First Ashes Test: Stokes can lead from the front in Perth
It is 15 years since England won a Test in Australia let alone an Ashes series down under.
But Ben Stokes and his 'Bazballing' side have been building to this moment ever since Stokes was handed the captaincy at the start of 2022.
Eighteen months of jibes and mind-games will come to a stop on Thursday when England and Australia step out at Perth's Optus Stadium for the first Test of one of the most highly anticipated Ashes tours in recent memory.
Tip 1 – Ben Stokes top England first-innings wicket-taker @ 4/1
Stokes's match-winning century at Headingley in 2019 will go down as one of the greatest innings in Ashes history.
The Hero of Headingley almost pulled off another smash-and-grab at Lord's four years later, when, fired up after the controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow, Stokes cut a man possessed as he just failed to see England home with another inspirational ton.
The England captain's batting will again be key in Australia this winter but it is with the ball that he could have the most impact in the first Test.
Stokes is set to be part of a five-man pace attack for the tourists at the Optus Stadium, where the pitch was dubbed the 'Green Monster' by the Western Australian newspaper earlier this week.
India were dismissed for 150 and Australia just 104 in last year's Test played in Perth and the seamers should get plenty of assistance if conditions stay as they are.
A succession of injuries have hampered Stokes's bowling output for a number of years but he had the bit between his teeth during this summer's home series against India, tearing in and bowling some lengthy, hostile spells.
He is always liable to make things happen with ball in hand and took 17 wickets at an average of just 25.66 apiece.
Stokes has shown on countless occasions that he gets the best out of himself on the biggest stage and he looks a nice price at 4/1 to take most wickets in Australia's first innings in Perth.
Tip 2 – No century to be scored in the match @ 3/1
Batting has tended to get easier as Test matches have gone on at the Optus Stadium, and that seems sure to be the case again given the covering of grass on it at the start of the week.
The highest score in the first two innings of last year's Test between Australia and India was 41, with only two Australians, Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc, scoring over 20.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli both compiled hundreds in India's second innings, but no Aussie made a ton in their second dig and a chance is taken on there not being a hundred in this week's first Ashes Test.
There were only seven compiled during the five Tests in the last series in 2023, four of which came in the first two Tests, and there is enough doubt about both batting units, and the prospects of a spicy surface, to have a small interest on no batter reaching three figures in Perth.
Tip 3 – Travis Head over 32.5 runs in Australia's first innings @ Evens
Steve Smith has so often been the scourge of England and somehow stopping the Australian great will be central to the tourists' efforts in their attempt to win back the Ashes urn.
But Smith is not the only threat in Australia's batting unit and England know all too well the destructive abilities of the man who immediately follows Smith in the hosts' order, Travis Head.
Head started the last Ashes on Australian soil with a sparkling second-innings 152 in Brisbane and scored another ton in the series finale in Hobart.
His five visits to the Optus Stadium have yielded 391 runs and four fifties, with a best of 99 against the West Indies in 2022, and he may shine again in the opener.
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to fluctuation
