'England gather their most hostile Ashes bowling attack since 1970'

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Split image with Mark Wood bowling and Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson celebrating

So far, so good.

If at any point in the past year England had been offered the Ashes squad they were able to name on Tuesday, they would have played an extra 18 holes to celebrate.

Moves to assemble this group of players started in the summer of 2024. This will be England's first James Andersonless Ashes tour in more than 20 years. No matter how great a bowler he has been, the absence of an Anderson-style bowler is a sign England's plan has come together.

Too often England have arrived at an Australian gunfight armed only with knives.

Now, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts and Ben Stokes can fight fire with fire. It is probably the most hostile group of fast bowlers England have sent down under since John Snow and Bob Willis were at the forefront of victory in 1970-71, the last time England beat a strong Australia team in Australia.

The first Test on a spicy Perth pitch, then the pink-ball Test in Brisbane will not be for the faint-hearted. England might not opt for a spinner in either and will hope to unleash Wood and Archer together in Perth at least.

They will be box-office slugfests. Somehow, the tourists need to buck their trend of starting Ashes tours awfully and get out of the opening two on level terms at worst. There would be no coming back from 2-0 down.

England say Stokes will recover from his shoulder injury by 21 November, but there will be huge concern over the talismanic skipper's ability to get through the whole series – he has not played a full part in any of England's past four.

Without Stokes, chances of returning with the urn dwindle to almost nothing. Protecting the captain could be another reason to play four frontline seamers in Perth.

The case of Wood is a curious one. The fastest bowler in the world has not played a Test since last August because of elbow and knee injuries. A comeback has been gradually pushed back to the point where he has not played at all this summer. Wood states he is best when fresh and there is a body of evidence to support his theory. He will certainly be fresh in Perth.

Stokes and Wood are the only two bowlers in the squad that have played a Test in Australia – overall only five players survive from the previous tour four years ago, a churn that is to be expected when England's record down under is so wretched.

There are arguably questions about the durability of the entire attack, as all of Archer, Atkinson, Carse and Tongue have had injury problems in the recent past. It was ever thus. Fast bowling is hard work. Archer, the trump card, has shown a recent robustness. It is a collective England could only have imagined in their wildest dreams.

Will Jacks' inclusion as the cover for Shoaib Bashir perhaps reveals the part, or lack of it, spin will play in the series.

Jacks is a batting all-rounder who played two Tests three years ago and has taken only five first-class wickets this year. In being a tall off-spinner, he mimics the qualities of Bashir and the multi-dimensional aspects of his game give England options. He could, for example, cover for an injured Stokes and still allow for the inclusion of four seamers.

Harry Brook's elevation to vice-captain was foreshadowed by coach Brendon McCullum more than a week ago. Though entirely logical given Brook is Stokes' most likely successor as Test captain, it is a blow for Ollie Pope, who now has less to protect him from the challenge of Jacob Bethell.

The Pope-Bethell debate could rumble all the way to Perth, mainly because England missed the opportunity to put it to bed in the summer. They know nothing more about either man than they did in April – Pope missed his chance to nail down the spot and Bethell barely played.

Pope has a career Test average of 35 and almost matched that with 34 in the five home Tests against India. If he does the same against Australia, it would be perfectly adequate.

England need to decide if that is enough, or if they want to roll the dice on a 21-year-old with only one professional hundred, albeit a player who looks like he was built by the batting gods.

The rest of the batting line-up is England's strength. They have pumped coins into the Zak Crawley fruit machine in the hope he pays out in Australia and Ben Duckett is among the premier openers in the world.

Brook has the ability to play a defining role and Jamie Smith's challenge is to stay the course after fading against India, his first five-Test series as a wicketkeeper.

As usual, plenty will depend on Joe Root, who will have to cope with the noise of not possessing a Test hundred in Australia until he finally has one. In Root's defence, on his first tour he was a rookie exposed to a rampaging Mitchell Johnson, and in his next two he was an over-worked captain.

He will arrive in Australia unburdened of leadership, totally at ease with his game and unquestionably the best batter in the world.

Australia legend Matthew Hayden has promised to walk around the Melbourne Cricket Ground naked if Root does not make a century. That leaves pressure on Root, because no one needs to see Haydos striding around the 'G wearing only his cowboy hat.

Much will be made of England's preparation, or lack of it, playing only one red-ball match against the Lions before the first Test.

The low-key approach has served Stokes and McCullum well. England have won the first Test in all of the five away tours in the Bazball era. Finishing has been the problem – they have lost the last Test in four of those five trips. The plan in Australia must be to get ahead, then hold on.

England could be helped by the questions hanging over the Australians. The early rounds of the Sheffield Shield will be used to identify a top three, while there are huge worries over Pat Cummins' back injury. The Ashes could be decided by which captains' body breaks first.

This could be the last Ashes series for all of Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. The mood of a potential Sydney farewell will be dictated by the destination of the urn.

As for England, who knows what might happen after the Ashes? It could be Bazball's finest hour or failure of a finale. Depending on the result and fitness there are some, Stokes included, who may not pull on the Three Lions again.

So, there we have it. Sixteen men charged with bringing the urn home. A captain born in New Zealand, fast bowlers from Barbados, South Africa and Ashington. A public-school opening pair, a middle-order forged in Yorkshire and a spinner discovered on social media.

There are 59 days until 21 November. Plenty of time to sort your schedule.