Don Bradman was the subject of the first adult book I recall going through as a youngster. In the mind of a primary school student, the injustice of an England's skipper instructing his teammates to hurt a talented Aussie was hard to grasp. And so, similar to countless others, I came to hate England.
Excitement about the Ashes? It goes without saying. The sport's schedule makes this a special occasion to observe two of the world’s best teams test and taunt and tease each other over what we hope will be 25 days of interrogation with the traditional red ball.
According to the celebrated all-rounder pointed out last week at the launch of the ticket draw for the historic 2027 match, the Ashes has a unique appeal. “Historically, everyone in the cricketing world tunes into the Ashes,” he remarked. “It's about heritage, it’s the competition, you know that’s it all flat out.”
In England, those two tightly fought contests – featuring Steve Smith’s mountain of runs and Ben Stokes’ Headingley masterpiece in 2019, and the controversial Long Room incident of 2023 – have met the expectations of what an Ashes contest should be. However, they have not had the equivalent resonance on the Australian shores when half of Australia nods off before the afternoon session begins.
On Australian soil, the Ashes has been more subdued than just uneventful for over ten years. Fans down under anticipate their team to dominate easily, as it has been since the nineties. Scott Boland’s 6-7 at the MCG wasn’t born from a fierce duel, it was English tragicomedy reinforcing perceptions. A genuine contest should not be this way.
The Sport's Commentators Must Now Lean In at the Fading Glow and Fan the Flames
The English team were met in Perth by a tired headline in the local tabloid, “Baz Bawl”, accompanied by a description of the widely respected Ben Stokes as “arrogant”. The paper then had a dig at “Mediocre” Root, aka “Dud Root Down Under”. This sufficed to prompt a predictable Fleet Street reaction, allowing the media to extract every last drop in the lead-up before the first ball is bowled.
In contrast, last year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy between the Aussies and India sparked something all by itself. The spiritual peak was that MCG experience, a memory that will linger forever. The metrics, too, overwhelmed. Over 800,000 attended the five Tests, the fourth highest for any series in Australia and the highest for any non-Ashes matchup. Viewers were captivated, similar to the ratings surge for India’s tour of England this year, and eight sessions drew more than two million TV fans.
Lately, the touching send-offs of two Indian legends at the Sydney Cricket Ground made ODI matches truly significant. Contrast the news title following the last time England came here for a limited-overs series: “Smallest attendance for an ODI match sparks concerns for future of 50-over format”.
India’s Rising Influence
Even though bad weather disrupted the T20 series with India, what play we saw suggests Australia are lagging behind the short form’s global benchmark. For the women's game, at the World Cup last month, the host nation defeated the title holders. The multi-format series kicking off in February-March is primed as a de facto world championship.
One might to overlook the adoring blue, orange and green crowds that gather at India’s matches – across all formats – as a mere result of the huge expat community of the world’s most populous nation. But, to bean counters and television executives, they are an elixir.
India now matters more to Australia than its historical roots, given the nations have in common an ocean, colonial parallels, and growing cultural ties. India will likely overtake the UK, per official statistics, as the origin of the largest group of foreign-born Australian residents as soon. The failing Aukus relationship is driving a realignment of security priorities acknowledging the growing influence of regional giants, a change that long ago happened in the cricketing world.
Greg Chappell, who also led the Indian team, said last week that England was “the classic foe”, but added “honestly, if not for India, the sport would suffer”.
The Final Challenge
Until Australia won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last summer, India had retained it for ten years. In India, Australia haven't triumphed in more than 20 years. Should the hosts win back the urn comfortably this summer, losing the multi-match series in India in the coming years would make this period unfulfilled.
That elusive victory on the Indian soil remains the final proving ground for this generation, and a blip against England this summer – put down to an untimely injury, similar to 2005 and Glenn McGrath’s freak rolled ankle – would only add to the narrative.
England have not won an Ashes Test in Australia for almost 15 years, and as rich as the lore may be, it cannot sustain a one-sided contest forever. Therefore, with a gaudy, engrossing India having only just flown out, Ben Stokes’s players have a lot at stake. Triumph in the Ashes and stay relevant. Or surrender the trophy and with it something that can’t be won back: the claim to Australia’s greatest rivalry. Please England, just be good.
