The much-awaited Ashes 2023 series will kick-start on Friday, June 16, at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The Ashes 2023 series promises to be an exciting, thoroughly contested one because of the form both the teams are in coming into the rubber.
Although Australia are the current Ashes holders, having hammered England 4-0 at home in the last series, the upcoming rubber promises to be a tough contest between two teams which are high on confidence: England on their Bazball success having won 11 matches and lost only 2 under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, while Australia are the reigning World Test Champions having defeated India in the WTC Final last week.
Ben Stokes, the England Test skipper, has ordered for fast and flat pitches which will make the bowlers work harder than usually they have had to do in English conditions over the past few years.
Both the teams are stacked with world-class bowlers, some of them being all-time greats. Both teams have some tall bowlers that can hit the deck hard and bounce batters out.
Here are 3 tallest fast bowlers on show in Ashes 2023:
Ollie Robinson – 6 ft 5 in
Surprisingly, it is an English seamer who is the tallest pacer across both teams. And it is medium-pacer Ollie Robinson. Now, Robinson may not look at tall at his height suggests, but he is 6 feet 5 inches tall. Known for his accuracy with lines and lengths, Robinson can generate seam movement on both sides and can also swing the new ball. He’s going be a key weapon for England to back up the two legendary seamers Stuart Broad and James Anderson.
He’s had a good start to his Test career: in 16 Tests, Robinson has picked up 66 wickets at a brilliant average of 21 with 3 five-wicket hauls and 4 four-wicket hauls.
Josh Hazlewood – 6 ft 4 in
The tallest from the Australian setup Josh Hazlewood stands at 6 feet 4 inches, and is one of the most metronomic pacers in the world, hailed for his Glenn McGrath-esque bowling in the channel on and outside the off-stump. With a lanky frame and good speed, Hazlewood is a really difficult bowler to score against.
And his numbers suggest the same: in 59 Tests, the 32-year-old has snapped up 222 runs wickets at a terrific average of 25 and a parsimonious economy of 2.71, putting him amongst the all-time economical pacers the game has seen.
Mitchell Starc – 6 ft 4 in
Starc may not be the most consistent of Test match fast bowlers, but with his high pace and left-arm angle, he’s certainly amongst the deadliest ones when the conditions are just in his favor. Standing at 6 feet 4 inches tall, Starc has castled 310 Test wickets in 78 Tests at an average of 27 with 13 five-fors.
Ashes 2023 Squads:
England Squad: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jonny Bairstow(w), Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Daniel Lawrence, Josh Tongue, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes
Australia Squad: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Todd Murphy, Josh Inglis, Matt Renshaw, Marcus Harris
