Shane Warne
AUSTRALIA can blow this very good England team out of the water at the Gabba with a strategic blast of Bodyline bowling. All the verbals in the leadup to the first Test have been fun but it’s time to let the battle of bat, ball and tactics begin.
For Steve Smith and his terrific pace trio, the opportunity presents to put England on the back foot early and keep them there for the entire series.
It’s been 85 years since the very clever English captain Douglas Jardine unleashed quickie Harold Larwood at Bill Woodfull’s unsuspecting Australians and I reckon this Aussie team can similarly catch Joe Root’s Englishmen off guard.
The Australians must go after the Poms with aggression — plenty of short stuff — and really set the tone for the rest of the Ashes matches.
The Gabba is a scary place for opposition teams and especially for the English, who have not won there since 1988.
Intimidation is the key and the man to make this happen is Pat Cummins, just as Mitchell Johnson did four years ago.
England are vulnerable in the middle and lower order and this is where the Bodyline theory can work.
There is a question mark over Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes with the short ball and there should be no mercy shown to the tail.
If Australia can remove Alastair Cook and Joe Root with quality pressure bowling early, that’s when skipper Smith can pull the trigger and direct the Australian pacemen to go for the jugular.
The reason the Gabba is tough for all tourists is that Brisbane is the fastest, quickest and the best cricket pitch in the world, but it changes quickly across the five days of a Test match.
When Smith and Root walk out for the coin toss, in the back of their mind will be the thought that this might be a handy one to lose.
They’ll be thinking: “I wouldn’t mind having a bowl here, but I know if I win the toss I’ll have to bat.”
Choosing to bowl here, of course, comes with risks — just ask Nasser Hussain.
The first session will be tough but after that the pitch should be great to bat on.
Then it really quickens up before starting to spin big late on day four and into day five.
Opposition camps generally are surprised by the big change at the Gabba.
The bounce is really something — you get a lot of catches close to the wicket — which is part of the reason why the Gabba was my most successful Test venue in Australia. I loved playing there.
Whatever happens in the first session today, even the first hour of the first session, can set the tone for the rest of the series.
Captains Smith and Root will have to be switched on to make sure their players have their focus right and find the balance between being pumped up and nervous.
I endorse the boldness of Trevor Hohns and his selection panel, although Matt Renshaw was very unlucky. I see a lot of potential in him and know he will be back stronger after this axing. But Cameron Bancroft is the man in form and he has demanded his chance. He had to play.
Shaun Marsh is a quality player, but he’s had plenty of chances. Let’s hope we finally see him perform consistently on the big stage.
Tim Paine is a strange case in that he hasn’t even been keeping for his state, nor has he made a bucketload of runs. But he’s in and he gets his chance after seven years in the Test wilderness — even though his coach Darren Lehmann has made a more recent first- class 100.
Paine is the hunch call, the roll of the dice, and the selectors have opened themselves up to either be geniuses or to cop it.
They really have put their collective cahoonas on the line.
If England are to win this series, their best two players have to play out of their skin.
Root has to have the series of his life with the bat and he will have a few demons from his last visit Down Under when he was dropped and didn’t cope with the pace and bounce of the Aussie pitches.
Jimmy Anderson has to make his last Ashes series in Australia the best he has ever had in an England shirt.
He needs to lead the way with his bowling and especially his body language.
Trust me here, England have a real chance in this series because they are hungry and ranked second in the world to the Aussies’ fifth.
If they can turn history on its head in Brisbane, this could be an epic series because I already fancy the visitors in Adelaide. But none of this happens if the Aussies can literally put the Poms on the back foot from the word go.