To celebrate the 2019 Ashes series, we've taken 10 cricketers from England and Australia and compared them to past and present Premier League stars.
Joe Root – Virgil van Dijk
Class. There is no better word to describe England’s captain.
It is also the first word that comes to mind when you think of last season’s PFA Player of the Year.
Both men are the rocks upon which their teams are built, and are widely acknowledged to be among the best players in the world in their respective sports.
Skipper Root leads England by example as well as by name, while van Dijk’s leadership qualities have helped transform Liverpool from underachievers into European champions.
Jofra Archer – Raheem Sterling
Just as Archer left the West Indies in favour of England, Sterling left Liverpool in favour of Manchester City.
Both men attracted huge criticism for their decisions, but have now proved beyond doubt that they were right to do so. Archer is a World Cup winner, while Sterling is a two-time Premier League champion.
Similarly, both players have had their characters questioned by the press – Archer for the negative impact that he might have on team morale and Sterling for, erm, daring to buy his mother a house.
Both have come out the other side as key players for their country with a lot of adoration.
Oh, and pace. Let’s not forget about the pace.
James Anderson – James Milner
The year is 2037. Anderson is still opening the bowling for England and Milner is still doing a job in midfield for Premier League newcomers Leeds United.
Just kidding, but you get the idea.
Anderson has been England’s best bowler for years, while Milner has been one of the Premier League’s most consistent performers throughout his career.
The understated nature of both players means they haven’t always been fully appreciated, but that’s certainly not the case anymore.
Stuart Broad – Olivier Giroud
Aside from their dashing good looks, both Broad and Giroud have been undervalued by their sides’ fans.
Broad has taken 437 Test wickets to sit eighth on the all-time list, yet England fans question his place in the team ahead of every single series.
Giroud is a World Cup winner who has won four FA Cups and a Europa League title during his time in England and is somehow still regarded as a benchwarmer.
The inconsistencies in their games do, admittedly, frustrate, but both are capable of moments of brilliance. See Broad’s 8/15 against Australia in 2015 and Giroud’s scorpion kick against Crystal Palace in 2017.
Ben Stokes – Steven Gerrard
Not many people who have appeared in court on trial for affray are also British sporting icons, but both Stokes and Gerrard have done exactly that.
Gerrard’s redemption lay in his consistency and leadership for England over many years, while Stokes’ has come over the course of seven weeks this summer.
We don’t yet know if the latter will go on to have a long and illustrious career as Gerrard’s, but the signs suggest Stokes will be around for a while.
Let’s just avoid the dust-ups in future, OK, Ben?
Jos Buttler – Romelu Lukaku
Explosive. Powerful. Streaky.
Three words which sum up both Buttler and Lukaku who, on their day, are among the best players in the world.
Buttler can decimate any bowling attack with his aggressive, inventive strokeplay, while Lukaku can bulldoze any defence when he is in form.
Questions remain about both players, however. Can Buttler carve out a long Test career? Can Lukaku do it against the very best?
We will find out soon enough.
Jonny Bairstow – Joe Hart
The obvious place to start here is that both are keepers – Bairstow of wickets, Hart of goals.
Both had a choice between football and cricket as teenagers. Hart played youth cricket for Worcestershire while Bairstow spent time in the Leeds United academy.
Both are also known to be touchy characters, with Bairstow accusing the press of wanting England to fail this summer.
Hart’s bruised ego, meanwhile, is seen by some as a catalyst for his fall from grace in recent years.
Let’s hope Bairstow doesn’t follow suit.
Mitchell Starc – Mohamed Salah
It is easy to forget that Salah failed at Chelsea before becoming one of the world’s best footballers for Liverpool.
Starc, meanwhile, struggled to hold down a Test place for Australia in his early career before developing into one of the world’s most-feared fast bowlers.
Salah has won the Premier League Golden Boot two years running, while Starc has taken the most wickets at two successive Cricket World Cup tournaments.
Extreme pace is both men’s main attribute, while their left-handed/footedness rounds off the comparison nicely.
David Warner – Diego Costa
This one is pretty self-explanatory.
Warner is a controversial character, particularly on these shores, with his reputation plummeting even further after the Newlands ball-tampering scandal.
Costa has been similarly divisive throughout his career, not least during his time at Chelsea when he became one of the Premier League’s most-hated players.
But, without those fiery personalities, it’s unlikely that either would be such world-class performers.
Steve Smith – Gareth Bale
When Steve Smith debuted for Australia he was a floppy-haired leg spinner who became a figure of fun for England fans.
When Gareth Bale emerged at Tottenham he was a floppy-haired left-back labelled a bad luck charm for Spurs.
Smith transformed his game to become one of the world’s best batsmen, while Bale’s move up the pitch saw him become the world’s most-expensive footballer.
Both also wear headbands while playing, so there’s that as well.
