The upcoming Ashes series between Australia and England is undoubtedly one of the most eagerly anticipated sporting events of the year.
England were held to a 2-2 draw by India this summer, but will head to the other side of the world in a confident mood after showing plenty of improvement.
However, the bookmakers do not fancy their chances, with the latest Ashes betting rating them as 11/5 shots to claim a series victory over Australia.
With that in mind, read on as we look at some of the key talking points ahead of The Ashes, starting with the fitness of one of England’s top players.
Woakes’ shares positive recovery update
England bowler Chris Woakes recently shared some encouraging injury news after dislocating a shoulder against India in the final Test.
Woakes told Sky Sports that his rehabilitation was progressing well and he has not ruled out being available for selection for the Australian tour.
He is now the most experienced member of England’s bowling unit after James Anderson and Stuart Broad retired and his presence in the team would boost their chances of victory.
“I’m out of the sling and feel like I can move it a lot better now, which is good two weeks down the line,” Woakes said.
“I suppose once you get a little bit more movement into it, it feels a little bit more normal. But there’s still a lot of work to do.
“I’m going to try and stay focused on the rehab and get it as strong as possible. Ideally not for surgery for now, but we’ll see how that goes and hopefully we can get it nice and strong again.”
McDonald concerned about Australia’s batting
Australia secured a whitewash series win in the West Indies on their most recent outing despite failing to impress in the batting department.
They topped 300 runs just once across six innings, although their cause was not helped by the poor conditions in the Caribbean.
Opener Sam Konstas averaged just 8.33 in the three-match series, while Steve Smith struggled to consistently produce his best form.
Head coach Andrew McDonald admitted that Australia had plenty of things they need to work on before The Ashes series starts in November.
“It feels as though we’ll still be a little bit unsettled in terms of what our combinations look like at the top of the order with the way that the performances have gone,” McDonald said.
“In saying that, there’s a lot of cricket still to come to be able to gather that information.”
Smith confident Australia will retain The Ashes
Smith hit a top score of 71 in the West Indies, but tallied just 56 runs in his other three innings.
However, he is Australia’s third-highest Test runs scorer against England after Sir Don Bradman and Allan Border, highlighting the danger he poses to the visitors.
Smith acknowledged that England are playing an aggressive brand of cricket at the moment, but believes Australia have nothing to fear in the upcoming series, which is expected to be the most streamed cricket series outside of anything involving the third member of the Big Three, India.
“I think coming down to Australia, particularly for their batters, it’s going to be a big challenge,” Smith said. “The wickets in the last three or four years have been really tricky.
“We’ve obviously got a very experienced bowling line-up with guys that have played over a long period of time and been extremely successful.
“We’ve played really good cricket in the last four years in Test cricket, making two World Test Championship Finals. We’re doing a lot of things right. For us, it’s just letting our skills take over.”
