Some of England’s big names have touched down in enemy territory as The Ashes fast approaches, with Jofra Archer leading the arrivals in Perth ahead of a big summer.
Archer joined fellow quicks in Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue in arriving in the west on Sunday after spending time in New Zealand for white-ball series against the Black Caps.
The rest of the English squad will make their arrival this week ahead of a warm-up game at Lilac Hill starting on November 13.
Wood and Archer are shaping as the cornerstone of England’s bid to win their first Test on Australian shores in 14 years as they look to win back the Ashes urn.
The fast-bowling duo have had limited preparations ahead of the gruelling five-Test series Downunder and will take the extra time to acclimatise to Perth’s unique conditions.
Archer featured in two one-day internationals against New Zealand, but he has managed only 15 Tests since debuting at Lord’s against Australia in 2019, the series in which he hit Steve Smith in the neck.
Meanwhile, Wood missed the entire English summer through injury and has not played an international match since February’s Champions Trophy.
His last Test came more than a year ago against Sri Lanka.
The pair’s fitness woes will leave England’s selectors sweating over calls of when and where to play them, and if they can play together.
Many believe they should both play in Perth, a notoriously difficult place for visiting teams to win.
However, West Australian cricket great Michael Hussey said they will likely need to rotate through the full series if they are to remain fit.
“I think they will share Archer and Mark Wood. I think one will play one Test and then the other one will play the next one and then go that way,” Hussey told The West Australian last week.
“I might be wrong. They might try and hit Australia as hard as they can in the first couple of Test matches and just see how they go.
“That might be one tactic. The other might be, let’s try and manage it so we can get through the full five Tests.”
Wood and Archer’s injury concerns have done little to dampen the English’s boasting with their camp making it clear they intend to blast the Aussies with pace as they did to good effect in the back end of the last Ashes campaign.
Tongue had his first taste of Ashes cricket in 2023 on home soil, while Gus Atkinson is yet to face off against Australia in the red-ball arena but boasts an impressive early resume with 63 wickets at 22.01 to go with a century against Sri Lanka.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes-mark-wood-jofra-archer-spearhead-early-english-arrivals-in-perth-c-20558273
