'I'm not holding them back': England urged to unleash pace duo for Ashes opener

England have been urged to unleash Jofra Archer and Mark Wood for the Ashes opener, despite both quicks battling back from injury woes ahead of the series.

Archer has had a disrupted few years and has been limited in his appearances at Test level, while Wood has been sidelined for 12 months due to a knee injury.

The pair have been named in England's 16-man squad that will travel to Australia next month, but there are no guarantees they will be picked for the match on November 21.

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However, according to Australian great Brad Haddin, selectors would be wise to pick them both if they are fit and ready to go in Perth.

"I can see no reason that you wouldn't play Wood and Archer together in the first Test if they are both fit," he said on Fox Cricket over the weekend.

"I don't know why you'd hold one back – if I'm England, I'm going as hard as I possibly can in the first two Test matches. We know Perth is going to favour the fast bowlers – then you've got the pink ball Test at the Gabba which we know fast bowlers enjoy.

"If I'm England and I've got those two in the shed, I'm not holding them back. I'm letting them out. If they're both fit … I'm picking both of them."

Wood and Archer have only played together once together for England in the red-ball format due to their respective injuries over the years.

The fast-bowling tandem regularly clock in at speeds of 145km/hr with ball in hand, but they won't be alone in troubling a questionable Aussie batting order.

Gus Atkinson has started to establish himself as a quality Test bowler and David Lloyd believes he could play a major role in the Ashes campaign.

"There's a lad that nobody will mention and we've watched him come through the England team - he's absolutely flown through and I think he is a superb bowler for Australia, a bloke called Atkinson," he told SEN Radio.

"He is the real deal. He's about six foot one, gets tight into the umpire, bowls wicket to wicket, line and length, 85-87 miles per hour, deadly accurate.

"He bowls that fuller length, it's something like [Josh] Hazlewood. That sort of bowler who you are not going to take any liberties with him."

Josh Tongue, Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse are the other two seamers in the mix for England, while spinners Shoaib Bashir and Jacob Bethell could feature.

England's 2025/26 Ashes squad

Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood.