Who will England pick for the Gabba? The Cricketer's writers make their selections

GEORGE DOBELL, HUW TURBERVILL, SAM MORSHEAD, NICK HOWSON and NICK FRIEND choose the England XIs they'd send out for the first Ashes Test in Brisbane

GEORGE DOBELL

There’s not a chance this will be the team England pick. And without seeing the pitch and conditions, it’s hard to give an informed view. But I’m going for Ben Foakes with the gloves as I’d like to see Jos Buttler given more time off so he can concentrate on being a great white-ball player.

I’m not sure England are going to pick Jack Leach or Mark Wood, either, but five seamers seems like overkill and Leach is a tougher character than sometimes credited. Given how often we’ve bemoaned the lack of pace in England’s attack, it would seem odd not to include Wood on what is normally one of the quickest surfaces in the world.

Broad, Anderson and Woakes could be interchangeable; I’d probably rotate them. Pope scored 80 in his most recent Test and really should be the future of England’s batting. I’d like to see some confidence invested in him.

My XI: Burns, Hameed, Malan, Root, Stokes, Pope, Foakes, Robinson, Wood, Leach, Anderson

^{Ben Stokes}

HUW TURBERVILL

Noah’s Ark might have been handy for England to manoeuvre around Australia for the first few weeks of this tour. At least Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed spent a bit of quality time in the middle in the first warm-up match. Dawid Malan looked good when he made his 70 against India at Headingley after being recalled. He can draw on the experience of his last tour to Australia. Joe Root and Ben Stokes pick themselves.

Ollie Pope ended the Test summer well. Australian pitches should be to his liking. Everybody agrees he has a special talent… now he needs consistency. It’s been the intention for a long time to have Jos Buttler in this series - let’s see if that resolution pays off. England’s attack looks samey, so they have to go with Mark Wood for the first Test at Brisbane and pray he stays fit.

James Anderson picks himself - he’s been Mr Profligate on recent overseas assignments. It will be interesting to see if Ollie Robinson’s bounce and nip will be effective in Australia in the absence of extreme pace - I don’t see why not… Glenn McGrath managed OK. It’s time for Jack Leach to finally get a chance after showing the patience of a saint.

My XI: Burns, Hameed, Malan, Root, Stokes, Pope, Buttler, Robinson, Broad, Wood, Leach

Jimmy Anderson

SAM MORSHEAD

For all the angst over the squad selection and general build-up to this series, there are only a handful of pertinent questions to be answered.

The top five is pretty much a done deal, leaving the big dilemma as Pope or Bairstow at No.6. England clearly fancy Bairstow at present - he was due to play in the cancelled fifth Test against India and appears to be lined up for the role in Brisbane. But that would mean omitting a man in Pope who thrives on hard, fast, true decks and is genuinely the future of England's red-ball side. 

The next question mark hangs over whether or not to play a spinner, but with Stokes fit and firing there is absolutely no need for four seamers at the tail, so Jack Leach gets the nod. It remains incredibly frustrating that a proper leggie is not part of the main Ashes squad.

You would expect Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad to be used in some kind of rotation, and with a day-nighter up next I'm saving Anderson's legs for Adelaide. Meanwhile, if you spend four years trying to put together a pace attack capable of making an impact in Australia, and then leave out the only remaining fit quick, your judgement might be questioned. That's Mark Wood getting the nod.

Finally, there may be some conversation over Chris Woakes or Ollie Robinson at No.8, but I am backing Robinson to lay down a marker in this series with the ball, and though not quite as reliable with the bat as Woakes his impact with the Kookaburra in hand is more important.

My XI: Burns, Hameed, Malan, Root, Stokes, Pope, Buttler, Robinson, Wood, Broad, Leach

Ollie Robinson

NICK HOWSON

Of the eight opening stands worth a century or more since 2016, Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed have combined for two of them. Dawid Malan was one of the few positives to emerge from the 2017/18 tour and he completes a solid-looking top three.

England can show they have learned from their treatment of Ben Stokes by easing the burden on him with the bat. I'd be tempted to play the extra batter in Jonny Bairstow and allow the Durham allrounder to shift down to No.6, with Jos Buttler to follow.

It might be that by the time the series moves to Adelaide they might want to go with the extra bowler, perhaps Chris Woakes or Mark Wood. But managing workloads, particularly that of a player whose played one first-class match since the India tour, is important.

I hope England treat each Test in isolation regarding Stuart Broad and James Anderson and select them based on conditions and fitness rather than trying to complicate matters. I'm all for resting and managing players in the current climate but if Australia are to be troubled these two can't be sitting on the side-lines.

The weather might dictate whether Jack Leach features as a specialist spinner, but this is a bowling attack that badly needs some variety, so I hope he plays. Forget Headingley, Leach proved in India he’s a big-occasion player.

My XI: Burns, Hameed, Malan, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler, Robinson, Leach, Broad, Anderson

Haseeb Hameed

NICK FRIEND

The top five mostly picks itself in terms, with the only real question around the identity of the batting line-up surrounding England’s No.6. Jonny Bairstow appeared to head into the intrasquad game as the man in possession, having been picked in the team captained by Joe Root, while Ollie Pope turned out at No.3 the Lions side.

That seemed a tad harsh on Pope, who finished the first-class summer with a double-hundred and surely hasn’t done enough wrong to have fallen in the pecking order below Bairstow, who was dismissed twice in a day during the practice game, even if that is hardly a great gauge for the two months ahead.

The real questions are among the bowlers: England need to be strategic as to where and when they unleash Mark Wood, while it seems unlikely that Stuart Broad and James Anderson will feature in tandem when the ball is red rather than pink. I would pick Broad at The Gabba, where his record is far superior, but also given his record against left-handers – of which Australia might have as many as five.

The recent Brisbane weather makes for an interesting discussion, though: you’d assume there will be some moisture on display, which might lessen the need for Jack Leach, though I’d implore England to pick him regardless. Conditions might also bring Chris Woakes into the equation, though the fact that Mark Wood will likely be given the week off in the pink-ball Test at Adelaide effectively makes this game an opportunity to let him loose.

My XI: Burns, Hameed, Malan, Root, Stokes, Pope, Buttler, Robinson, Broad, Wood, Leach

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