Which team holds the Ashes edge with under a year to go?
The Ashes clock now reads less than a year to go and the battle lines are already drawn.
England have been preparing for this series years in advance, looking to win Down Under for the first time in 15 years, while the Aussies are aiming to keep their foot on English throats in their home conditions – having won 13 and lost none of the last 15 Ashes Tests in their back yard.
Both teams are under pressure after recent results, with England being turned over in Pakistan, while Australia were hammered by India in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy this week.
So who is best-placed to retain or regain the urn? Here, Wisden Editor LAWRENCE BOOTH runs the rule over the two teams.
Australia will aim to retain the Ashes in less than a year with battle lines already being drawn
Both teams are under pressure after recent results, with England losing to Pakistan last month
Australia were hammered by India in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy this week
TOP ORDER
England
Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley look set in stone, even if Crawley hasn’t made a Test hundred since destroying Australia at Old Trafford in 2023.
It’s Ollie Pope at No 3 who is the problem, despite his temporary demotion in New Zealand after the rejig caused by Jordan Cox’s broken thumb: an Ashes average of 15, with a best of 42 from 10 innings, means the Australians will welcome Pope with open arms.
That’s if he makes it that far: a bad series in New Zealand could prove a tipping point. – 6/10
Australia
After weeks of speculation, Australia named Nathan McSweeney as their new opener for the first Test against India in Perth. As if to underline why his selection was no gimme, he made 10 and nought, twice falling lbw to Jasprit Bumrah.
McSweeney, though, is not the only top-order concern. The redoutable Usman Khawaja (who made 8 and 4 at Perth) turns 39 during the next Ashes, while the most recent Test scores for Marnus Labuschagne – either side of 90 at Christchurch in March – are 10, 1 not out, 3, 5, 1, 2, 6, 2 and 3.
But surely the selectors won’t want to go back to Cameron Bancroft or Marcus Harris? – 5/10
Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett look set in stone as England’s openers for next year’s Ashes
Ollie Pope is a problem for England at three, with Australia set to welcome him with open arms
Nathan McSweeney endured a difficult start as an opener for Australia against India
MIDDLE ORDER
England
As they showed during their world-record stand of 454 in Multan, Joe Root and Harry Brook can become one of England’s greatest middle-order alliances – though Root will want to tick off his first hundred in Australia before the issue weighs him down.
This column has previously argued that Ben Stokes should reinvent himself as a Gilchristian – or Bothamesque – No 7, and he is doing just that against New Zealand this week.
He should stay there in Australia, allowing Jamie Smith the chance to complete a powerful 4-5-6 with the two Yorkshiremen. – 8/10
Australia
Much will depend on the form of Steve Smith, who is readjusting to life at No 4 after his ill-fated attempts to become an opener. His record suggests he’s too good to fail, but he will be 36 in June.
Australia’s trump card is Travis Head, their one-man Bazballer who can turn a Test in a session. Mitchell Marsh, meanwhile, hammered a century at Headingley last summer – easily forgotten because Australia lost – and can be lethal in the absence of lateral movement. – 8/10
Harry Brook and Joe Root can become one of England’s greatest middle-order alliances
Travis Head is Australia’s trump card in the middle order and can turn a Test in a single session
ALL-ROUNDERS
England
The state of Ben Stokes’s knee will dictate the balance of the side – and possibly his own chances of becoming the first England captain to win back the Ashes in Australia since Ray Illingworth in 1970-71.
If he can bowl 10-15 overs a day, the three other seamers can be used in shorter, sharper spells, and the pressure on the spinner reduced. 7/10
Australia
The same goes for Cameron Green’s back. Last month, he was diagnosed with a stress fracture of his lumbar spine, ruling him out of the Australian summer.
If his recovery goes well, he may hit the Ashes ground running, offering the middle-order runs, a fourth seam-bowling option and a host of improbable grabs in the gully. 7/10
The state of Ben Stokes’s knee and his ability to bowl 10-15 overs could be crucial for England
Cameron Green’s recovery from a back injury will also be of vital importance to Australia
WICKET-KEEPERS
England
Jamie Smith’s paternity leave has kickstarted a sequence of random events, including a broken thumb for Cox, the return of the gloves to Pope, and an SOS for a Durham’s Ollie Robinson, who has been trying to sort out a new passport.
All being well, Smith will take the gloves in Australia, where he can win a Test off his own bat. Talk of anyone else doing the job is ludicrous. 7/10
Australia
Alex Carey has recovered well from the mauling he took at the hands of English crowds in 2023, when he had the temerity to stump Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s.
An unbeaten 98 to marshal a run-chase at Christchurch in March after Australia had slipped to 80 for five summed up his worth. Like Smith, he can win a game by himself. 7/10
Jamie Smith should take the gloves for England and he can win a Test off his own bat
Alex Carey showed his worth to Australia by marshalling a run-chase at Christchurch in March
SEAMERS
England
A focus on pace will in theory leave England with a smorgasbord of options. But how many Tests will the injury-prone Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Olly Stone or even Josh Tongue manage?
The emergence of Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse, the best seamer on show in Pakistan, has made that question less urgent, while the ever-willing Matthew Potts waits in the wings. – 7/10
Australia
The big three of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood remain formidable on paper, but they are all on the wrong side of 30, and Cummins has had a quiet year since starting with a five-for against Pakistan at Sydney.
England, meanwhile, regard the otherwise dangerous Starc as hittable: his economy rate of 4.86 in the 2023 Ashes was his highest in any Test series.
By contrast, Hazlewood’s accuracy could be their most potent weapon against an England team forever keen to attack. Even as India tore Australia apart in the second innings at Perth, Hazlewood returned figures of 21-9-28-1. – 8/10
Brydon Carse’s emergence has eased England’s selection issues over injury prone seamers
Josh Hazlewood’s accuracy could be Australia’s most potent weapon against England
SPINNERS
England
Shoaib Bashir is in a race against time to prove he can carry England’s slow-bowling ambitions in Australia, traditionally a graveyard for visiting finger-spinners: Phil Tufnell averaged 41 there, Monty Panesar 48, Ashley Giles 50, Graeme Swann 52, Jack Leach (so far) 53. Here’s hoping he’ll study videos of the man he’ll come up against: Nathan Lyon, one of the few off-spinners to have prospered in Australia since it stopped spinning regularly in Sydney. – 5/10
Australia
This is the area where Australia have the clearest advantage. Lyon has turned 37, but he is getting wilier with age: since the start of 2022, he has taken 121 Test wickets at 25; until then, his wickets had cost almost 32.
He has overcome the challenge of Australian pitches by honing his over-spinner and becoming adept at bowling round the wicket to right-handers. He also has a competitive presence Bashir cannot, as yet, hope to match. – 8/10
Shoaib Bashir is in a race against time to prove he can carry England’s slow-bowling ambitions
In Nathan Lyon, Australia have the clearest advantage when it comes to spinners
TOTALS
England – 40/60
Australia – 43/60
Verdict: Advantage Australia – but only just!
Why Lehmann’s wrong on Root
According to the former Australia coach Darren Lehmann, Joe Root – who has the small matter of 12,754 Test runs at 51 – is not an all-time great because he has failed to score an Ashes hundred down under. And it’s true this remains the most glaring gap on Root’s CV.
But hang on a second. Is he, as Lehmann suggested, really a rung below Virat Kohli, who averages 33 in England (Root averages 35 in Australia)?
And are we therefore to say that Shane Warne was not a great because he averaged 43 with the ball in India? Or Ricky Ponting, because he averaged 26 there with the bat?
What about Dennis Lillee, who took 327 of his 355 Test wickets in Australia or England, but in three Tests in Pakistan averaged 101?
If you’re looking for a blemish, it’s usually easy to find.
Darren Lehmann believes Joe Root, pictured, must score an Ashes hundred down under to be considered as an all-time great
Why the IPL’s £104,000 wonderkid is one to watch
On September 30, a 13-year-old named Vaibhav Suryavanshi reached stumps on 81 out of a total of 103 without loss from 14 overs – in an Under 19 Test against Australia at Chennai.
Next day, he completed a 58-ball century. And on Monday was picked up in the IPL auction by Rajasthan Royals, who recently released Jos Buttler, for just over £100,000 – useful pocket money for any teenager.
Not so long ago, he made 332 not out from 178 balls in the Under 19 Randhir Verma tournament. The words ‘watch this space’ have rarely felt so appropriate.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest player sold in an IPL auction, going for £104,000
Cox’s father forced to cancel flight
Spare a thought for the Cox family. Not only was Jordan denied a Test debut in Christchurch by a broken thumb, but his dad, Stafford, had to cancel his flight to New Zealand, scheduled for Sunday evening.
He had planned to be at Hagley Oval in time to watch his son be presented with his first cap.
