Don Bradman was the subject of the initial serious read I recall going through as a youngster. To a primary school student, the unfairness of an English captain instructing his countrymen to hurt a brilliant Australian was unfathomable. Thus, similar to countless others, I developed a dislike for England.
Anticipation for the Ashes? That's a given. The sport's schedule makes this a special occasion to observe two of the world’s best teams challenge and provoke each other over what we hope will be 25 days of intense competition with the traditional red ball.
According to Ian Botham reminded us last week at the announcement of the ballot for the 150th anniversary Test, the Ashes has a special charm. “Historically, fans globally tunes into the Ashes,” he remarked. “It's about heritage, the rivalry, you know that’s it all flat out.”
Across the UK, those two recent drawn series – marked by Smith's prolific scoring and Stokes' heroic innings in 2019, and the Lord’s Long Room disgrace of 2023 – have met the expectations of what an Ashes battle should be. However, they have not had the same cultural impact on the other side of the world when half of Australia nods off before the end of the lunch interval.
In home Tests, the Ashes has been less flat out than just uneventful for over ten years. Australians expect their team to dominate easily, as it has been since the nineties. Scott Boland’s 6-7 at the MCG wasn’t wrought in a furnace of competition, it was a comical English collapse confirming a worldview. A true rivalry should not be so one-sided.
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England's squad were met in Perth by a tired headline in the city's paper, “Baz Bawl”, accompanied by a portrayal of the highly regarded Ben Stokes as “cocky”. The publication then had a go at “Average Joe” Root, also known as “Flop Root in Australia”. It was enough to elicit a predictable Fleet Street reaction, allowing the media to extract every last drop in the days before the series begins.
On the other hand, last year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy between Australia and India ignited excitement all by itself. The spiritual peak was the Melbourne match, a memory that will linger forever. The metrics, also, overwhelmed. Over 800,000 attended the five Tests, the fourth highest for any contest in Australia and the top for any non-Ashes contest. Viewers were captivated, similar to the TV bump for India's UK visit this year, and multiple periods averaged more than two million TV fans.
In recent weeks, the emotional if unofficial farewells of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the SCG made ODI matches truly significant. Compare the headline following the previous occasion England came here for a white ball tour: “Record-low MCG crowd for an ODI match raises fears for ODI cricket's survival”.
India’s Rising Influence
Although rain ruined the T20 series with India, what play we saw indicates Australia are some way off the short form’s global benchmark. For the women's game, at the World Cup last month, the host nation defeated the defending champions. The multi-format series starting in Sydney is shaping up as a de facto world championship.
One might to overlook the colorful fan groups that flock to India’s matches – and not just Tests – as a simple reflection of the huge expat community of the world’s most populous nation. However, to bean counters and broadcast bosses, they are an boon.
India now matters more to Australia than its historical roots, given the nations have in common an ocean, shared colonial history, and increasingly their peoples. India is set to overtake the UK, according to official statistics, as the source of the biggest contingent of immigrants as early as this year. The struggling defence pact is prompting a realignment of security priorities respecting the growing influence of Asian powers, a shift that occurred years back in the sport of cricket.
Greg Chappell, who also led the Indian team, said last week that England was “the classic foe”, but also that “honestly, if not for India, cricket wouldn’t be the same”.
The Final Challenge
Until Australia claimed the trophy last summer, India had held it for a decade. On the subcontinent, Australia haven't triumphed in more than 20 years. Even if the hosts win back the urn easily this summer, losing the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India in the coming years would make this period incomplete.
That elusive victory on the Indian soil remains the ultimate test for this generation, and a blip against England this summer – put down to unfortunate bowler injury, just like past incidents – would only add to the narrative.
England have not secured a victory in Australia for almost 15 years, and as rich as the lore may be, it cannot sustain a lopsided rivalry forever. So, with a vibrant Indian team having recently departed, Ben Stokes’s players have a lot at stake. Triumph in the Ashes and stay relevant. Alternatively surrender the trophy and with it an irreplaceable asset: the claim to being the top opponent. Please England, raise your game.
