Ashes rivals leap into the unknown

With no time for tour matches and with internal games hit by rain, both sets of players will go in cold for the opening battle of cricket’s most enduring rivalry. Six of the last eight trips to Brisbane ended in defeats, which have set the tone for more English pain in the series.

It may be no coincidence that the last time England held its own at the ‘Gabbattoir’ it went on to win the 2010/11 Ashes, only its second triumph on Australian soil in 34 years. One particular contest between bat and ball could shape this Ashes.

Pat Cummins is set to lead the home team, putting a fast bowler’s perspective on Australia’s Test cricket captaincy for the first time since the 1950s. Joe Root is primed to lead England with the bat again in a series that he thinks may define his career.

Meanwhile, England has decided to rest senior pacer James Anderson for the first Ashes Test as part of its workload management.

By not playing the series opener, Anderson can be better prepared for the subsequent pink-ball Test in Adelaide, feels the think-tank.