The end of an Ashes series is simultaneously chaotic and abrupt.
The nature of Test cricket’s duration means that broadcasters and fans are locked into an open-ended conversation based in hypotheticals that feels perennially unresolved. It’s run from November to January and criss-crossed the continent.
Think about how the agenda has shifted from the start of the series to its conclusion. Is Jake Weatherald the right man to open the batting with Usman Khawaja? Are three rounds of golf acceptable preparation for a Test? How about a holiday in Noosa? Can Australia win without Hazelwood? What about Cummins? What about Lyon? What about Smith? Are two-day Tests an indication that Test cricket is dying? Does one victory vindicate the Bazball strategy that led to a series defeat inside three Tests? If Ben Stokes says Australia is no place for weak men, which teammate does he mean? Do eye blacks actually help you see the ball better? How many hundreds are needed to leave Travis Head at the top of the order?
Constant questions with shifting answers and then: BANG! A confetti cannon goes off with Pat Cummins dressed in full whites, despite not having played for two Tests, holding a replica crystal urn. The circus packs up and it’s over.
If you needed a metaphor for the series within this chaos, it was the ABC’s Jonathan Agnew interviewing Brendon McCullum. Aggers asked the England coach if he was willing to change or whether he would stick to what he believes in? The Kiwi preached a need for conviction and belief in the methods that had just delivered a historic defeat. McCullum strained to be heard over the rapturous applause of Australian fans chanting ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie’ and celebratingthe debasement of the Bazball philosophy. It was sports media installation art.
Ultimately, that must be the epitaph for this series. A cricketing cult exposed under the weight of excellence. The abandonment was clearest in Brisbane as Stokes shelved the carefree, go-big mentality to post a dour half-century before calling his teammates ‘weak men’.
From an Australian perspective, it was a coronation and validation series. Mitchell Starc revelled in the role of lone spearhead with a player of the series performance. Travis Head moved to opener and peeled of three destructive hundreds to cement him as the team’s best bat. Watching Alex Carey keep wicket was akin to viewing a scene from the Matrix only he was catching bullets, not dodging them. The term “nervous tic” gets used to describe Steve Smith’ batting, but it’s actually the opposite a comfortable tic. A zone tic. A flow tic. In the same way that Ricky Ponting’s trademark pull shot told us he was locked in, Smith’s tics denote a man in complete control. Bigger than his batting, his leadership was cool and composed. A man once
banned from cricket leadership, sliding through the back door for a career captaincy moment in the absence of Cummins.
Fans and media assumed this series might be the end for this group of champions. Yet a side often scorned as an ‘almost team’ has a new banner victory and now finds itself with bucket list series presenting in the next 18 months. A sandpaper-gate redemption arc in South Africa. Bangladesh and New Zealand at home. India away. An Ashes return date.
In a series where this historically great team won, but showed signs of physical degradation, you wonder when ‘the cliff’ might come. Best Australian fans enjoy the moment while they can.
Dean Bilton’s excellent ‘what did we take from this series’ below:
