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Ashes 2015: Why England shouldn't fear Australia

Here are five reasons why the Ashes are set to come home...

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 25:  Michael Clarke of Australia looks dejected with team mates during the presentation on day five of the 5th Investec Ashes Test

Sledging has been promised, Mitchell Johnson is back to bowling at full pace, and even Nathan Lyon has apparently developed a couple of mystery deliveries, proving the Australian pre-Ashes PR drive is in full swing.

While there certainly is plenty for England to ponder, there is also a lot to be positive about.

Here are some of the reasons why the Aussies are not to be feared...

Dad’s Army

Dads Army
Image: The (Australian top order) cast of Dad's Army prepare for a spot of tea

Michael Clarke has shrugged off suggestions that his Australian squad is too old, including what must have been a particularly hurtful blow from former team-mate and almost-appointed England head coach, Jason Gillespie. Perhaps Gillespie – after ultimately being overlooked by the ECB – was using some old school reverse-psychology, the ‘reverse-Glenn McGrath’ method, with his ‘Dad’s Army’ moniker meant to inspire in a different way to a predicted 5-0 drubbing.

Whatever the intent behind his words, he has a point – 10 of the squad of 17 are over 30-years-old, four in fact are over 35 and the average age among the players is 30.7 compared to England’s 27.5. Plus Australia’s Captain Mainwaring, Clarke, is 34, with chronic knee and back problems, and further scars from three unsuccessful Ashes tours.

The magic number three

More from The Ashes 2015

Steve Smith celebrates his century at Sabina Park
Image: Steve Smith celebrates a century batting at number three in Jamaica

Bear with me on this one. Steve Smith is ranked No 1 in the world, averages 62.91 since his re-introduction to the Test team in 2013, has three Ashes hundreds already and has scored a remarkable five centuries in his last six Tests – including his highest ever score of 199 in Australia’s last Test, after making the move from five to three in the batting order for the tour of the West Indies.

But… buried beneath all of this success is that same player so horribly exposed in the 2010/11 Ashes, wafting with ugly abandon outside his off-stump and who claimed his role in the team was to ‘raise spirits by telling jokes’. He’s certainly no joke now, but in English conditions, his move up to three may well help England, exposing him to the new – and hopefully swinging – ball earlier.

Johnson jitters

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - AUGUST 02:  Australian bowler Mitchell Johnson grimaces during day four of the npower 3rd Ashes Test Match between England and Austra
Image: Mitchell Johnson cuts a frustrated figure during the 2009 Ashes

He bowls to the left. He bowls to the right… You know the rest. Or at least we did until Mitchell Johnson changed his tune and utterly dismantled the England batting line-up down under in 2013/14. It was raw, hostile, ferocious fast-bowling, the likes of which we’d not seen from him before – bar a solitary spell in Perth in 2010 – and it set Australia on their way to a 5-0 series whitewash.

He followed it up with 12 wickets in his next Test against South Africa in Centurion, but is without a five-for since and with Josh Hazlewood – impressive in the Caribbean – and Ryan Harris a perfect fit (when fit) in English conditions, Johnson could take up a spot in place of a potentially more successful seamer. Lest we forget, Johnson has a few demons still from his last trip to England in 2009, when England scored at over four runs an over off him and his wayward bowling was first put to music.

Happy hunting grounds

23 - 27 Aug 2001:  James Ormond is congratulated by his England teamates during the Fifth Ashes Test match against Australia played at The Oval in London.
Image: From left to right: Usman Afzaal, Phil Tufnell, James Ormond, Mark Butcher and Mark Ramprakash during the 2001 Ashes

Australia have not won the Ashes in England since 2001. 14 years! The last time they savoured victory on The Oval outfield was when a Steve Waugh-led side overcame a nightmare-inducing England line-up (for fans rather than Aussie players) that included Usman Afzaal, Jimmy Ormond and a 35-year-old Phil Tufnell.

England have come a long way since, losing just four of their 27 subsequent home series in fact. India in 2007 was their first, before defeats to arguably the best side in the world, South Africa, in 2008 and 2012, and the heart-breaking defeat to Sri Lanka last year. England are a different animal at home. Plus, the first Test at Cardiff is the scene of Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar’s great escape in 2009, England’s awful record at Lord’s is a thing of the past with two heavy Ashes wins in the last two Tests there and Edgbaston will bring with it fond memories of the 10-year anniversary of the 2005 series. As for Trent Bridge and The Oval, well, England will be 3-0 up by then anyway…

New England

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Here's the moment Ben Stokes brought up the fastest Test hundred at Lord's

England have starred – surprising many – with a new ‘brand’ of cricket this summer, neatly labelled a ‘New England’ by Sky Sports’ David Lloyd during the recent one-day series against New Zealand. In that series England hit 400 for the first time ever and posted their highest ODI run-chase of 350-3 – while passing 300 in four consecutive matches in fact – on their way to beating the World Cup runners-up 3-2 in the series.

They also tied the Test series against the Black Caps – perhaps somewhat disappointingly in the end, after an enthralling 124-run win in the first Test at Lord’s. The new era is no better epitomised than by two of the players who starred in that game, Ben Stokes and Joe Root. There is also a new head coach to arrive, an attacking, aggressive and progressive Australian, Trevor Bayliss. And on top of all this new blood, there’s England’s record run-scorer and wicket-taker, Alastair Cook and Anderson, to add to the Aussies’ woes.

Watch the first Ashes Test between England and Australia, which gets underway on July 8. Coverage begins on the Sky Sports Ashes channel at 10am.

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