First post, and I’m going to start with a big question. Can England win the Ashes? In short, yes. They have a chance. How big that chance is, is a different question, but I believe they can win the Ashes.

In terms of the England squad, it isn’t at its strongest. James Vince, for example, having a lower batting average than newly-appointed batting coach Paul Collingwood in the County Championship this year (Collingwood of course retiring from tests after the triumph that was the 2010-11 Ashes tour). But then again, Australia have some problems as well with fast bowler James Pattinson missing out due to injury.

The England squad is as follows:

England: Joe Root (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (w/k), Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Steven Finn, Ben Foakes (w/k), Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes (tbc), Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

England’s batting does look a bit lackluster, with positions 2, 3 and 5 STILL up for grabs, with Ben Stokes’ number 6 spot vacant as well if he isn’t allowed to travel to Oz. For England, Cook and Root are the obvious targets for Australia. If they manage to take them out early, they can exploit our vulnerable middle order with the pace of Starc and Cummins and the accuracy of Hazlewood. Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali will provide good support lower down the order, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see those two move up one place each and slot Chris Woakes in at 8 with Broad at 9, Anderson at 10 and Finn or Ball at 11.

As for our bowling, Anderson and Broad, the two best swing bowlers in the world at the moment, will have to extract what they can out of the Kookaburra ball. Woakes will be a good support role but Finn and Ball haven’t really had it that good of late, Ball being taken apart in the most recent ODI against the West Indies, taking 1-94 off his 10 overs (containing 1 maiden!). Finn has had some recent success with an 8-for against Lancashire in the County Championship at Lord’s, and has also had success against Australia, especially in the 2010-11 series, and also taking a few wickets in the 2015 home series. I haven’t seen much of Craig Overton, but in this year’s County Championship, he took 46 wickets at 22.39, making him the 6th leading wicket taker in the tournament. I was a bit surprised neither Liam Plunkett who could offer a bit of pace or leading Championship wicket taker Jamie Porter weren’t offered tickets on the plane, but I have a feeling the selectors wanted someone with Ashes experience so opted for Steven Finn instead. Samit Patel also deserves a mention having had a fantastic season with bat and ball for Nottinghamshire, relegated to Div 2 at the start of the year. He scored 906 runs (including 2 double centuries) at 53.29, and took 19 wickets at 35.89. I think he would have been better backup for Moeen Ali rather than Mason Crane.

Australia are yet to announce their squad for this winter’s showdown but I would guess the lineup for the first test will be something along the lines of:

Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscombe, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (w/k), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon.

I haven’t really been following Australian cricket as of late and they have toured Bangladesh and India recently and the conditions over there aren’t exactly the same as Australia!

I think for England to succeed, we have to target their vulnerable batting lineup, as they will likely do with England’s. Renshaw hasn’t performed too well in his last few tests, and the number 6 spot could be anyone’s. Warner and Smith, much like Cook and Root, are the backbone of Australia’s batting in my opinion, and the better England can contain them whilst taking wickets at the other end, England will do well for themselves. Peter Handscombe I think will be key to Australia as well. He has had a wonderful start to his test career with 743 runs at 53.07 in 19 innings (4x 50, 2x 100). He will provide good support to the top order if England manage to get a few early wickets. Australia don’t really have a bona-fide allrounder like England. Mitch Marsh offers a bit of both worlds but isn’t really in the same league as Ben Stokes. Glenn Maxwell or Travis Head could make selection as batsmen who bowl a bit if Australia want to go for another batsman at number 6 rather than a specialist allrounder.

Keeping wise, I don’t think Australia have a good a selection of keepers as England. Bairstow, for me, is one of the best wicketkeeper-batsmen in the world at the moment, alongside Quentin de Kock. Matthew Wade, for me, is a knock-off version of Adam Gilchrist. Doesn’t keep as well and doesn’t bat anywhere near as well, but is handy in coloured kit. Peter Nevill made a good impression on me when he debuted in the 2015 Ashes, and I thought was unlucky to be dropped. His keeping seems slightly better than Wade’s, but will he be able to find form with the bat? His problems around off stump were exposed by England’s bowling attack in 2015, and with more or less the same attack as 2 years ago, would he be able to score some valuable lower order runs?

People say batsmen get you into a position to win you matches, but bowlers actually win you the matches. Australia’s bowling attack is one of the best in the world, with Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins leading the attack, with Lyon being one of the best off spinners in the world at the moment. For Australia, it’s a case of who they are bringing in as their 4th seamer. Mitch Marsh? Jackson Bird? Joe Mennie? Whoever it will be, the main 3 for Australia will do the main brunt of the damage to England’s batting, with the 4th seamer providing support and accuracy. If James Pattinson wasn’t unlucky enough to get injured, I would say Australia have the better bowling line up hands down, but Anderson and Broad are 2 modern greats in the making, with Woakes as a rising star in the test area.

Having said all that, I think Australia will win the series 3-1. Home advantage is a wonderful thing.

It’s all to play for on the 23rd November. Let the Ashes… begin!