The Ashes

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Australia's batters will not be scared by England's pace attack in the Ashes, according to Mitchell Johnson.

England have assembled their fastest group of bowlers for a generation as they aim to win a series in Australia for the first time since 2010-11.

Jofra Archer and Mark Wood will spearhead the pace attack, with Archer famed for hitting Steve Smith with a delivery so ferocious in 2019, it forced the Australia skipper off the field with concussion.

However, ex-fast bowler Johnson says Smith - and Australia - will not be fazed by Archer's return after years of battling injury.

"Since that match, Archer's debut more than six years ago, he has barely played Test cricket - 14 more games in fact and just two Tests in the past four years," wrote Johnson in The West Australian., external

"The way he is spoken about it sounds like he's played a hundred.

"Archer has been out of the game for a long time with injuries, and while his highlight reel looks great, consistency is what matters in Test cricket.

"Their [England's] Ashes hopes rest on whether Wood and Archer can stay fit, stay fast, and stay relentless across five brutal Tests in Australian conditions.

"The Australian top order won't be fearful of the Wood-Archer combination. Respectful, yes, but not afraid."

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Mitchell Starc prepared for the Ashes by taking four wickets for New South Wales but opener Jake Weatherald was out cheaply as he tries to secure a place Australia's XI.

Weatherald, 30, was given his first Australia call-up last week but was out for 23 on day one of Tasmania's Sheffield Shield match against South Australia.

The left-hander and Usman Khawaja are the only openers in Australia's squad for the first Test against England in Perth but Australia could yet promote Marnus Labuschagne from his preferred position of number three.

Other than Khawaja, all of Australia's Test squad are playing in the Sheffield Shield this week to prepare for the first Test, which begins on 21 November.

Starc, bowling with the red ball for the first time since July, took 4-91 against Victoria at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

He was joined in the NSW attack by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who claimed 2-65, and fellow quick Josh Hazlewood, who took 0-54 in 18 overs.

Steve Smith is captaining the home side while seamer Scott Boland is in the Victoria XI.

All-rounder Beau Webster was out for 13 when alongside Weatherald for Tasmania but he did later dismiss Australia team-mate Travis Head for nine.

Brendan Doggett, one of Australia's supporting quicks to Starc, Hazlewood, Boland and injured captain Pat Cummins, took 5-66 for South Australia.

All-rounder Cameron Green is expected to bowl for Western Australia in their match against Queensland starting on Tuesday as he tries to prove his fitness.

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Australia Test hopeful Jake Weatherald says being sledged by England fans in the Barmy Army would be "one of the greatest moments of my life".

The 31-year-old has been included in Australia's squad for the first Test after an impressive 18 months in the Sheffield Shield.

The left-hander averages 41.33 in three matches this season, having finished last season as the top run-scorer and with an average of 50.33.

Asked by ABC how he would handle the pressure of a series that could be fiery, Weatherald said: "I don't really know, to be fair. I can be pretty reserved at times, but I can be pretty fiery as well.

"It'd be funny. I'm sure if someone starts saying stuff to me, I probably can't hold myself back, but at the same time, I'm not going to go out looking for it.

"I'll just take it on for what it is and every moment is going to be a cool experience.

"Being sledged by the Barmy Army would be one of the greatest moments of my life."

Chief selector George Bailey stopped short of confirming Weatherald would make his debut in Perth, but told the Tasmania batter the day after his 31st birthday.

"It was awesome. It was the best present I've had in a long time," said Weatherald.

"It's probably not as glamorous as what you'd probably make it out to be when you're a kid, but at the same time, like, it's no less momentous at the time.

"I didn't call my dad because he's notorious for telling everyone and at the time, the squad hadn't been announced. I knew if I called him, half of Australia would know before the team was announced, so I left that.

"My mum was in Japan with my stepdad, so that was pretty safe and my wife is pretty good at keeping secrets. It was good."

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The Australian media trying to provoke England captain Ben Stokes could backfire on the home side in the Ashes, says former fast bowler Steven Finn.

The West Australian Newspaper called Stokes "Cocky Captain Complainer" after the all-rounder arrived in Perth this week before the series starts on 21 November.

Finn, who was part of the last England side to win an Ashes series down under in 2010-11, told the PA news agency: "Ben Stokes thrives when he has a point to prove.

"There are players you really don't want to provoke because it makes them even better and even more determined. He falls into that category."

England have not won a Test in Australia since that 3-1 victory in 2010-11, with scores of 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 in the three tours since.

However, Finn says the leadership of Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum will not be "timid or meek" as England seek to regain the urn for the first time since 2015.

He added: "You have be wary because the Australian press want to trip you up and find chinks in your armour, but if you're sensible and respectful I don't see any reason you can't embrace the challenge of playing cricket out there.

"Australians respect people who win. If you puff your chest out like we did in 2010-11 and push back, it can turn the other way.

"By the time we'd bowled them out for 98 on Boxing Day, they really turned on Australia and it almost felt like they were supporting us.

"That's the challenge and it feels like something Stokes and McCullum could do."

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Out-of-favour England bowler Ollie Robinson bowled at Australia batter Steve Smith in the nets in Sydney on Thursday, having traveled to Australia to play club cricket.

Robinson, 31, who played the most recent of his 20 Tests in February 2024, was left out of England's Ashes squad but is in Australia for a stint with Sydney University Cricket Club in the Sydney grade cricket competition.

He bowled at Smith and Sam Konstas - the 20-year-old Australia opener overlooked for the first Test - at New South Wales training.

Smith is preparing for the Ashes by playing for New South Wales and scored a century last week on his return to the Sheffield Shield.

While being in Australia would be of some benefit for Robinson were injury to hit England's pace bowling stocks, an England recall appears unlikely.

Robinson, who played in the 2023 Ashes and the 2021-22 tour down under, has lost his central contract and appears to have been discarded by the current management.

A call-up from England's Lions squads, which includes a host of younger pace bowlers, would be more likely if required.

Matthew Henry
BBC Sport Journalist

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Former Australia opener Chris Rogers has backed Jake Weatherald to make his debut in the first Ashes Test but admits the uncertainty around the hosts' top order is a "concern".

Australia named their 15-man squad for the first Test against England on Wednesday with Tasmania opener Weatherald, 31, given a first call-up.

He and Usman Khawaja are the only regular openers picked but Australia may yet promote Marnus Labuschagne from his preferred position of number three to partner 38-year-old Khawaja.

Rogers, who played 25 Tests, featured in three Ashes series and is currently coach of the Victoria state side, told BBC Sport: "I am protective of the opening position as an opener.

"I always like to think it is the hardest role of cricket. I wouldn't mind seeing them go with the proven opener as such."

Much of the uncertainty appears to come from the fitness of all-rounder Cameron Green.

Green has made a tentative return to bowling after back surgery in October 2024 and if he is not fit enough to play a full part then may feature as a specialist batter.

That would likely mean all-rounder Beau Webster bats a six and covers Green's bowling with Green slotting in at number three and Labuschagne pushed up to open.

"I would like to see Jake Weatherald get a chance to see what he is made of," Rogers said.

"I understand they highly value the other players they have got and whether they can fit those players in and move the chess pieces around.

"It is a concern. They would prefer it to be a little bit cleaner.

"No-one has a crystal ball with these things.

"They will be making some very educated guesses. Either way they will be leaving out a good player and that is the luxury they have."

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England captain Ben Stokes was given a typical welcome by the Australian media on his arrival in Perth.

A picture of Stokes in arrivals at the airport was on the front page of the West Australian newspaper, which carried the headline 'Baz Bawl'.

"England's Cocky Captain Complainer, still smarting from crease-gate, lands in Perth early thinking dopey Bazball can take the Ashes," read the caption, referring to the controversial stumping of England's Jonny Bairstow by Australia's Alex Carey during the last Ashes in 2023.

All-rounder Stokes is the latest in a string of arrivals as England gather in Perth to prepare for the first Test on 21 November. England play their sole Ashes warm-up against England Lions at Lilac Hill next week.

Rough treatment towards England teams is nothing new, particularly at the beginning of Ashes tours.

In 2013, the Brisbane Courier Mail famously refused to print the name of England's Stuart Broad after he did not walk for an edge during an Ashes series earlier the same year.

The newspaper called him a "Smug Pommie Cheat".

In the From the Ashes series on BBC Sounds, former England captain Michael Vaughan described how the local media covered a training session in Perth at the beginning of the 2002-03 tour of Australia.

"We arrived in Perth and did a gentle fielding session at the Waca, and it went great," said Vaughan.

"The local newspaper positioned a camera. When you field for an hour and a half, and there's 16 or 17 in the squad, there's bound to be one or two go down.

"Next day on the front of the paper was 'England drop in to town' and pictures of us all dropping a ball."

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Australia have released batter Travis Head from their T20 squad for the final two matches against India so he can play in the final round of the Sheffield Shield before the Ashes.

Left-hander Head, 31, has struggled for form, with a top-score of 31 in eight white-ball innings for Australia since 1 October.

He will instead play for South Australia against Tasmania in Hobart from 10 November.

It means most, if not all, of Australia's likely Test squad will feature in that round of fixtures, although their squad is set to be announced before.

Elsewhere, Marnus Labuschagne continued his fine form as he made his fifth century on the Australian summer in the One-Day Cup.

The right-hander made 101 off 111 balls as Queensland Bulls posted 287-9 against New South Wales.

Matt Renshaw, another possible inclusion in the Ashes squad, made three, while Sam Konstas hit 47 off 74 balls at the top of order in NSW's reply.

Labuschagne also took 2-26 as the Bulls won by 96 runs.

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Head coach Brendon McCullum says England's ODI series defeat by New Zealand will not have any bearing on the Ashes.

England lost 3-0 to the Black Caps, with their batting coming under scrutiny. White-ball captain Harry Brook scored England's only century and led the way with 175 runs but Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jamie Smith only scored a combined 58 runs, with a high score of 25.

McCullum, however, doesn't believe there will be any hangover heading into the first Test on 21 November and says his side have a "level of confidence" in their batting in Australian conditions.

"It's a different form of the game, and it's a completely different kind of challenge which we'll be confronted with as well," McCullum said.

"In T20 cricket, we're going really well. I think in Test cricket, we've got a pretty good template of where we're at and I think we've performed reasonably well, albeit we've got a huge challenge in front of us. One-day cricket is clearly an area where we need to improve.

"I think when we do come across the trickier conditions in Australia and Test cricket, I feel like we've got a pretty good understanding of how we'll go about it. It doesn't guarantee us anything, but it gives us a level of confidence going into that series."

McCullum also addressed the form and fitness of Jofra Archer, who bowled 20 overs across the final two ODIs, taking three wickets.

"He'd done a lot of skill work as well as fitness work, and for him to get through two matches with his full quota of overs and build towards what's coming in the next couple of weeks is a big bonus," he added.