2023-06-16 01:50:12
Birmingham,
The Australian cricket team led by Pat Cummins, who is on tour in England, is participating in a 5-match Ashes series.
The Ashes is a traditional Test cricket series between these two teams that has been going on for over a century. This series has its own identity as both the teams fight passionately and aggressively on the field for Ashes honours.
The Ashes series, which is held at least once every two years, has been won 34 times by Australia and 32 times by England. 6 series ended in a ‘draw’. Australia last won the Ashes trophy on home soil in 2021-22 with a score of 4-0. But Australia have not won the Ashes series in England since 2001.
The first Test of the ongoing Ashes series begins today (Friday) in Birmingham. In this regard, the players of both the teams have been engaged in intense training for a few days.
Is the Stokes-McCullum alliance a threat?
Under the leadership of Ben Stokes, the England team is now playing Test cricket as well as ODIs. Even in matches that are moving towards a draw, they take ‘risk’ and bring the result. England have won 11 of the 13 Tests since the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum partnership. In the previous 17 Tests, England had won only one of them.
Ally Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Duckett, Harry Brook are talented batsmen in the England team. Veteran fast bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad are gearing up with hopes of upsetting Australia. It was the 180th Test for the 40-year-old Anderson. Notably, if he takes 15 more wickets, he will reach the 700-wicket milestone.
Retired spinner Moeen Ali will make his Test debut after 2021. Will skipper Ben Stokes bowl with knee problem? There was doubt. But Stokes said during the interview yesterday that he is fit to bowl. This will add more strength to England’s bowling. Playing at home is another plus point for England. Having been kicked 0-4 in Australia last time out, England will no doubt be out for revenge.
Australian team
Australia will enter the Ashes tournament fresh off the heels of a recent World Test Championship crowning victory over India. Labuschagne, Steven Smith and Travis Head are in super form, occupying the top-3 spots in the Test batting rankings. Cummins, Starc, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon are waiting to threaten.
Overall, it is difficult to predict who will prevail as these two teams are equally strong in batting and bowling. It is worth noting that the Australian team has played 15 Tests at the Birmingham Stadium, winning 4, losing 6 and drawing 5.
At 3.30 pm…
The players for the two teams are as follows:-
England: Ben Duckett, Jack Crowley, Ally Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Ally Robinson.
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland or Hazlewood.
The match will start at 3.30 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Sports Ten5 channel.
How did Ashes get its name?
Australian cricket team defeated England by 7 runs in 1882 Test at London Oval. In this, England, the home of cricket, could not even reach the target of 85 runs set by Australia and was reduced to 77 runs. This was Australia’s first win on English soil. Disgusted by England’s poor performance, The Sporting Times published a different kind of obituary. In it, ‘English cricket died on 29 August 1882 at the Oval. Its body is cremated and the ashes (ashes) are taken away by Australia’, it was written. Will England regain the hope they lost when they went to Australia a few weeks later? That magazine questioned.
England captain Ivo Bilic has hinted that England will bring back the Ashes of cricket. Similarly, England beat Australia 2-1 to win the trophy. A group of women in Melbourne at the time presented Ivo Bilic with a small jar of art. They burned the bales placed on the stumps and kept the ashes in a jar to signify that they were returning the ashes of England cricket. It is against this background that the name Ashes arose. The small jar was handed over to the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1927 after the death of Ivo Bilic. Now it is MCC at Lord’s, London. kept in the museum. This model trophy is awarded to the winning team in the Ashes series.
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