Operation Ashes delivers quick rewards

In the days prior to last year's inaugural pink ball Test match at the Gabba, Steve Smith betrayed a twinkle in his eyes as he allowed himself the indulgence of looking beyond the yet-to-start series against Pakistan to focus upon the following summer's Ashes.

"How good would it be … being able to unleash four big fast bowlers against England," Smith enthused.

"Like the West Indies in their heyday …"

The captain's voice trailed off, and he caught himself sufficiently to return to the subject at hand which was how the team that had been so dramatically re-cast in the dark days after their series loss to South Africa might tackle the not-much-reduced threat posed by Pakistan.

And it was Smith's experience of that summer, against two of the most potent pace attacks in the Test game, that had him convinced that velocity held the key to Australia's hopes of regaining notional custody of the tiny terracotta urn that's deemed too valuable to leave its glass display case at Lord's in London.

So began Operation Ashes, with strategies mapped out and programs fine-tuned to ensure that the big guns of a fast-bowling battery that – for most of the past few years had existed as a collective purely on paper – made it on to the park.

While one of that quartet who have waged a constant war against the medical trauma that comes with the territory of fast bowling – Victoria's James Pattinson – failed to make it to the starting gates, the other three have lived up to their billing.

With both Smith and his rival skipper Joe Root conceding in the wake of today's thumping Australia win at the WACA Ground, which secured the Ashes for the home team, that it was the raw speed of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins that has proved the pivotal point of difference.

"We've got a very skilled and talented bowling unit, but that's probably one area that we haven't got lots of resources as a side at the moment," Root admitted as he came to terms with the reality that his first Ashes campaign as captain was done in the blink of an eye.

"That's one of their strengths in these conditions and we had to try and out-skill them, and we weren't quite able to do it in these first three games.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't get the ball to move laterally.

"It felt like we tried every plan – different fields, bowling straight, hanging wide, every now and again a bit of bumper warfare."

But as a glance at the respective batting and bowling returns from the rival teams reveal now that the series is decided, none of those approaches has worked.

England's hopes of avoiding the five-nil whitewash that Alastair Cook's men (including Root) suffered four years ago rested heavily on that pair providing a hefty share of the runs while veteran pace duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad would shoulder the same responsibility with the ball.

Three Tests in and with the Ashes gone, the combined aggregate from the bats of Root and Cook (259 runs at an average of 21.58 across 12 completed innings) is only slightly better than half what Smith has managed (426 at 142) from his four trips to the crease.

Which, in turn, is also reflected in the yields of Broad (five wickets at 61.80) and Anderson (12 at 25.83) whose inability to make regular inroads into Australia's top-order has stood as a stark contrast to the hosts' pace attack.

Both of them bested by their immediate new-ball opponents Starc (19 wickets at 21.05) and Hazlewood (15 at 23.20), with Cummins (11 at 30.09) ensuring there is little respite for England's batters once the strike pair are rested.

It was always known that Australia's bowling arsenal would outgun the tourists' veteran pairing and back-up seamers.

But as former England Test captain Sir Ian Botham cannily noted earlier this year when he rated Australia's batting line-up as "one of the poorest I've seen", the unknown commodity amid Smith's grand plan was getting a quorum of quicks on-field and firing in synchronicity.

That was where the careful management of the trio proved so timely, even though Starc (foot stress fracture during the Test series in India) and Hazlewood (side strain in first Test against Bangladesh) endured stints on the sidelines along the journey.

As Smith detailed tonight, an integral part of having his 'big three quicks' was resting both Starc (making his comeback from foot injury) and Hazlewood (likewise his side issue) from the month-long limited-overs campaign in India that preceded the Magellan Ashes.

And were nursed back to form and fitness through a few JLT Sheffield Shield games to keep them fresh as well as sufficiently match-ready to be able to bowl regularly and threateningly at 140kph and above.

Which England is simply unable to match, and finds understandably difficult to combat.

"Here in Australia it certainly makes a difference on the flatter tracks where there isn't much sideways movement," Smith said tonight.

"That extra air speed can make a big difference and we've worked really hard to ensure that we have these three big quicks on the park and ready for this series.

"A couple of them skipped the one-day series in India, we knew what was coming up and we wanted those big three on the park to do what they've done the last three Test matches.

"A lot of praise has got to go to the medical staff for ensuring that those guys are ready to go."

While Botham might have underestimated the depth and the resolve of the Australia outfit, the credentials of the 'big three quicks' would have dealt no surprise to England coach Trevor Bayliss who worked with all of them during his previous tenure as coach of New South Wales.

With the Ashes barely nestled in Australia's grasp, Bayliss was quizzed as to why England cannot produce bowlers capable of generating the heat and hostility of Australia's trio, and what can be changed in his adopted homeland to rectify that shortcoming.

His initial response – that Cricket Australia won't permit budding young England quicks to develop their skills in the Sheffield Shield competition – was not altogether serious, given the numbers who venture Down Under for KFC Big Bash League and even Premier Cricket commitments.

He also cheekily suggested that perhaps it was time that the England and Wales Cricket Board reciprocated by forbidding Australia fast bowlers from taking up stints with county outfits, as Starc, Pattinson and Jackson Bird have done in recent years.

But he acknowledged it was an issue that needed to be addressed, if England are to alter the trend of eight consecutive Test match defeats on Australia soil stretching back to the first Test of 2013-14.

"The most difficult part is that conditions (in the UK) don't suit, the England boys play a lot of cricket on wickets that are not as responsive," Bayliss said tonight.

"There are some good young fast bowlers, but how do we encourage them to keep bowling fast and getting better without wickets being conducive to fast bowling?

"Do they play too much? Can we keep them fresher?

"They are all questions we have to ask.

"Can wickets be produced harder or (do we) keep going down track of playing in conditions that suit what we do?

"I haven't got the answers."

Nor did Smith around this time last year.

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test Australia won by an innings and 41 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21