"Pace isn’t everything" - Nasser Hussain issues big warning to Ben Stokes' England ahead of Ashes series in Australia

Former England captain Nasser Hussain reckons that pace alone won't make any difference if England wants to create history in the upcoming Ashes, to be played in Australia. The next Ashes series will be played at the end of 2025 down under and England have already started preparing a team for the historic trophy.

Recently, before the first Test between England and West Indies, England captain Ben Stokes mentioned that they are building a team with next year's Ashes series in mind. England last won an Ashes series in 2015 at home when they beat Australia 3-2 in a thrilling series. Since then, Australia have been retaining the Ashes.

When it comes to the Ashes series in Australia, the home side has been extremely dominant. England haven't even won a Test match in Australia since 2011. The margin of their defeats is more concerning as they have lost 5-0, 4-0, and 4-0 over their last three visits down under.

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"Pace isn’t everything" - Nasser Hussain warns England ahead of Ashes 2025

In his column for the Daily Mail, Hussain warned England that just having a high pace won't make any difference as England will need the skill to complement the high pace. He named Gus Atkinson and Mark Wood as the two bowlers who are certain to go to Australia.

"Pace isn’t everything, of course. Go to Australia and spray it around and you will go around the park. The ideal combination down under is pace and skill, as Gus Atkinson showed in the first match of the series and as Mark Wood, despite not taking the wickets he deserved, did here. England can’t afford to get to Australia and then say ‘same old, same old’. You need to find out an answer in advance," Hussain wrote in his column.

Gus Atkinson recently had an excellent outing in James Anderson's farewell Test at Lord's. It was Atkinson's debut Test match where he picked up 12 wickets to be adjudged Player of the Match. Meanwhile, Mark Wood bowled a breathtaking spell in the second Test but was unlucky not to pick up wickets. Both Atkinson and Wood are known to bowl with high pace and could play a key role in the fast and bouncy pitches in Australia.

Nasser Hussain lauds Shoaib Bashir

Nasser Hussain also lauded Shoaib Bashir for his brilliant spell of off-spin bowling on Day 4 of the Test.

"Having one eye on the present but also one on the future is why England have gone for Shoaib Bashir. Not since Muttiah Muralitharan in 2006 had a spinner taken a five-for in a Test in Nottingham. And he got his rewards because he did the two things you want to see from your off-spinner — he got lovely drop on the ball to take the left-hander’s edge for the dismissal of Alick Athanaze and bowled Jason Holder with a beauty. It will have done him, and all the England bowlers, some good playing here."

England defeated West Indies in the second Test by a huge margin of 241 runs. At one time, the match was even with West Indies claiming the first-innings lead. But England's batters brought out their Bazball style of play to post a huge third innings score on the board.

Chasing 385 to win in the fourth innings, West Indies lost steam as they were bundled out for just 143 runs in their second innings. Shoaib Bashir picked up 5 wickets for England while Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson picked up 2 wickets each.