While India鈥檚 mountain of runs might not speak too highly for England鈥檚 bowling, the tenor of England鈥檚 cricket under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum has been not to worry too much about the target, anything is chaseable, leave it to the batsmen. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a very simple-minded pair,鈥 Stokes said. 鈥淓veryone knows what cricket鈥檚 about: it鈥檚 about scoring more runs than your opposition.鈥
Australia, on the other hand鈥
Australia gave England a box seat to view their frailties at Lord鈥檚 earlier in the month. Australia鈥檚 cricket is also simple-minded: it鈥檚 about their bowlers taking more wickets (and maybe also scoring more runs) than the opposition. It didn鈥檛 work in the World Test Championship final, where South Africa鈥檚 collective discipline and enthusiasm were too good. In the fourth innings, Aiden Markram provided (or copied?) the England template, making a fourth innings chase look easy after Australia鈥檚 top four batsmen contributed 126 across both innings at an average of 16. In Barbados, the Australian top four contributed 105 runs at an average of 13.
The Ashes outlook is complicated for Australia, which is engaged in a race against its chickens coming home to roost. Can the four mighty bowlers sustain their potency for one last summer? Can Usman Khawaja hold body, soul and reflexes together past his 39th birthday? Is this when the bell finally tolls on the selectors鈥 long-proven methodology of crossing their fingers, closing their eyes and hoping for the best?