Pacers have dominated Ashes 2025.
England batter Harry Brook was at his cheeky best during the press conference after the conclusion of Day 1 of the 5th Ashes 2025 Test in Sydney. The batter was asked whether they expected pacers to dominate as much as they have throughout the series.
Australia have consistently churned out pace-friendly decks, which, as Brook confirmed, England didn’t expect, stating that they would have liked to face more spin. While praising Australia’s pace attack for their accuracy, he was confused about how many fast bowlers the home side is playing in Sydney, hilariously adding Marnus Labuschagne to the list while recalling the names.
“Yeah, I was expecting to face a little bit more spin. Something came up on the TV that there’s only been 60 overs or something per side this whole series. In previous years, there were some 260 overs of spin. So, yeah, I was expecting to face a little bit more spin than we have, but their seamers have been outstanding this whole series. They’ve been relentless; they have hit lengths over and over again. So you can see why they’ve gone with five… six (confused) seam attack. How many have they got in there? Labuschagne as well (laughs).”
In the ongoing Sydney Test of Ashes 2025, Australia have employed as many as five pace-bowling options – Scott Boland, Mitchell Starc, Michael Neser, Cameron Green, and Beau Webster – and, as Brook pointed out, Labuschagne can also bowl useful medium-pace if the situation arises. They had the option of Todd Murphy, but Steve Smith explained at the toss that they expected more assistance for pacers in Sydney, forcing them to go with a pace-heavy attack for another time in the rubber.
While Harry Brook cheekily explained the situation, his point remains valid and concerning, as Australia make a massive tactical change with how they play at home. In the ongoing Ashes 2025, pacers have bowled around 86.22% of the total overs and taken 93.61% of the total wickets.
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Fast bowlers have collectively averaged 24.66 and picked a wicket every 38th delivery, compared to spinners, who have averaged 56.55 and taken as many as 87 balls for every scalp. In Melbourne, slow bowlers didn’t bowl any overs, whereas Perth and Brisbane saw only 3 and 12.3 spin overs, respectively.
Among all Australian seasons with three or more matches, 130.3 overs of spin this time are the lowest, and remarkably, the previous season saw the second-lowest (255.3) sets. With neither side fielding a specialist spinner in Sydney, the Ashes 2025 is set to end with a new record – one that was only set last season.
England have been heavily criticised for not employing Shoaib Bashir in any of the games, but the thought process behind the move is understandable: spinners haven’t really been required at all. Even Australia have dropped Nathan Lyon, unarguably the best spinner in the longest format at the moment, for two of four Tests in the rubber, and it’s hard to see how Bashir would have made a significant difference.
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