India, Nov. 19 -- Australia might be walking into this Ashes with their weakest XI in 15 years - and still walk in as favourites. That contradiction is exactly where this series lives.

England arrive with what even neutral observers are calling their strongest Ashes squad in years, but they are up against a side that hasn't lost an Ashes series at home since 2010-11 and has run up a brutal 5-0, 4-0, 4-0 streak in the last three home editions.

Let us start with the age column of the current Australian squad. Cameron Green is the only player in his 20s; everyone else belongs to the 30-plus club.

This is effectively the last big stand for the Smith-Starc-Hazlewood-Lyon-Khawaja generation. The batting core is creaking: Marnus Labuschagne h...