Fire And Ashes: England Bank On Fast Bowling Barrage In Australia

Fire And Ashes: England Bank On Fast Bowling Barrage In Australia (Image Source: AFP)

England go into the first Test against Australia on Friday with arguably their most hostile attack in decades, putting their faith in fast bowling in a quest to regain the Ashes.

Not since a bowling line-up led by John Snow and Bob Willis helped England to a 1970-71 series win have they arrived in Australia with such an array of genuine quicks.

In Jofra Archer and Mark Wood they have two bowlers of express pace, both capable of regularly topping 90 mph.

Josh Tongue is also a wicket-taking threat, while Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts add depth to an impressive attack that could feature Gus Atkinson, a seamer whose 13 Tests have yielded 63 wickets at an impressively low average of 22.01.

If England captain Ben Stokes can stay fit after a series of injuries, his lively medium-pace should help balance the attack.

England have not won any of their last 15 Tests in Australia since their 2010-11 Ashes triumph, a run of 13 defeats and two draws.

Back then, the fast-medium accuracy of James Anderson was supplemented by the speed of Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan and Chris Tremlett.

Australia's traditionally hard, bouncy pitches have favoured fast bowling, but England seam attacks on recent tours have been short of raw speed.

"I don't care how many wickets you take. I want to know how hard you are running in, how hard you are hitting the pitch, and are you able to sustain pace at 85-88mph?," England managing director Rob Key said last year.

Both Archer and Wood, however, have had injury-plagued careers, leading to doubts over whether either can be involved for long enough to make a significant impact against Australia.

Archer, a star of England's 50-over World Cup triumph in 2019, has played just 15 Tests since his debut six years ago.

It is a similar story for Wood, with just 37 Test appearances since his England bow in 2015.

- 'Australia blueprint' -

Wood took 17 wickets in four Tests during England's 4-0 drubbing in Australia in 2021-22, including a career-best 6-37.

But he has not played a senior match since February following knee surgery.

He then suffered a hamstring scare in England's lone warm-up game in Australia before being given the all clear ahead of Friday's first Test in Perth.

"We want a battery of fast bowlers and we've tried to change from the norm of England, where there are lots of seamers, to Australia's vision of fast bowling," Wood said.

"Look at Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood: they can all bowl at 90 (mph) or in the high 80s and they've been especially consistent and relentless.

"So we're going there with a bit of an Australia blueprint to see if we can replicate that and put their batters under pressure like they've done with ours."

In an intriguing twist, both Australia captain Cummins and Hazlewood have been ruled out of the first Test through injury.

And with a decent break until a second Test in Brisbane starting on December 4, there will be a huge temptation for England to field both Archer and Wood against a vulnerable Australia top order.

But Australia batsman Steve Smith, who will captain the side this week in the absence of Cummins, suggested the changing nature of pitches in his country could neuter an England attack built on sheer speed.

"Sometimes the slower guys are almost harder to play on those wickets where you have to make the pace," Smith said.

"It's going to be different.