It is just under two months until one of sport’s greatest contests gets going in Australia, and it is already causing heated discussion with England’s squad selection being released last week. Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum, and the selectors have named the 16 players that they believe will be the ones who will win back the urn, which hasn’t happened since 2015. Whilst most of the squad is as expected, there are some choices which raise some interesting questions.
To begin with, Ollie Pope has been stripped of the vice captaincy, with England’s white-ball captain, Harry Brook, being given the role instead. This untethering from a leadership role could suggest that England has started to lay the groundwork for Jacob Bethell to replace Pope at some point during the series. Despite scoring a century in the first game, Pope ultimately found it tough against India during the summer. It has always been in the back of the selector’s mind that Bethell will be brought into the team, and whilst Pope is likely to start in Perth, this symbolic demotion can only suggest a changing of the guard.
Perhaps the most controversial pick is that Surrey’s Will Jacks has been included, who will offer depth with the bat and offer support to the frontline spinner, Shoaib Bashir. Jacks, a key component of England’s one-day game, has not played a test match since his debut in 2022 against Pakistan and is certainly a curveball thrown in by Rob Key’s panel. Sympathies have to go to Leicestershire’s Rehan Ahmed, who batted superbly during the County Championship and is more than capable of taking wickets with the ball.
Furthermore, not selecting another primary spin bowler, such as Liam Dawson, means that a lot of responsibility will be placed on Bashir’s shoulders, with part-timers like Joe Root, Bethell, and Jacks only being asked to bowl a few overs. Flashbacks to previous series of Australian batsmen targeting the spinners will be playing in Bashir’s mind from now until 21 November, and he will have to bowl to his full potential in order to make an impact.
The most exciting part of this Ashes squad is the depth of the pace attack. Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, and Josh Tongue can all bowl at over 90mph, which is a change from previous squads who have travelled down under. England have, of course, taken fast bowlers before, a historic lineage that includes Fred Trueman, John Snow, and Bob Willis, but this complete backing of all-out pace is unprecedented. Time will tell if all of them can stay fit throughout the series.
The Ashes is still a fair way off, and England still have to play a white-ball series in New Zealand, but the announcement of this squad builds anticipation. This is the best chance England have had to win in Australia in many years, and whilst we may disagree with some of the picks, we all desperately hope that these 16 players will be the ones who will create something historic.
“Ashes Urn” by danielgreef/Dan is licensed under CC BY 2.0.