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<\/p>\nBrook was recently promoted to vice-captain of England, and his rhetoric upon hearing about the diminishing chances of Cummins starting the Ashes series was typically blunt.<\/p>\n
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England batsman Zak Crawley and India captain Shubman Gill during a spiteful Lord\u2019s Test this year.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cWith him out of their side for the first game, from what we\u2019ve seen, hopefully that plays into our hands,\u201d Brook said at an end of season awards night. \u201cObviously he is an amazing bowler and has been for many years; he bowls at high pace with high skill. But they have a lot of good bowlers, quick bowlers, so we can\u2019t take anybody lightly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe Root, who is coming to Australia as a revered senior player rather than as the harried captain of the previous two unsuccessful touring sides, has not been shy in stating that this is England\u2019s best chance in over a decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely does, if I am being brutally honest,\u201d Root said recently when asked if this feels like his best opportunity to win the urn away from home. \u201cThe thing that I\u2019m most excited about is going there with a completely different approach as a playing group.<\/p>\n
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Zac Crawley at the SCG last time. Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to be able to hit them with something quite different in terms of our bowling attack, and the opportunity to potentially play three or four bowlers that bowl 90mph-plus for a sustained period of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like we are going to go there with the same formula and expect different results. We are going to go there and try and do it in a slightly different way, which is really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether it is Brook, Root or Crawley, all of England\u2019s players will be earnestly hoping that Stokes, their talismanic captain, can keep his body together for five Tests. To that end, Stokes has pushed his men to take the ball away from him at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have full faith he is going to be there,\u201d Brook said. \u201cEverybody in the world knows what he\u2019s like, his character and the way he just cracks on. That is the way the team is built now: everybody keeps going. If you do have a little niggle, just power through \u2013 and that is what he does so well.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere are people off the pitch to help with that side of things, but he told us last year as a group that if he gets into a position like that again, then go up and have a word with him. He wants to bowl long spells and that can sometimes be to his detriment.\u201d<\/p>\n