Ashes begins in Australia’s graveyard

The Australians are done with headbutting lines and taken to quoting lines from famous England philosophers.

Australia captain Tim Paine heads for a net session at Edgbaston before the first Test

The Australians are done with headbutting lines and taken to quoting lines from famous England philosophers.

Grilled about incidents in the past by the England media pack last night, captain Tim Paine said the side was taking lessons from a famous.

“We are going to play competitive Test match cricket like every other nation does. Our guys understand what’s expected of them and we are role models,” he said. “There’s been a quote going around our change rooms this week and that is ‘behaviour doesn’t lie’. We can talk all we like about how we are going to play and ultimately you guys will see how we play and judge for yourselves.”

Paine said assistant coach Brad Haddin had introduced the quote.

The past isn’t a different country, it’s not even a different cricket ground. Edgbaston, where tonight’s Test begins, has been an Australian cricket graveyard over the years.

Birmingham, the scene of a minor crime that signalled the tone of Australia’s unseemly aggression for years to come.

As a starting point for an Ashes series, Edgbaston for England is what the Gabba is for Australians. They have won their last 11 matches at the ground, the most recent being the World Cup semi-final. If the Australians had somehow managed to forget that not-so-distant game they were given a memory prompt by ground staff who posted the result on the scoreboard this week.

Australia has not won a Test at the ground since 2001 and look set to name a different XI with Mitchell Starc not in the side. England have left out quick Jofra Archer, Sam Curren and Olly Stone.

There is a shopping centre in Birmingham’s chaotic CBD known as the Bull Ring. Edgbaston may as well be known as the Bull Pit. The crowd here is as shrill, hostile and noisy as any in the world. The Hollies Stand looms above the field, it’s berating volume enveloping and deafening opposition sides.

No mention of Birmingham would be complete without touching on the infamous incident between Joe Root and David Warner in 2013. Both sides were drinking at a pub on the seething Broad St strip after England had knocked Australia out of the final of the Champions Trophy.

Root was unharmed in the minor affray, but the repercussions knocked Warner out of contention for the beginning of the Ashes series that followed and Mickey Arthur out of his role as coach.

A S H E S

Birmingham city is a reconstruction site, so too is Australian cricket. This series is the greatest Test of the flammability of the discrete structure’s cladding.

The Cape Town Trio may sound like a Caribbean vocal group but there is nothing harmonious about the history to Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft’s notoriety. The three batsmen will play their first Test back in the most hostile of environments. In the Ashes.

Everybody agrees a good first impression needs to be formed if results are to be achieved, including Australian captain Tim Paine who says the side’s history at the ground is irrelevant.

“Obviously we want to get off to a good start in the Ashes,” he said.

“It’s really important that you get some momentum early in a big series like this.

“We haven’t spoken about whether Edgbaston is a fortress for them, because that’s irrelevant. It’s about being clear on what we want to do, both individually and as a team. If we can be really clear, come out and execute well, it doesn’t matter if we play at Edgbaston or on the moon, we think our best cricket is good enough.”

England’s newly appointed vice-captain Ben Stokes’s shame came in Bristol, but he is of a similar mind to Paine.

“You can’t feel your way into any Ashes series — you have to hit the ground running,” he said in The Telegraph. “There’s no time for easing into a spell or finding your way with the bat, you have to be switched on from ball one. Even if we bat first, and you’re in the middle order, you have to be switched on.

“Davey Warner is a player who can take games away from you. He is a phenomenal batsman and very dangerous opener so to tie him down and not let him establish his authority against us would be a really big plus for us for the rest of the series. We don’t want to give anything away. We want to let them know we are here to be serious and everyone in the changing room is desperately trying to get that urn back because it’s not good them having it.”

Paine is aware his team is still rebuilding trust and reputation.

“We want Australian cricket fans and Australian people to be proud of their cricket team,” the Australian captain said. “Every time we walk out on the field that’s what we’re aiming to do. We’re also aiming to win and be as competitive as people expect of an international cricket side. That’s how we’re going to go about it.”

England’s players have noticed a change. Moeen Ali, who claims to have been racially abused during the 2015 Ashes, wrote about it in his Guardian column yesterday.

“It will be my third Ashes but I expect this one to be a bit different in terms of on-field relations,” he said. “It’s well known that I have personally received some abuse in the past but Australia are actually quite nice to play … these days.”

Stokes is almost unsettled by the Australians change of approach and a little unconvinced it will last.

“It is weird Aussies trying to be nice to you. I think once you get out in the middle and cross the white line the real competitive side of both teams will come out as Ashes are the biggest Test series played in the world,” Stokes said.

“There is always something that happens between teams in Ashes series and I don’t think this will be any different.

“Both teams are desperate to win, both sets of players are desperate to perform because Ashes series are where you get looked at. It is where you are scrutinised and criticised more, or if you do well, you get more praise. There are 22 guys who know that so I can assure you there will be some sort of theatre that goes on out there.”