"England's coach, the New Zealander Brendon McCullum, whose vibe is usually somewhere between Gen X slacker and Buddhist hippy, has called it the biggest series of all our lives. It could be career-defining for England and career-staining for a great Australia side. All Ashes series are big; this one is positively Brobdingnagian. Well, England's record on the last three tours is W0 D2 L13."
"England are simultaneously the best- and worst-prepared team ever to tour Australia. They've been planning for this series since McCullum, Ben Stokes and Rob Key took over in the spring of 2022, building a bespoke team they hope will be more Ocean's Eleven than The Usual Suspects. But they've been heavily some might even say tediously criticised for playing only one warm-up game, at Lilac Hill near Perth, last week."
England arrives in Australia after long-term planning led by Brendon McCullum, Ben Stokes and Rob Key since spring 2022, aiming to build a bespoke, aggressive side. England's recent record in Australia is poor: W0 D2 L13 on the last three tours, last win fifteen years ago, and last away Ashes regain 55 years ago. Australia and England enter the contest ranked first and second respectively. England adopted Bazball tactics and have won the first Test of all five overseas series under that approach. The team faced criticism for playing only one warm-up game at Lilac Hill near Perth.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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