Ashes’ hunt for legacy
Two-month tour of England can define a generation
Good or great? What‘s it going to be fellas? What’s your ranking? Not simply now, but forever.
A group of senior Australian cricketers who have had wonderful individual careers leave home shores on Friday to define their collective legacy on a tour of England.
David Warner, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Usman Khawaja, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon are champions of the Australian game whose individual numbers stack up against any team of any era.
But every generation craves a gold-studded, tub-thumping signature moment which makes it stand out from the pack. Allan Border’s men had Ashes 89, Mark Taylor had the drought-breaking West Indies tour of 1995 and Michael Clarke the 2015 World Cup win on home soil.
But, Test-match wise, this generation is still craving its supreme moment.
India has beaten Australia in four consecutive series home and away so that ship has sailed ... but there is still much left on the table.
What happens in England over the next two months – with the World Test Championship against India and the Ashes – will, to a large degree, define the imprint this generation leaves on the game.
In a sport where players float through three forms of the game and careers and series flash by with increasingly less relevance, it’s rare to have a two-month period where you can say “ring the bells, wake up the children ... this, ladies and gentlemen, is it”.
If Australia beats India in the World Test Championship then wins a series in England for the first time since 2001 this era can feel extremely satisfied with its balance sheet.
If it fails to do so it will feel, solid results and all, it never quite got to where it thought it would.
The two-decade Ashes drought in England – even though Australia drew the last series to retain the trophy – is bewildering because there has not been a tour in that time in which Australia felt it did not have the team to win.
This time it can be different. For all of the recent glory of their Baz-ball revolution England is vulnerable with Ben Stokes barely bowling, Jimmy Anderson struggling with a groin, Jofra Archer out for the series and Ollie Robinson also battling an injury.
A door has opened and Australia has the team to charge through it but it must play smart for this series could be won in the selection room.
Australia needs to be brave in its choice of fast bowlers. Australia has never liked choosing swing bowlers because it’s not our macho way but Michael Neser has been on fire with Glamorgan and should be part of a three-man pace attack for the WTC given his form and the fact the other bowlers lack match practice.
David Warner will start the summer and Australia hopes he will finish it. It won’t be easy playing on early season English pitches where the weather is likely to provide extra spice. Warner doesn’t have to be a destroyer. If he can average 30 in a country where opening batsmen are being routinely cut down to size it could be a pass mark.
Nothing will be easy. But if Australia can have two good months a fine generation of players can feel satisfied that history will declare they did justice to their talents.