Australia and England will resume their celebrated rivalry in Tests on Friday (June 16) when they take on each other in the first Test of the five-match Ashes series. The series-opener will take place at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Australia are the reigning Ashes champions and have not lost the series since 2015. In 2017/18 season, they reclaimed the urn at home before drawing the series in England in 2019 to retain it. It was followed by a an impressive 4-0 series win at home in 2021/22 season.
Pat Cummins and his teammates are high on confidence after winning the World Test Championship Final against India earlier this month and will be looking to retain the Ashes. It, however, won’t be any easy task against an English team that has completely redefined Test cricket in the last one year or so. The Ben Stokes-led side has been playing aggressive cricket in Tests since last year and have been really impressive.
With both the teams high on confidence and in good form at present, one can look forward to another iconic Ashes series. And as the Ashes is about to get start, we are taking a look at some major milestones that can be achieved by players from both the teams during the series.
- Star batsman Steve Smith will have the opportunity to complete 9,000 Test runs in the upcoming Ashes. The right-handed batsman has scored 8947 runs in Tests so far and looks destined to break the 9000-run mark in England. He also needs two more centuries to go past Steve Waugh’s tally of 32 Test tons.
- Steve Smith can also complete 2000 Test runs in England. Having scored 1882 runs so far, he needs just 118 runs to achieve the landmark.
- The former Australia skipper can also become the third highest run-scorer against England in Tests. He has scored 3044 runs against England so far and can go past Steve Waugh (3200) and Gary Sobers Indies (3214). A good campaign can also see him go past Allan Border who has scored 3548 runs and get to the second spot behind Don Bradman (5028).
- England batting mainstay Joe Root is also on the verge of a big milestone. He needs 320 runs to complete 6000 Test runs at home.
- James Anderson will have an opportunity to add another feather to his illustrious cap. The veteran pacer needs 15 wickets to become the first pacer and only the third bowler to take 700 wickets in the longest format of the game.
- Anderson’s bowling partner Stuart Broad will also have the opportunity to complete 600 Test wickets in the series. He needs 18 wickets to achieve the feat.
- Australia spin spearhead Nathan Lyon needs 13 wickets to complete 500 wickets in tests.
- Moeen Ali, who has come out of retirement to play in the Ashes, will have a chance to achieve an incredible milestone of 3000 runs and 200 wickets in Tests. He needs 86 runs and 5 wickets to achieve the double.
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