England's New Pace Battery Compared to 2005 Ashes Quartet
England’s new pace battery has barely played a handful of Tests together, yet the comparisons are already rolling in from a man who knows what a great attack looks like from the inside.
Marcus Trescothick, interim head coach and veteran of 2005, sees echoes of the Ashes-winning quartet that terrorised Australia in the summer that changed English cricket.
A new four-man engine
Ollie Robinson, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue have driven England to a series win over Pakistan in the first weeks of the post-Ben Stokes era. With back-to-back victories ending a run of just two wins in 10 Tests, they have given a jaded side a fresh, snarling edge.
To Trescothick, the blend feels familiar. In 2005 it was Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff. Now it is Robinson’s relentless precision, Archer’s hostility, Atkinson’s sharp angles and Tongue’s heavy length.
“We do have some real skill, and you look back to 2005 and the sort of comparisons of Harmy, Fred, Simon and Hoggy, you could easily make those sort of comparisons,” Trescothick said. He played alongside that legendary group when England prised back the urn and now, at 50, finds himself overseeing another seam-heavy project before Stephen Fleming takes over as permanent head coach in the winter.
For the moment, he has something every coach craves: four quicks fit, firing and complementary.
“I’m enjoying the fact we’ve got four who are match fit at the moment and we’ve a few [other bowlers] behind it that we’re starting to get ready,” he said.
Life after Stokes – and after spin
This surge has come in the shadow of upheaval. Stokes’ retirement as captain closed one of the most dramatic chapters in England’s Test history. It also pushed Joe Root back into the job and left the selectors wrestling with how to balance an XI without the game’s premier all-rounder.
The solution has been unapologetically seam-heavy. Four frontline quicks, no specialist spinner, and Dan Lawrence offering part-time off-spin if conditions demand something different. It is a stark shift from the Stokes-Brendon McCullum era, when raw pace often trumped all other considerations.
The change has opened the door for Robinson. Once frozen out of Test cricket for more than two years, he now anchors the attack at a very different tempo to those around him. While Archer, Tongue and Atkinson can all push into the 90mph bracket, Robinson often operates under 80mph with the wicketkeeper standing up. He chips away, over after over, his accuracy and subtle movement shredding batting line-ups.
The numbers are outrageous: 23 wickets this summer at an average of 8.3.
“We’ve got a good contrast in what we’re trying to do at the moment,” Trescothick said. “What we do have is three guys bowling at 92 miles an hour, which is really nice to have in your armoury and to have the potency in what you’re trying to do.
“And the more that they play together and the more experience that everyone gets together, then it fits into place to how you want it to be.”
The pressure finally told against Pakistan. It was not just speed, but variety and relentlessness, that dragged England out of their slump and into their first series win since 2024.
Echoes of 2005 – with a warning
With the memories of 2005 never far away, it was inevitable that Michael Vaughan would weigh in. Writing on Monday, England’s captain from that summer poured a little cold water on the excitement.
For Vaughan, the current attack only earns a genuine comparison with Harmison, Hoggard, Jones and Flintoff when it wins a major series. That is the bar. That is the standard.
Yet even he sees the potential. “They are certainly capable of doing something really special, and winning back the Ashes for England next summer,” he wrote.
That is the challenge now being whispered around dressing rooms and commentary boxes. Can this group stay fit, stay together, and carry this form into a showdown with Australia?
Clean sweep first, experiments later
Before the Ashes talk grows too loud, there is a job to finish. England head to Edgbaston on 9 September aiming for a 3-0 clean sweep over Pakistan. The squad for the third Test in Birmingham will be named in the coming days.
Seven quicks were originally picked for Lord’s. Brydon Carse was among them before being removed following an incident outside a nightclub in Derby. With investigations ongoing by the police and the Cricket Regulator, he is not expected to be considered again until those are complete.
In his absence, Sam Cook, Sonny Baker and Matthew Fisher provide the back-up. Between them, they have only four Test caps. Temptation always lurks in a dead rubber to blood new players, to look ahead, to tinker.
Trescothick does not sound in the mood for experiments.
“First and foremost I want to win the series 3-0, and I think if you’re going to do that you want to play the most consistent team possible,” he said.
The schedule has been punishing. England’s quicks finally have four or five days to rest battered bodies and sore backs. Only once the medical reports land will Trescothick and the selectors decide whether to rotate or roll again with the same quartet.
“We’ve got to see how they all pull up from this game,” he said. “Once we know that then we’ll be able to make that decision, but emphasis massively on winning the series 3-0.”
The comparisons with 2005 will not go away. They will only grow louder if England finish the job at Edgbaston and carry this new-found menace into next summer, when the Ashes – and their true measure – finally come back into view.
