England Cup triumph leaves Ashes questions unanswered

England is still in a state of collective shock. For a country so used to glorious sporting failure the barely-believable denouement to an incredible World Cup final is going to take some time to process.

This was beyond doubt the most extraordinary cricket match ever seen. An instant classic parachuted straight to the top of the sport’s greatest contests. In fact, what happened at Lord’s rivals anything ever seen in any sport, anywhere at any time. This was the Edgbaston Ashes Test of 2005 on steroids. That match, which England somehow won by two runs, is still widely regarded as the greatest Test match in history. And for good reason.

Yet what we witnessed on Sunday in London has potentially transformed cricket in the UK for a generation.

Live cricket has been hidden behind a paywall on satellite TV in this country ever since the 2005 Ashes. However, this World Cup final was the first match to be shown on free-to-air TV since. Millions tuned in on Channel 4 – co-incidentally the same broadcaster who showed that fabled Ashes series 14 years ago – to watch the end of this dramatic, era-defining victory for England. This was a shared moment of collective national jubilation not seen since Jonny Wilkinson’s extra-time drop goal against Australia in Sydney sealed England’s rugby union World Cup win back in 2003.

For all the criticism the ECB’s new competition – the Hundred – has garnered in the UK in recent years the fact is those hooked by this World Cup win have the chance to watch more cricket on free-to-air TV next year when that tournament is shown on the BBC.

Before then there is an Ashes series to be contested, with the first Test taking place at Edgbaston in just over a fortnight.

Australia may see England’s World Cup win as a bad sign for the challenge ahead, especially after they were so comprehensively beaten by Eoin Morgan’s team at the same venue in the semi-finals of this tournament last week.

An Ashes record in England that has seen Australia lose every series here since 2001 might add to the angst. But the reality before the World Cup began was that Justin Langer and his players always had a better chance of success in the second half of this northern summer.

England’s World Cup victory was no fluke, even if the circumstances of their win in the final owed a lot to good fortune.

This was a triumph meticulously planned four years out, with the team’s woeful first-round exit at the 2015 tournament in Australia and New Zealand prompting Andrew Strauss, then England’s director of cricket, to make white-ball cricket the priority in the lead-up to this tournament. Australian Trevor Bayliss got the job as England coach based primarily on his expertise in limited-overs cricket.

England’s results in the Test arena, including the 4-0 defeat in the last Ashes series in Australia, have suffered as a consequence.

England may be ranked fourth in the ICC Test rankings, one place higher than Australia. But they lost their last series away in the West Indies earlier this year and have little clue as to their best top-order batting line-up.

With Alastair Cook retired, the top three is currently anyone’s guess. Rory Burns has torn up county cricket in recent years but after six Tests the Surrey opener has an average of 25. And he’s the one player guaranteed of his place. Jason Roy, one of the stars of England’s World Cup, looks almost certain to be given a chance for the Ashes but he is unproven. A first-class average of 38, from innings mainly constructed in the middle order, isn’t exactly compelling evidence to suggest he can replicate his ODI form in the longest format.

James Vince, who averaged 26.88 during the 2017-18 Ashes in Australia, may complete the top three. There’s a lot of hope and not much substance to that line-up.

Of course, in Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler England possess three batsmen who can paper over the cracks of the Test team’s top-order frailties. Indeed, Stokes, who missed the last Ashes series because of his Bristol brawl, has a point to prove and his player-of-the-match performance in the World Cup final suggests he may be set for a few more “days out”, as Morgan describes them, during the Ashes.

Understandably, Australia may be more concerned about England’s bowling. But there are positives for Langer and his Ashes squad to take in that area too.

Jofra Archer has been a sensation since making his England debut in May and his Super Over heroics at Lord’s have made him a national treasure already.

But in the past eight weeks the 24-year-old, born in Barbados and only qualified for England since March has played more cricket than he has ever done over the same period and he’s nursing a side problem. The talk is he won’t be seen until at least the second Ashes Test. Then there’s Jimmy Anderson, whose calf tear means he is facing a race against time to be fit for the Ashes opener at Edgbaston.

Stuart Broad, whose 8-15 at Trent Bridge four years ago still haunts Australians, is no longer an automatic pick either. With Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Mark Wood also in contention, Broad is unlikely to keep his place for the duration of this northern summer.

England still have plenty of decent bowling options and when Anderson and Archer are back their attack will rival Australia’s in terms of fear factor, especially in home conditions.

But for England the Holy Grail has already been won. Victory in the Ashes would cap a glorious northern summer. But the ability of those all-format players to come down from the World Cup win in time for the Ashes and maintain their hunger after such a career-defining moment will be key.

If Australia can escape from Edgbaston unscathed – even if it’s with the help of the British weather in this typically wet northern summer –  a first away Ashes series win in 18 years is on.

2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England

Tour match: Australia v Australia A, July 23-26

First Test: August 1-5,Edgbaston

Tour match: Australians v Worcestershire, August 7-9

Second Test: August 14-18,Lord's

Third Test: August 22-26, Headingley

Tour match: Australians v Derbyshire, August 29-31

Fourth Test: September 4-8, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: September 12-16, The Oval