Ashes 2017/18

[waspish]

We haven’t got the bowlers to win the series for me! Get big runs though we will have a slim chance. Not confident

 

[The blue phantom]

I fear Mitchell Starc is going to run riot all through this series.

 

[Bluemoon dan]

I dont think either team is fantastic and both have weaknesses, however I think home advantage makes such a difference and I've gone for 4-1 to Australia (with the 1 being in Melbourne or Sydney once the series is done).

 

[Manchester_lalala]

I was meant to be going but something came up that stopped me. That may well be a blessing looking at our squad.

 

[aguerrrroooooooooooo]

We will probably get beat but there's nothing quite like the ashes for me
Who knows if we can pick up a lucky win in the first test we might have some momentum and belief

 

[Who's up Mary brown]

If we can't beat them on the field we'll send Ben stokes to beat them in the street

 

[jay_mcfc]

Both teams have four or five players and the rest are average. Problem for England is that, in Australian conditions Jimmy isn't that effective and Broad i on a downward spiral. There's a lot of pressure on Woakes, who I believe will be England's player of the series if he stays fit. Overton is unknown and the Aussies will go after Moeen. Stokes will be back for the third game I'm sure.

Looks like Warner has injured his neck and could miss the first game ;)

 

[BigOscar]

Moeen to win in single handedly, obviously. On a serious note, we need two of Cook, Root and Bairstow to get big runs every innings and that's just not going to happen. The rest of the lineup is just randoms thrown in there to get mauled.

 

[without a dream]

Both teams have four or five players and the rest are average. Problem for England is that, in Australian conditions Jimmy isn't that effective and Broad i on a downward spiral. There's a lot of pressure on Woakes, who I believe will be England's player of the series if he stays fit. Overton is unknown and the Aussies will go after Moeen. Stokes will be back for the third game I'm sure.

Looks like Warner has injured his neck and could miss the first game ;)

Given how terrible the Aussies are at playing spin I'd love them to go after Moeen.

 

[supercity88]

Stokes is a huge loss but our strength is that we have Woakes and Moeen which make our tail long. If the top 6 can put runs on the board, and in Australia you are talking 400 runs!!! Our tail can add an extra 100 or so getting us competitive totals.

Australia have great pace but also injury prone bowlers. And they are hugely reliant on them. If we bat well at the gabba then they will bowl a lot of overs which could see them struggle to get 90plus mph consistently. With Woakes and Ball we have decent options but Anderson and Broad need to both be on point.

Stoneman and Malan seem to prefer the extra pace but it is mental toughness that wins you an Ashes tour in Australia and I do not think we have enough of that...

I am not brainwashed by the 5-0 whitewash though. So many issues in and around the squad then that caused the disaster. We are quietly playing cricket and even the Stokes incident is not impacting on news coming from the players so hopefully there is a steeley resolve to right the wrong of the last tour.