Australia v England | 1st Ashes Test | Friday 21st to Tuesday 25th November | Perth Stadium, Perth | 04:20am
Australia is the top ranked Test team in the world while England sit second. In the current World Test Championship cycle Australia are on top with a perfect record and England are sixth with 43.33 percent.
Australia’s squad is an older one with only Cameron Green younger than thirty. The stats even suggest that if Ian Botham and David Gower were added to England’s group the average age would still be lower than Australia’s.
Australia is also without two key first choice bowlers in Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. Scott Boland will play in Cummins place, and he currently has the best bowling average of any player in Test cricket in the last century.
Even with two quicks missing Australia still have three bowlers in the top ten of the Test rankings. Boland Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc all feature near the top.
England’s highest ranked bowler is Gus Atkinson who is tied at ninth with Starc.
England can point to real strength with the bat. They have three batsmen in the top ten and the top two on the list are Joe Root and Harry Brook. Ben Duckett sits ninth.
England have a settled squad and the main question heading into the opener is whether they go for an all-pace attack or include a spinner. The final spot appears to be a choice between Shoaib Bashir and Mark Wood.
Venue: Perth Stadium
Only five Tests have been played at Perth Stadium since it replaced the WACA as the home of cricket in Western Australia.
Australia have won four of those five Tests.
England have never played a Test at this venue.
All five Tests at Perth Stadium have been won by the side batting first.
The average first innings score here is 395.
Australia holds the highest total at the ground with 598 for four against the West Indies in 2022.
The lowest total is Pakistan’s 89 in the fourth innings in 2023.
Weather
The forecast is clear with no rain expected. Conditions should be warm and breezy with temperatures in the low to mid-twenties. The wind and sunshine will dry the surface, but rain is unlikely to interrupt play. The match should run its full course.
Form (most recent first)
Australia: W W W L W
England: L D W L W
Key players
Australia: Scott Boland
Boland is not usually a first-choice pick but with Hazlewood and Cummins missing he steps in, and he is a remarkable replacement. His bowling average of 16.53 is the best of any Test bowler in more than a century.
He has 62 wickets from only 14 Tests and a strike rate of 36. His best figures of 6 for 7 came against England. He tends to grab every opportunity that comes his way and on a pitch expected to offer pace and bounce he could be a major threat.
England: Joe Root
Root is the top ranked batsman in the world and averages 51.29 in a career full of highlights. One thing is missing though. He has never scored a Test century in Australia.
At almost 35 this is likely his last tour down under and he will want to change that. He arrives in great touch after hitting three centuries in his last five Test innings against India.
Verdict: England
This looks set to be the closest Ashes series in many years and the opening Test will likely be tight. England are a team on the rise while Australia has a group of excellent cricketers who are past their peak.
Missing Hazlewood and Cummins are a major setback. Although Boland is a superb replacement there may also be a debut for Brendan Doggett. Cummins who is vital as a leader as well as a bowler is expected back for the second Test and England will want to grab a first win before Australia regain their spearhead.