#the-ashes

#the-ashes

Unlike Archer, who had completed a five-wicket haul first thing, Cummins was not alone. Indeed, a theme of this series has been how much Australia's bowlers have outstripped their opposite numbers as a collective. Even in conditions that felt like standing in a kiln the breeze akin to a hairdryer their nagging lengths, allied with the extraction of any possible movement, cracked England wide open.

If it feels like the buildup to this Ashes series has lasted 842 days that is because it pretty much has. Test cricket's oldest rivalry resumes on Friday inside Perth's 60,000-seat thunderdome and with it, mercifully, comes fresh fuel for the ever-raging fire. Because on one level the Ashes never really starts or stops. Since Stuart Broad nicked off Alex Carey at the Oval on 31 July 2023 the final act of a dramatic 2-2 draw