Quantcast

Australians dominate combined Ashes XI

Former Ashes captains Mark Taylor and Michael Vaughan pick the England players who would make Australia's Test XI

Only three England players would make Australia’s starting Test XI, according to former Australia captain Mark Taylor.

With the first Ashes Test only a week away, speculation continues to mount on who will line up for both teams as Australia look to win on England soil for the first time in 14 years while England will be hoping to regain the urn after the disastrous 5-0 whitewash 18 months ago.

Watch every Ashes moment LIVE! Subscribe here

New England coach Trevor Bayliss is set to name his side’s first Test squad this afternoon UK time, but Taylor would pick three England players, including a pair of fast bowlers, when choosing a combined XI from the two parties.

“The three English players you’d be looking at, at this stage would be Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Joe Root,” Taylor told News Limited.

“They’re the only ones I wouldn’t mind having in Australia’s side.

“Ben Stokes would be there or thereabouts.

“If I had to pick my side now, I’d have a lot more Australian players than England players.

“If you look at the last Ashes series, there’s one England player who would have made the Australian team.

“It’s fair to say I’d have a lot more Aussies.

“Australia would dominate any team I picked, but a lot can change over an Ashes series.”

Image Id: ~/media/318F26CCCD9646149ABEB48524099B02

Ben Stokes and Joe Root could both feature in a combined Ashes XI // Getty Images

Ex-England captain Michael Vaughan says four players would force themselves into Australia’s XI, leading off the David Warner and new partner Alastair Cook.

But Vaughan admits it was a lot bleaker 18 months ago, with no English players good enough to earn selection in Australia’s conquering Ashes team.

"(Then) Rooty (Joe Root) would get in, you'd want Clarkey to captain and Jimmy Anderson would sneak in with Jos Buttler ahead of Brad Haddin," Vaughan said at a Hardys of Australia wine tasting event in central London.

"(At least) four would get in, so I guess that makes it a little bit closer than the end of the Ashes last time when not one of them would have.

"They're getting closer and playing at home is a big advantage."

England is currently experiencing a heatwave with the mercury expected to top 35 degrees Celsius in London today, and while that might not raise an eyebrow Down Under, Taylor believes the warm weather could affect the playing conditions and open the door for Australia’s frontline spinner.

“If you get a hot, dry summer Nathan Lyon will certainly play a big part,” said Taylor, who is commentating as part of Channel Nine’s live coverage of the Ashes which will be streamed on cricket.com.au and the Cricket Australia Live app.

“It can be a lovely place to bat so you have to field very well.

“If you look at our one-day fielding, that was pretty good.

“So I don’t think Australia will be scared about that.

“Certainly Lyon will be important taking wickets when all you can do on a flat deck is plug away and stick at it.”

Taylor’s former Australia teammate Jason Gillespie believes Lyon is a key player for Australia this winter.

Relying on the off-spin of Moeen Ali and part-timers Root and Adam Lyth, Gillespie believes England need Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid to add some variety to their attack and to target the tourists’ premier spinner.

“Lyon will play a big role for Australia and that is somewhere where England simply have to be proactive – they cannot let him settle,” he said in his column with The Guardian.

“That’s where England missed a massive trick in the Test series against New Zealand; they let Mark Craig bowl and go at 1.8 runs an over in the first innings at Headingley and it played a big part in why they lost.

“That’s just unacceptable batting. There is not an off-spinner in world cricket who should go at under two runs an over, so they cannot let Lyon settle into a groove. They need to put pressure back on him.

“You can be sure as hell that Australia will do that to Moeen Ali. They will go hard and make Cook go back to Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, Ben Stokes and get them bowling lots of spells.”

Click above to learn more about how to stream the Ashes and more cricket