Sir Andrew Strauss and Nasser Hussain discuss England's Ashes plan in Australia, Mark Wood's opportunities and whether Adil Rashid should return to the Test fold - available as a podcast below
Saturday 22 August 2020 19:13, UK
How can England win the 2021/22 Ashes in Australia? And how can they best plan for the series?
That was the topic of discussion during day two of the second #raisethebat Test, as England racked up the runs against Pakistan.
Sir Andrew Strauss, who masterminded England's last Ashes win down under in 2010/11 - their first in Australia for 24 years - discussed what it takes with Nasser Hussain, a chat you can listen to as a podcast in the player above.
Strauss talked of England's success so far this summer, having won four of the five Tests they've played and on course for a fifth in six, but stressed it's not as simple as just replicating the same formula overseas.
"The conditions and requirements in Australia are very different to those at home," said Strauss.
"Any team that wants to get to No 1 in the world or win the World Test Championship, has to understand that winning away is just as important. Your best XI players at home are not necessarily your best XI away.
"What you're trying to do is always think about what the requirements are in any given country; if you've got 18 months leading up to that tour, let's make sure we get the people that we think can make an impact away from home in and around the squad.
"That doesn't mean they necessarily have to play, but you are looking for an opportunity to blood these guys.
"Going to Australia is not the place to blood people who have never played Test cricket before; it's hard cricket, it's intense, pressurised, and you need guys you know are going to step up when it really matters.
"You're always picking a side you think can win the Test match, but you can't go into an Ashes series with just the same XI that are playing in England and expect them to win - we've tried that too many times in the past and failed too many times as a result of that attitude."
With regards to the opportunities for England Test captain Joe Root to blood youngsters, Hussain argued that it was easier to do so when he was captain between 1999 and 2003 - with one eye on the 2005 Ashes series that England would famously win.
"It was easier in our era because we had a lot more injuries, so there were a lot more opportunities to play people," said Hussain. "Also, because we didn't have the great bowlers we have now, you could leave people out.
"There were natural gaps where, when [Andrew] Flintoff wasn't ready for Test cricket, he played. [Then head coach] Duncan Fletcher was looking to build that 2005 Ashes bowling attack.
"Steve Harmison came in in Australia [2002/03] and I remember he bowled an 11-ball over. He wasn't ready, but he had something different. We had to suck it up for a while and say 'this lad could produce the goods eventually'.
"Simon Jones was not really tearing down trees at Glamorgan but Duncan had seen him there and said, 'you know what, when the ball reverses, this lad will be pretty good for us'. Jones would have been a great fast bowler if he had stayed fit. He was for a short period.
"It was easier in our era - we weren't as successful, which is probably why it was easier, but it's more difficult now;
"James Anderson and Stuart Broad have over 1,00 wickets between them and in these conditions you can't argue against that. Chris Woakes takes them at 22 apiece in England, with the Dukes ball, so you can't leave him out.
"Then there's Ben Stokes as the all-rounder when fit and the spinner, so where do you blood Mark Wood and Jofra Archer?"
Wood is one of the pace options England are looking to for The Ashes,but, after impressing in West Indies and South Africa over the last two winters, he's appeared in just one Test this summer...
Strauss: "We've had a couple of circumstances where Wood has shown his value for the England cricket team, and it has mainly been away from home - in the West Indies and against South Africa.
"You felt like him having performed at that level, he was just ready to take his place in the team and become a more permanent presence; now he finds himself on the outside again.
"I think England will use him over the winter because they'll need that pace and that hostility away from home. It just may be that for the time being he has to accept that he'll play the odd game in England and will play most of his cricket away from home. I'm fine with that."
Rashid's sparkling form in white-ball cricket for England has led to calls for him to return to the Test fold ahead of The Ashes in 18 months and possible tours of the sub-continent this winter...
Hussain: "Australia is not a place you want to be taking someone who is 50/50 about wanting to be involved in this format, someone who is thinking do I need this?
"I don't think you go cap in hand to Rashid - especially out of a bit of loyalty to [Dom] Bess, [Jack] Leach and [Amar] Virdi - and I think it's up to Rashid to go up to the England selectors and say 'I'm bowling really well, I love Test cricket, pick me'. I would go down that road."
Promising Essex batsman Dan Lawrence has been around the England squad this summer but is yet to earn a Test debut...
Strauss: "The batting is slightly different; bowling attacks vary all the time, partly because of injury, partly because you're asking a lot of bowlers physically with back-to-back Tests.
"With the batting, you shouldn't have players coming in and out unless there's issues with form or injury.
"It's a hard thing to say to say to someone like Lawrence, we're going to give you a game and leave out one of the first-choice batters. The only way he comes into the team is if, in certain conditions, you think he's better than what you've already got.
"He's got to bide his time, he's a young player, he's shown a lot of promise at Essex and been talked about for a long period of time.
"He will have seen what Zak Crawley has done and gone, 'if and when I get a chance, I need to grab it with both hands'. That will come eventually."
