Ashes 2023: Ben Horne analyses the burning questions after Australia and England’s 2-2 draw
The Ashes are over, and Australia still hold the little urn, but was England’s method proven to be right, and should Pat Cummins and co try it? BEN HORNE analyses the tough questions.
Australia left England with the Ashes in tow, but also a host of questions to be answered about the future of its Test team.
From David Warner’s future to the weary pace trio and the response to Bazball, Andrew McDonald, Pat Cummins and their squad have plenty to ponder.
Ben Horne analyses the key questions stemming from the series.
1. Will selectors give David Warner his farewell home series?
Australia has given no indication so far that they’re ready to push Warner out the door before the home series against Pakistan where he is aiming to finish his career with a last Test at the SCG. Selectors will need to weigh up the merits of giving a young opener a low-pressure start in the role against the chance to give a champion player in Warner a fitting send-off. It’s a complicated call given Warner contributed solidly in the retention of the Ashes, but ultimately Australia fell short of achieving a series win. It’s a similar question to what England is facing with James Anderson. Warner could still build on his case to be given three final Tests if he fires for Australia at the ODI World Cup in India in October. If and when Warner does depart, is next cab off the rank Marcus Harris the automatic next choice at opener, or now the Ashes is over … is it time to invest in a younger, more long-term option?
2. Can Australia’s ‘big three’ fast bowlers feature in the same attack?
It’s a somewhat startling statistic that the terrific trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc have never played together in a series win overseas – although that’s less surprising when you consider Australia has only won one of their last 10 series away. They’re all champion bowlers in their own right, but it feels like Australia needs the injection of new blood. West Australian speedster Lance Morris might reinvigorate an attack that looked tired by the end of the Ashes. Hazlewood in particular will need to work hard to stay as a permanent fixture in the attack for the long-term.
3. What does Mitchell Marsh’s comeback mean for Cameron Green?
Leading into the series it felt as though Green’s place in the Australian XI was as safe as anyone’s. The 24-year-old is a young superstar with the world at his feet. But as it stands he’s on the outer after being dropped for the last Test. Marsh’s batting appears superior to Green at this stage and that might be enough to keep the veteran at No.6 for the first Test against Pakistan … but selectors also need to consider the best long-term strategy. Marsh is already 31, and the priority has to be getting Green back in the side. Does he fancy opening the batting where Shane Watson scored most of his runs?
4. Does Australia need to review Pat Cummins’ captaincy?
There is zero pressure on Cummins’ place as Test captain, and nor should there be. Cummins’ has just led Australia to a first-ever World Test Championship Final triumph and an Ashes retention away from home. But selectors might review Cummins’ overall workload and perhaps should reconsider whether the captaincy for the ODI World Cup is a step too far. Tactically Cummins’ appeared rattled at times in the series and that side of captaincy won’t get easier in the helter skelter world of a World Cup in India. Test cricket leadership might be burden enough for a fast bowler. Surely Steve Smith could captain the World Cup and let Cummins’ focus on taking wickets.
5. What can Australia’s coaches and senior players do differently to better support Cummins?
It’s hard to know without being in the inner sanctum but it felt the longer the series went on the more the system in place to support Cummins’ on field could be improved. Whether there are too many voices having an opinion, or not enough, tactically Australia seemed to fall apart at stages when the pressure was on. Cummins’ is an outstanding leader and a game-breaking fast bowler of rare talent, and the coaches and senior players need to be taking as much load off him as possible to support him better when the chips are down during play. When it comes to any potential changes to the coaching staff, you could be forgiven for thinking sacked Gold Coast Suns AFL coach Stuart Dew might be in line for a permanent job after his two weeks’ in the team tracksuit at the pointy end of the Ashes.
6. Was it the right call to have no tour matches and a mid-series holiday?
Hindsight is always 20/20 but was it the right call to have players disperse across Europe for a mid-series holiday after the third Test? In a condensed Ashes campaign with so much on the line, no one is begrudging the players getting away from the training paddock for a few days. But perhaps staying together might have been the better play. Australia certainly didn’t come back like a team refreshed for the fourth Test at Old Trafford and on that level, the time off didn’t have the desired rejuvenating effect. Australia have compelling reasons for no longer wanting tour games, and the schedule barely allows for it anymore, but maybe CA should be requesting them in future. It might have been handy for a Marnus Labuschagne, David Warner, Cameron Green, Todd Murphy or Michael Neser to have a confidence-boosting hit at some point across the five Tests.
7. Where was the Marnus Labuschagne we know and love?
Labuschagne might have lifted with a Test-saving second innings hundred in Manchester, but otherwise Australia would have been hoping for more from such a heavy-duty star. Coming into the series Labuschagne was the No.1 batsman in the world and yet he finished the five Tests with an average of 32.79. Labuschagne seemed a little tired and not quite himself. With Warner, Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith approaching their twilight, Australia needs their No.3 to take the next step and lead the batting unit next time the Test team plays away.
8. Is Todd Murphy’s emergence putting any pressure on Nathan Lyon?
Questions about how long Lyon might play for are obvious given he’s 35 and recovering from a serious calf injury. But if anything, this series just proved how indispensable Lyon is to this Australian team. Australia fell apart in a lot of areas without Lyon and as bright a prospect as Murphy is, the Test team needs the GOAT to fight back and keep punching on for at least another couple of years. Lyon helps centre the rest of the bowling attack and without him they looked lost.
9. What can Australia take from Bazball and can they start to play it?
One of the most underestimated factors from this series is how hard it is to tame something you’ve never seen before. Cummins and Australia made some mistakes in the face of the Bazball juggernaut, but they’ll be better for it and they’ll need those lessons to make sure England don’t ambush them in two and a half years on home soil, where their big hitters might relish the fast and flat decks down under. Australia will be loathed to copy Bazball, especially given their method proved effective 50 per cent of the time in the Ashes. But perhaps there is something there to transplant into Australia’s Test game particularly as selectors begin to contemplate what life might look life beyond Warner, Khawaja and Smith.
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