Ben Stokes and Mark Wood are expected to be “ready to go” for the start of the Ashes next month, providing England with a timely boost that contrasts with Australia’s ongoing concerns over the fitness of Pat Cummins.
As two players with previous experience of playing Test cricket in Australia, Stokes and Wood are central to England’s plans this winter. However, Stokes missed the fifth Test against India with a shoulder injury, while Wood sat out the entire English summer after undergoing knee surgery in March.
Things certainly appear to be coming together as the pair recently trained in the heated outdoor nets in Loughborough alongside their Durham team-mate Brydon Carse. Although Cummins says it is “unlikely” he will be ready for the first Test in Perth starting on November 21 due to his lower back stress problem, England could have a full complement of seamers.
Carse said: “Ben looks almost 100% fit and so does Mark. I’ve been bowling with them. It’s exciting to see where they’ve gone after their setbacks over the summer. They’ll be raring to go to Australia.”
As for his own knowledge of Australia, Carse was part of a successful Lions tour in 2019-2020 and the circumstances should not be strange. The main difference this time – apart from the quality of the opposition – will be the presence of large crowds and therefore some possible verbal expressions on the edge of the border.
“100%” Carse replied when asked if he was ready for this. “The way I play cricket, I wear my heart on my sleeve. I expected nothing less and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
The 30-year-old has also shown himself to be quite adept with the Kookaburra ball, claiming 27 wickets in five Tests with it last winter. After a summer that yielded nine against India at 60 runs apiece, his style of brawn may be better suited to away games.
“We played on some pretty batsman-friendly wickets against India,” Carse added. “Sometimes I felt like I deserved more than I got. I may not have gotten the rewards, but I’m not looking too far into the winter.”
“I like bowling with the Kookaburra ball. It feels more comfortable in the hand than the Dukes. I think it’s just personal preference. Sometimes the Dukes can have quite a pronounced seam and feel quite large in the hand. The Kookaburra can be a little smaller, but a little wider.”
While Stokes and Wood remain in Britain, Carse is part of the England white-ball squad that touched down in Queenstown, New Zealand, this weekend before the three-match T20 series starts in Christchurch on Saturday.
A tour that will also include three ODIs against the Black Caps, which should mainly inform plans for the T20 World Cup in India in February next year. But as England’s last international cricket match before the Ashes, it is also a chance for a player like Jacob Bethell to make a point.
“I think my game is quite suited to Australian conditions in terms of a bit more bounce,” Bethell said at the Toyota-sponsored PCA Awards last week. “I’ve been thinking about the challenge for a while. But the first destination is New Zealand, so that’s where my eyes are focused.
“Form is an important thing in the game. So yeah, I’ll just try to put in performances to win games for England. And if that ultimately results in an Ashes call-up to the XI then hopefully I’ll grab that with both hands.”
The No. 3 position appears to be the only spot in England’s Test top seven still in dispute, with Ollie Pope being the mainstay for the past three years but coming off an Indian series that previously summed up his career overall. A ninth Test century in the opening Test at Headingley felt like a statement at the time, but returns declined again.
At the same time – and despite impressing in the third-place match against New Zealand last December – Bethell had a stop-start season which, after a one-off appearance against India, only really got going in the ODIs in September with a maiden professional century against South Africa.
Although it is made easier by the recent change of Test vice-captain, England have a decision to make here: stick with Pope’s first-fall experience or lean against a 21-year-old with a rear-foot game that seems suited to Australia – but whose back catalog has more gaps.
“I’m actually not very happy with the summer I’ve had,” Bethell said. “But it’s something that has lit a fire in me, I want to build on that.
“Me and Popey get along really well. I wouldn’t really call it a rivalry. There’s a lot of talk about outside noise, but it doesn’t really make it into the camp. We practice really well together. He’s obviously the hitter fighting for the third spot. He has that spot and he’s done an incredible job.”
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