30 July 2019, by: The Popping Crease

THE ASHES: CAN ENGLAND’S WORLD CUP HEROES DO IT AGAIN?

One of Test cricket’s greatest rivalries resumes this week, as England and Australia commence the five-Test Ashes series at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

Both Jason Roy and Ben Stokes were integral parts of England’s World Cup success. Can the pair deliver on the ultimate stage in the longer format?

It’s been no secret the troubles Ben Stokes has found himself in during his career and the misery he’s caused the England team. There seemed to be a “bad boy” mentality that was seemingly growing in the team, and Stokes was often at the heart of it.

To his credit, since his return to the team after his Bristol nightclub incident, Stokes has seemed a different player. His IPL campaign was underwhelming scoring just 123 runs in his 9 innings at an average of 20.5, and taking only 6 wickets at the average of 31.5.

Thereafter his performances in the Cricket World Cup were highly impressive, scoring 465 runs, which included five, often very important half-centuries. His performance in the final was exceptional. He showed real maturity as well as heart, it was an intelligent innings.

That’s the key here, Stokes has realized the responsibility on his shoulders. He isn’t just there to attack, his role is far more important and his recent performances indicate a deeper understanding of his role.

His unavailability was glaringly obvious in the previous Ashes series in Australia at the end of 2017. Stokes was not available for selection and Australia won that series 4-0.

Stokes was, however, present in England’s 2-1 Test series loss to the West Indies, earlier this year, scoring 186 runs at an average of 37 and picking up 10 wickets. He is an essential member of the team, and if Stokes has a good series, England will likely have a good one too.

Australia enjoy bullying the opposition, they love to be in control. Stokes is definitely someone in the England team that won’t shy away from a confrontational Australian unit.

Jason Roy received a call up to the Test team after his heroics in the Cricket World Cup, which England famously won, on home soil, in bizarre circumstances.

Roy had a phenomenal World Cup campaign, scoring 443 runs at an average of 63, which included four half-centuries and one century. He has also been cited as the catalyst to England’s resurgence in the one-day game.

Test Cricket, however, is, and absolutely should be more difficult. While Jos Buttler has made the transition from limited-overs Cricket to the Test arena fairly well, there are no guarantees that it will be as easy for Roy.

Coming from the World Cup, in often batting-friendly conditions, and also smaller grounds too, Roy will have to adapt quickly to the rigours of Test Cricket against a quality Australian pace attack.

It is called Test Cricket for a reason after all, and it will be a useful test of Roy’s abilities as a cricketer to see how fast if at all, he does adapt. Roy made his debut against Ireland last week in the one-off Test, which commenced England’s Summer of Test Cricket.

He had a shaky start, lasting only 11 deliveries in his first Test innings, and scored only 5 after England were bundled out for 85. He then scored his maiden Test fifty in England’s second innings, which impressed enough to earn him a place in the first Ashes Test squad.

Being an opening batsman in England is a genuinely tough prospect. It takes skill and technique to survive and we’ve seen many a cricketer try and fail. It will be a rigorous assessment of Roy’s ability and technique in challenging conditions, with little scoring opportunities against an aggressive bowling attack.

Time will tell if he can rise to the occasion like Buttler, and use his performances in the ODI game to further his career and become an all-format cricketer, or just fizzle out and become a “limited overs specialist”.

Roy will open the batting in the 1st Ashes Test in Edgbaston on August 1.