The Ashes aflame once again

provide stability at the back. Silva and Grealish have excelled in spring, and will look to bring that into the final, while Erling Haaland and Ilkay Gundogan are expected to make the headlines. The Norwegian is on track to fight for the Ballon D’Or, and a Champions League Final may do the job, while Gundogan potentially looks to be City’s X Factor in Istanbul. Guardiola has learnt his lesson too. City’s coach terminated all experiments, sticking with his fixed XI in the UCL this season. There is no stopping the Sky Blues in my eyes. Inter have the pressure lifted off their shoulders, while City could crumble under overwhelming expectation. Istanbul is ready to uncover all the answers. Will Simone Inzaghi and his men provide one of the biggest upsets in Champions League history or will Pep finally break his 12-year drought, simultaneously bringing the European crown to the Sky Blue side of Manchester. Let’s give this detailed preview of the match a simple conclusion — my money is on Man City.

Billy Densham collects his thoughts ahead of the most exciting Ashes series since 2005

IS this the last ever Ashes preview? It could well be, but these are the talking points ahead of a defining series.

When England lost to Australia on home soil in 1882, The Sporting Times printed a mock obituary of English cricket: "The body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia". In the 141 years since then, The Ashes has become steeped in rivalry, tradition and drama.

This time round it’s not just English cricket on the chopping block, but Test cricket itself. With the balance of power shifting towards shorter formats of the game, the five-day format faces being drowned out by the franchises of the IPL. Some are fearing that this may be the last ever Ashes. It may be too dramatic to proclaim the 2023 Ashes as Test cricket’s last hope of revival, but if it was ever needed, this series is set up perfectly. A showcase of the very best players in the world may show why Test cricket is still the pinnacle.

The Australians will be desperate to prove that Bazball, England’s new ultra-attacking style of play, doesn’t work against them. Ben Stokes’ team will have their work cut out to swat away the world-class bowling attack and starstudded Aussie batting line up, in the same way they have with almost all the teams they have played in this new era.

The major news dominating the headlines since England’s comfortable victory over Ireland is the injury to spinner Jack Leach, ruling him out of the Ashes, putting the squad into tailspin. Aside from his heroic one not out at Headingley in the 2019 Ashes, Leach has developed a great connection with Ben Stokes, playing in every game during Stokes’ captaincy.

While there were worries that Leach would be under pressure from the elite Australian batting lineup, he could prove to be a huge loss. Moeen Ali has come out of retirement to join the squad and is expected to play. Ali hasn’t played Test cricket for two years, and will come into the series undercooked.

The England batting lineup picks itself, the only controversy the exclusion of wicketkeeper Ben Foakes, and it is difficult to argue with his replacement Jonny Bairstow, who averaged 76 with the bat in 2022. The makeup of the bowling attack is far less certain. All-time greats Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad are joined in the swing bowling ranks by Ollie Robinson, who is likely to shine in this Ashes. Mark Wood offers express pace, an area in which England are struggling, following injuries to Jofra

Archer and Ollie Stone. The selection dilemmas will cause debate, but with 5 tests in 6 weeks, all bowlers are likely to feature at some point in the series.

Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne exhibit similarly bizarre mannerisms, their other similarity their ability to pile runs on the scoreboard. Jofra Archer and Steve Smith faced off in 2019 in one of the most exciting passages of test cricket ever, culminating in Smith having to leave the field with concussion. Without Archer, England may struggle to remove veteran Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, who has burst onto the scene since the last Australian tour of England. Both Labuschagne and Smith arrived early in England to play in the County Championship, and there have been murmurs that county sides should not have offered an overseas place to Australians, giving them a chance to adjust to English conditions. If the English bowlers do manage to remove Smith and Labuschagne cheaply, there is plenty more talent in the Australian line-up to cause problems. The England bowlers will need to be on top of their game and Ben Stokes will need to show more of his exceptional captaincy in the field. The England batters, with their new-found freedom, can score 600 in a day, but Australia can score 650 in a day and a half. Last summer the Duke’s ball did nothing after the first dozen overs, it looked the same way against Ireland, and we could have days of watching Steve Smith fidgeting. We will also have days of Brook and Bairstow crashing the ball to the boundary. England need some magic from Jimmy Anderson, pace from Mark Wood, key wickets from Robinson and of course, one of those iconic leg pumping spells from Stuart Broad. It will come down to the team that can get wickets out of nowhere at crucial times. The brain of Stokes against the brawn of the Aussie quicks. My money's on Bazball to be too much to handle for the Aussies, but only just; England to win 3-2 at the Oval!