THE ASHES 2023: FIRST TEST PREVIEW

England’s attempt to win their first Ashes series since 2015 gets underway on Friday at Edgbaston against an Australian side fresh off their ICC World Test Championship victory.

Australia wrapped up their most recent Ashes victory with a thumping 4-0 series win down under in 2022, a result so resounding it prompted the ECB to act with the installation of Brendon McCullum as test head coach and Ben Stokes as captain.

The former New Zealand skipper, with Stokes by his side, has yielded an immediate response with the 'Bazball' approach producing limited-over-like performances with spectacular run chases. Victories over New Zealand and South Africa followed last year before earning a historic series win over Pakistan last December.

Having won 11 of their last 13 Test matches, England are in the ascendancy, but so too are Australia having just been crowned test champions.

A convincing win over India last week highlighted the lack of flaws in this Australian team who have a frightening bowling attack and a top order featuring Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, and Travis Head – all of whom occupy the top three spots in the ICC Test Batting Rankings, respectively.

An injury to Jack Leach has forced England to parachute Moeen Ali straight into the thick of it alongside bowling partners Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and James Anderson after an almost two-year retirement from Test cricket.

Star paceman Josh Hazlewood is a doubt for the visitors ahead of the first test having struggled with multiple injuries over the last year and a half, worries of him returning directly to the starting team have been eased by Scott Boland's strong showing against India last week.

All eyes will be on this game, and with good reason. Fireworks at Edgbaston are commonplace with the T20 Finals Day held there every year but expect a fever pitch atmosphere come Friday morning.

While England have made huge strides in the test arena over the last 18 months, and have home advantage, the manner in which Australia put India to the sword last week cannot be overlooked with many of their players having adapted to conditions in the UK. The likes of Labuschagne and Smith have shown form for Glamorgan and Sussex respectively as of late and should hit the ground running along with Head.

Prediction: Australia win to lead the series 1-0

18+ begambleaware.org