It
meant
the
tourists
went
into
the
series
opener
without
pace
bowlers
who
have
collected
a
combined
1,156
Test
wickets,
and
it
amounted
to
a
gamble.
The
35-year-old
Broad
has
524
of
those
wickets
to
his
name,
yet
in
Ashes
Tests
in
Australia
he
has
only
taken
34
victims
in
12
matches
at
an
average
of
37.17,
strikingly
different
to
his
rate
of
84
at
26.19
in
home
Tests
against
the
same
opposition.
Ashes
Winners
List:
Australia
or
England
–
Which
Team
Won
Most
Ashes
Series
England
captain
Joe
Root
won
the
toss
and
elected
to
bat,
with
Chris
Woakes,
Ollie
Robinson
and
Mark
Wood
chosen
as
frontline
pace
options,
with
Ben
Stokes
also
sure
to
figure
in
that
equation,
backed
up
by
spinner
Jack
Leach.
Root
said:
“We’re
blessed
with
a
very
good
seam
attack
and
a
very
good
squad
out
here
in
that
department
in
particular,
and
it
was
a
very
difficult
decision
to
make.
“But
there’s
five
Test
matches
and
all
those
guys
I’m
sure
will
be
wanting
to
play
a
big
part
throughout
this
series,
and
it’s
important
they’re
all
ready
to
go
when
called
upon
at
any
time.”
New
Australia
captain
Pat
Cummins
said
he
was
relishing
the
tussle,
saying
on
BT
Sport:
“I
feel
great.
Can’t
wait.
The
buzz
has
been
amazing
around
town.”
He
added:
“I
thought
maybe
Broad
or
Anderson
would
play
each
Test,
but
it’s
not
a
huge
deal.
They’re
a
good
XI
and
we’re
going
to
have
to
play
well.”
Australia
gave
a
Test
debut
to
Alex
Carey,
with
the
wicketkeeper
stepping
in
for
Tim
Paine,
the
former
skipper
who
is
taking
time
out
of
cricket
after
the
lewd
text
message
scandal
that
ended
his
time
in
charge
of
the
team.
