2005 Ashes winner Steve Harmison believes England will regain the urn from Australia this summer if captain Ben Stokes is at his best and has enough firepower at his disposal to cope with such a quick turnaround.
This year's Ashes will be squeezed into a tight 46-day window and Harmison has voiced concerns about players potentially getting injured due to the short break between Tests. Stokes has been struggling with a chronic knee problem himself since becoming captain and recently had to get an injection ahead of the IPL. Meanwhile, bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood have had repeated injury problems and veteran duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad appear unlikely to play all five Tests.
Despite his concerns, Harmison is confident Stokes will be raring to go once the first Test starts at Edgbaston in June and believes England have enough depth in their bowling reserves to beat Australia for the first time since 2015. Speaking to OnlineCricketBetting, Harmison said: "Stokes will be ready. I have no doubt he'll be ready. Even if he's on one leg, he'll be ready.
"When you get given the England captaincy, the first thing you look at, like the football fixtures the first thing you look at is the big teams; when's Man City, as England captain, you look at when are Australia coming to England. This is what you dream of as an England cricketer, to play for your country, but in an Ashes series is massive so to captain it, I think Ben will be ready.
"I hope he has a good IPL, his knee holds up and if it does, I think England will do well. I think England will win the series if Stokes is on form and England have enough bowlers to go through five Test matches and still have the level of quality at a high level."
Harmison also suggested Australia's bowling group is not as strong as England's, stating that could be the difference to winning and losing the Ashes. He added: "If I was Australia, I'd be concerned if one or two of the bowlers, the big guns drop off, is the depth in the pool big enough, I don't think it's as high quality compared to what England's is in our conditions.
"That could be the difference, from a Stokes' point of view, to winning and losing the Ashes. Australia's bowlers, for me on paper, have one of the best bowling units, if not the best, in the world, of Hazlewood, Starc, Cummins, Lyon and Green but Hazlewood hasn't played for a long time, Starc has had his troubles, he only played one Test when he came over and Pat Cummins is dealing with something that Stokes went through not long ago.
"I hope he's fine and he comes over in a mentally good place and he performs. For me, it'll be Australia's bowlers against England's batters and I think that's where the series will be won and lost."
Harmison also drew parallels between the upcoming series and the historic 2005 triumph he was involved in, stating that England are "playing the best cricket in the world" right now under Stokes and Brendon McCullum. "It's very very similar to 2005, I think we'd won 11 out of 12 going into the series off the back of a good One Day series, so hopefully the IPL will be good for our players," he explained.
"There was no football to contest with during the Ashes, Australia had the best players in the world at the time, I think we were the best team in the world. Is it similar to that? Possibly.
"Their bowling unit is a fantastic bowling unit, we've got question marks at the top but their middle order with Labuschagne and Smith is as good as you'll get. They've got some of the best players in the world but I think at this minute in time, England are playing the best cricket in the world and Test matches.
"There's a lot of similarities over that and it's probably the most eagerly awaited Ashes series since 2005. I just hope with it being so short, it's not filled with injuries and it's played at the highest quality. I hope for those six weeks, we get minimum injuries and it's played at a ridiculous high quality and that for me, saves Test cricket."
