Big Ashes question: Can England ace Australia’s pace?

While this Ashes series will see yet another five hardfought Tests they are crammed into just six weeks with an unusual July finish This is physically and mentally demanding for all players especially the faster bowlersAs the bulk of Englandrsquos genuine pace bowlers are suffering an injury this is a scheduling calamity that favours AustraliaThe other great conundrum is Englandrsquos style of play If as expected they bat ultraaggressively the question is whether England will continue to play in this manner if they experience failure This is a fascinating proposition as England will face pace bowlers who are difficult to attack if Australia are able to select its best trioExperienced trioA fully fit Pat Cummins Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are accustomed to opposition batsmen wanting to attack Their vast experience will place a lot of pressure on an English batting lineup that can be fragile especially at the top of the order If England collapse early will they have the nerve to maintain their attacking philosophyEqually if the English theory pays dividends and they win convincingly will Australia be tempted to retaliateIf England were to win convincingly it would present skipper Cummins with a big decision However itrsquos unlikely Cummins will be stampeded into a drastic change of tactics but that possibility makes for an interesting encounterAustralia play its best cricket when the team is purposefully aggressive This policy worked spectacularly in the last Ashes series and over the long haul has proved superior to Englandrsquos more conservative methodsHowever Ben Stokesrsquos attacking captaincy and Englandrsquos drastic change of batting tactics adds drama to an already spicy seriesIf Australia hold their nerve then they have fewer questions to answer than the English squadEnglandrsquos openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett tend to be either brilliant or brittle Facing a strong Australian pace attack their production is in danger of producing the latter result and this would place enormous pressure on Joe RootOllie Pope is a good player but if hersquos in early that will benefit AustraliaThen therersquos Harry Brook So far Brook has excelled in Test cricket but Australia could challenge his supremacy with some accurate shortpitched deliveries The inclusion of Jonny Bairstow ahead of Ben Foakes as lsquokeeper is an indirect admission that England prefer an aggressor in the middleorderThe concerns over skipper Stokesrsquos bowling is a major worry for England in view of the devastating loss of Jofra Archerrsquos pace and skill Without Archer England will rely heavily on the fitness and pace of a willing but injuryprone Mark Wood and possibly the inexperienced Josh TongueAlso Read Injury rules Englandrsquos Jofra Archer out of AshesAn attack of Jimmy Anderson Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson is viable in English conditions However age issues and a similarity of style will encourage Australia to plan on playing a lengthy first innings against such an attackThe Australian batting lineup has a more settled look but still relies on Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne to amass big scores Travis Head and to a lesser extent Usman Khawaja have to establish their English credentials while Cameron Green faces a tough test in the conditionsWarner can be dangerousThe big unknown and the player who if he succeeds could tip the balance in Australiarsquos favour is David WarnerWarner despite his previous struggles in England is a dangerous batsman because of his quickscoring tendencies If he succeeds Australia will be boosted But if Broad continues his mastery over Warner then the series is wide openAlso Read David Warner is looking good for World Test Championship final and Ashes Usman KhawajaNathan Lyon is a superior spin bowler to Jack Leach and if England are unable to dominate the offspinner then hersquoll provide excellent variety to Australiarsquos powerful pace attackIn normal circumstances the odds slightly favour an Australian series victory However this is not a normal Ashes and Test cramming plus Englandrsquos desire to bat dynamically make this a tantalising series