After recently defeating India at the Oval, Australia will begin the Ashes as the World Test Champions.
The two oldest cricketing nations, England and Australia, have competed in 356 Test matches. Out of these, England triumphed in 110 games whereas Australia won 150 of them.
Australia has won 34 of the 72 series it has played England in the Ashes’ history, while England has won 32 of them.
England vs Australia Team Preview
England
England will enter this match with a lot of confidence after winning 11 of their last 13 Test Matches. A boisterous and fervent crowd will support them in Edgbaston.
Ben Stokes and Brendan McCullum have led England for more than a year, and England now plays an aggressive and assured brand of cricket. For this Ashes 2023 encounter, they have already announced their starting lineup, which features all-arounder Moeen Ali, who last played in a Test match in 2021.
Australia
At The Oval last week, Australia easily defeated India in the World Test Championship Final. They will be pumped up for this game at a place where they won the 2019 Ashes, so they will be full of confidence.
With Scott Boland not being dropped from the lineup, Australia’s main discussion heading into this Test is whom to select as their frontline bowling assault. Josh Hazlewood is expected to replace Mitchell Starc in The Oval lineup as soon as he returns from injury.
Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Stuart Broad, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Zak Crawley, Jimmy Anderson
Pat Cummins (c), Alex Carey (wk), David Warner, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Scott Boland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon
England vs Australia Team Form in Last 5 Matches
England – W L W W W
Australia –W D W L L
England vs Australia outfield report
Edgbaston Birmingham
The pitch and the weather all lead to both teams deciding to bat first if they win the toss on Friday, even though neither team will be terrified of fielding first.
The first two Test days are set to be played out in warm, bright weather, with rain and clouds predicted for Days 3, 4, and 5.
Birmingham appears to have a good batting surface. We do not anticipate a significant decline in the pitch over the course of the five days, despite the fact that there will be spin throughout the game.
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