This is The Guardian.

Hello and welcome to The Guardian Ashes Weekly. I'm Max Rushton and for the next couple of

months we'll be doing pods during the Ashes as England win yet another test series down

under without any major concerns. Checks notes. Haven't want to test here since January 2011. But there is always hope. This episode is the pilot, so it doesn't count, but we're releasing it anyway to add some intense broadcasting pressure to our panelists. It also coincides with The Guardian releasing its top 100 Ashes players of all time from when it began in the 1880s up to the present day. If it's anything like the top 100 footballers list, the paper does each year,

readers and listeners will not take it too seriously and lose their minds

because WG Grace is ahead of Kevin Peterson.

There is controversy in this list right at the top.

This is The Guardian Ashes Weekly.

Joining me on the panel today, our cricket columnist Emma, hi Emma.

Hi, hello.

Our cricket correspondent, Ali Martin.

Hello, Max. Good to see, mate.

And Guardian Australia's Geoff's Geoff.

Hey, Geoff, you're on this journey for the whole time with me. Thank you.

That's it.

Limburing up, getting ready for a long series, stress fractures have cleared up and I'm good to go.

Good stuff.

You'll find out I just good to go. Good stuff. You'll find

I just want to talk about 2005. You're of course welcome to steer me into the present day. So look, what we're going to do is bring you previews and recaps of all five tests. We'll do a proper preview of the first tests, a bit closer to the first test. But just briefly, Ali, I mentioned it in the intro. We haven't won't want to test here since, what, January 2011. We've got hope this time,

haven't we? There is a little bit of hope. Also, you've got to remember that that last Asher series in Australia, Stuart Broad unilaterally avoided it. So the record's not quite as bad when you factor in. England will be coming out with a fresh game plan. They're going to be doing it differently, you know, whether the results are different as a result with that. Who's to say? But they're certainly coming out with a different approach, hyper-aggressive with a bat, and with a decent battery of fastballers if they can stay fit. So it looks like a solid template for what should be a great series. Yeah, it's a big if that's staying fit. I mean, I guess, Jeff, you know, the news out of the Australia camp is that your mob are all incredibly old. All of them, almost all of them, over 30 years old. Can you imagine being over 30? I certainly can. No, I mean, who can, I have to go a long way back to imagine being over 30. And it seems quite nice in retrospect. But I suppose aside from Cameron Green, everybody is.

But look, you live in Australia now. You know how that works. You watch Geelong win a premiership in

2022 with the oldest team that ever turned out in the grand final. Old blokes win stuff.

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