Ashes: England’s attacking pace has evolved under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum

The move towards an attack more suited to Australian conditions began after the appointment of Key, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes in the spring of 2022.

Their first step was to bring back James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who were 39 and 35 at the time, having been left out of England’s previous Test series in the Caribbean.

For all their many qualities, neither was known for their quick pace, and three and a half years later, both England’s leading players retired from international cricket.

This means the seam attack has been cut from 1,308 wickets, with the shoulder injury that forced Chris Woakes into international retirement removing a further 192.

As such, Stokes’ men are regressing with the least experienced bowling unit since that famous victory in 2010-11.

Stokes is the most experienced with 115 Test matches, Mark Wood has been playing Tests for 10 years but injuries have limited him to just 37 matches, and similarly, six years after his impressive debut at Lord’s, Jofra Archer has appeared in just 15 Tests.

However, it is Wood, who last played a Test in August 2024, and Archer, who has made just two Test appearances since 2021, who will be tasked with leading England’s attack.

Perhaps the biggest revelation of the post-Broad and Anderson era, the Surrey speedster took 63 wickets at 22.01 in his first 13 Tests.

Burly South African-born seamer Brydon Carse also impressed, particularly outside off, while Josh Tonge showed a useful knack for taking wickets, though not always with proper control.

Durham’s Matthew Potts is also back in the mix almost a year after his last Test.

Like Archer, this will be the first taste of that quartet’s away Ashes series. But England knows very well that experience alone is not enough to win Tests in Australia.

They hope speed and efficiency will do the trick.