England have enough to worry about without second-guessing Australian line-up

England will need to bring quality fast bowlers and pieces to this huge region and they have only two such weapons: 35-year-old Mark Wood and 30-year-old Jofra Archer, both of whom have proven fragile. It would be surprising for both to complete three of the five Tests and they will need to deliver a sustained and consistent performance as a pair to keep the pressure on the Australian batsmen. There are many eggs in the Wood Archer’s basket.

It was normal practice to select a 15- or 16-man squad for the entire five-Test tour, but now teams feel they can prepare the fast bowlers for minimal action. Rock-hard Antipodean pitches are tough on the knees, ankles and back, especially when the challenge is to bowl very fast rather than settle for a medium pace.

Bowling in Australia is not meant to be easy. Mental and physical stamina are vital throughout the 25-day playing period, as is the skill required to execute the wicket-taking delivery. It’s called Testing for a reason.

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England need to re-examine past tours to get to the bottom of why they have often failed to beat Australia twice – a 24-carat requirement to win a Test match. “Matches are won by bowlers, batsmen save them” – the old aphorism was never more true than last year’s India series, where two Tests were won in three days and bowlers from both teams emerged victorious.

It took effective short innings like Konstas MCG’s debut to shift the momentum away from the quicks. If Australia’s curators return to producing traditional five-day presentations that reward hard work, persistence and that extra yard or two of pace, Archer and Wood’s fitness will be supremely scrutinised.

England’s slow bowling options look thin; Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir is supported by part-time players such as Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks, reinforcing the key role that classic pitches can play. Opening wickets covered with thick, green grass like those seen last year will only bring England closer to Australia. Home field advantage has to mean something. Australia are better equipped to overcome a series of defeats.

England have useful tall, medium-fast bowlers in the likes of Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse, and they will be called upon to do the bulk of the hacking work. Ben Stokes will bowl over a bloody stump with one arm if necessary – he would probably treat such a scenario as “just a bruise” – but his ability to clear the keys is perhaps the single biggest factor in this series.

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There are two Sheffield Shield matches left for the home players to fine-tune their preparations. Steve Smith will play for NSW next week, Nathan Lyon will make a third appearance, while Beau Webster will be in the Tassie XI with an ankle sprain. Cameron Green is scheduled to bowl a few overs as he is hampered by a side strain; If he fails to do so, then Webster will certainly play ahead of him.

I turned to modern-day divination to confirm my all-too-human analysis of the sides’ batting line-ups. The AI, itself both flawed and all-powerful, was asked the simple question: “What should Australia’s innings be for the first Test?” The response came within seconds and was, as expected, controversial:

“Shohei Ohtani will open the batting and bowling.”

Yes, of course it is for the LA Dodgers, but wrong sport, AI! Steve Smith was in 4th place and Travis Head was in 5th place, but when Nathan Lyon took 6th place I hit the delete button. Maybe some historical night watchman duties had confused the algorithm.

I didn’t bother with England. They have enough problems without adding AI.