England eye rare Ashes chance against depleted Australia

England head into Friday's Ashes opener in Perth with a spring in their step and a golden opportunity to strike the first blow in the five-test series against an Australian team rocked by key injuries.

England have not won a first Ashes test in Australia in nearly 40 years, nor beaten the hosts in Perth since 1978, but their opponents are vulnerable without front-line quicks Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.

Not in selectors' darkest nightmares would the home side ever face the first "Bazball" offensive without inspirational captain Cummins and the metronomic Hazlewood.

Steve Smith will be stand-in skipper, while Scott Boland and uncapped Brendan Doggett are expected to replace the injured duo who boast 604 test wickets between them.

Boland was England's nemesis during the 2021/22 series when he made a famous seven-wicket debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, helping Australia retain the urn with two tests in hand.

But England's batters hammered the Victorian quick on home pitches in 2023, setting up an intriguing showdown on a Perth Stadium wicket promising pace and bounce.

England have played white-ball matches at the 60,000-seat venue but it will be their first test after decades of playing - and suffering - at the WACA across the Swan River.

Their last eight tests in Perth have all been defeats, with the most recent setback a bitter innings and 41-run capitulation in 2017 that saw Joe Root's team surrender the urn.

With only Root remaining from that dismal 4-0 series defeat, Perth will be something of a new frontier for Ben Stokes' squad, most of whom have never played a test in Australia.

England seamer Gus Atkinson, one of their many Ashes debutants, said he brought "no scars".

"I do think it's a good thing that a few of us