Ashes 2023: Aussie batsmen the best, as bowlers face quick call

Australia has a surfeit of bowlers and the top three ranked batsmen in the world ahead of the first Ashes Test on Friday in Edg­baston.

Josh Hazlewood, left, and Mitchell Starc are in the mix as selectors ponder which of Australia’s quicks will sit out the first Test of the Ashes series. Picture: AAP

Australia has a surfeit of bowlers and the top three ranked batsmen in the world ahead of the first Ashes Test on Friday in Edg­baston, but knows it faces an opposition up for the occasion.

ICC rankings released on Wednesday night reveal Marnus ­Labuschage is No. 1 with 903 ­rating points, Steve Smith is up one place to second, and Travis Head’s 163 and 18 in the championship final lifted him three places to a career-best third position.

The last time this occurred in the Test batting rankings was in 1984, when West Indies players Gordon Greenidge, Clive Lloyd and Larry Gomes were at the top of the list.

The rankings emerged as Australia faces the difficult task of making a call on which one of three pacemen misses the first Test. The Edgbaston curator has produced a pitch that’s water-­restriction brown, but Australian selectors are waiting to see how it reacts to more time in the sun ­before deciding whether to bring Josh Hazlewood into the side – and who he replaces.

A dry, hard wicket – the kind England has ordered from its curators – will play to Mitchell Starc’s favour. At his best, the left-armer can summon devastating reverse.

England, meanwhile, faces the prospect of limited input from captain Ben Stokes with the ball, and has a spinner, Moeen Ali, who has not bowled with a red ball since September 2021.

Hazlewood admits there is no pecking order any more, with the four fast bowlers of the Ashes on equal billing. Captain Pat Cummins says he wants to play all six Tests of this England summer, but he alone is first among equals, with the other three, including Scott Boland, expected to rotate through the gruelling schedule.

It will be a stretch for Cummins to make it through the whole five remaining matches and it would not be surprising to see Sean ­Abbott or Michael Neser appear in the team huddle at some point.

The depth of talent is such that either Starc (310 wickets at 27.64), Hazlewood (222 wickets at 25.28) or Boland (33 wickets at 14.57) will be carrying drinks in the first Test.

Starc missed out four years ago when Smith returned to cricket with a pair of centuries and Australia won. He played just one Test that series.

Hazlewood was in his prime, playing the first four of that series, but has battled injury and played four of Australia’s past 20 Tests.

“If we go back a few years, I would have said (I’d play) all six,” he said ahead of the opening Test on Friday. “But I guess it’s a little bit different now. I think three would be a nice pass and four is probably a tick. Any more than that is great. Any less then I am probably a little disappointed.

“When you do have that [squad] depth, for each game you really go as hard as you can and then reassess after the game because you always have someone of high quality sitting on the pine and ready to go next game. It’s a great position to be in for the team.”

Rotation was once a dirty word in Australian cricket, but with an increasingly cramped schedule it is accepted you need bowling depth in the squad.

“Generally, you need that in big Ashes series and big summers,” Hazlewood said. “You need four or five quicks. We’ve seen that in the last few summers, everyone’s had a crack. Michael Neser has played, Jhye Richardson. The more depth we can have the better.”

“I think having those options helps that [squad] mindset. No doubt you still want to play every game, and it’s hard to sit on the sidelines and watch. No shying away from that.”

Hazlewood is fit and it seems would have played the World Test Championship in Boland’s place if it had been a one off, but selectors took the patient option given the looming Ashes contest.

India had a go at hitting Boland off his line by walking at him in that match. Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes the attack-oriented English batsmen will do the same to the Australians, but Hazlewood backs himself to hold his nerve – and length.

“While we are bowling at their batsmen it’s about sticking to that 6-8m length on that line. What we’ve seen in the last 18 months to two years, they are still getting out in similar ways, they are just scoring more runs quickly in between. So it’s about sticking to that line and length and if they hit us off that for five Tests then that’s good for them.”

England’s lack of bowling depth saw them call Moeen Ali out of retirement on the eve of the series, with the bowler saying this week that when Stokes sent him a message asking simply “Ashes?” he thought he was joking.

Stokes’s knee is heavily strapped and he is expected to be limited in his contributions.

Moeen has struggled in recent Ashes contests and retired from Test cricket before the most recent series in Australia having battled finger injuries for an extended period.

“It’s all right, actually,” Moeen said of his right index finger. “Obviously, I haven’t bowled much with the red ball but it seems to be OK. We’ll see after I’ve bowled about 15 overs.

“I’ve not thought about that too much. Depends on the pressure going into the games, the hardness of the ball, and all that sort of stuff. I should be fine.”