England v Australia: Three Key Ashes Battles To Look Out For

England face Australia in the first Test of the five-match Ashes series starting at Edgbaston on Friday. Australia are aiming to retain the urn, while England hope to win the Ashes for the first time since 2015. AFP Sport looks at three key battles that will help decide the series.

Broad v Warner

As two of the most outspoken and combative players in recent Ashes history, England pace bowler Stuart Broad and Australia opener David Warner will be at the centre of the drama.

Broad taunted Australia in the build-up to the series by saying he regarded England's 4-0 defeat "Down Under" in 2021/22 as a "void series" because of the strict coronavirus restrictions in place for his team.

The 36-year-old, with 582 Test wickets, remains one of England's key bowlers and will expect to back up his fighting talk with match-winning deeds.

Broad has dismissed Warner 14 times in 26 Tests, but the pugnacious batsman is desperate to end his poor form by frustrating England's Ashes ambitions.

Like Broad, Warner is no stranger to Ashes controversy.

In 2013, he punched England's Joe Root in the face in a Birmingham bar, later describing his behaviour as "inexcusable".

Warner, 36, was handed a year-long ban in 2018 for his role in a ball-tampering scandal related to a Test against South Africa but he has rebuilt his career and now has 25 Test centuries to his name.

However, he goes into the series with just one hundred in his past 34 Test innings as he prepares to lock horns with the bowler he regards as a "world-class competitor".

Broad relishes the "great battle" with Warner just as much, admitting: "I've had to work really hard to expose any kind of chink in his armour because he's been so dangerous."

Australia ready for 'Bazball'?

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