Now that the dust has settled on the events at Cardiff, perhaps it’s time that some perspective was applied. England are not the side that many thought they were and the same is true of Australia. Exchange Cardiff for Brisbane and the same rings true 18 months after the first Test of the previous Ashes instalment.
But while England scraped to safety in Wales, the fact that they fairly cantered to it this time around should at least give everybody a bit more food for thought.
Even though the ever-bullish Ian Botham, in his pre-day four pitch report, stated that England should have no trouble batting for two days, everyone watching, and Botham himself if he was being brutally honest, wouldn’t have paid his words too much attention.
England may save Test matches these days, but not in that kind of style. I mean, Alastair Cook, rather than looking like the bat wasn’t any part of his being, is suddenly leapfrogging the Don?
Whatever next, Jonathan Trott talking in an English accent?
Cynicism aside, it was a fabulous effort and saw the momentum, if any of the post-match analysis is to be believed, shift towards the visitors.
That may be the case looking from the outside, but I wonder if it is the same from inside the two camps.
Yes, England batted exceptionally well to come away with a draw and yes, Australia’a bowling in the second innings looked toothless at best.
But that doesn’t mean that England are now firmly in the ascendancy.
For starters, England, despite reducing the hosts to 140-5 and producing a sustained spell of pressure on the third morning, still conceded close to 500.
And, as seems to have been put to one side, 260 on day one, after winning the toss, is not good enough if Test matches are to be controlled and ultimately won and there was only ever one side with any chance of leaving Queensland with a victory to their name.
So, while I’m loath to dampen my nation’s spirits, there is a need, of which I’m sure they’re aware, of them not getting too far ahead of themselves.
As for the Australians, there is nothing that a change in the bowling personnel won’t go some way to mending.
If Mitchell Johnson is still in the team come Friday morning then something has gone horribly awry. There is a world-beating performance in there somewhere but I wouldn’t want to gamble on it appearing any time soon.
Any captain needs to be offered something resembling control and Johnson offers nothing of the kind.
And while Marcus North will remain at number six and bowl a few decent overs of off-spin, I can’t be alone in thinking there must be a better bet for the middle order plying his trade in the state game.
Those problems aside, there is virtually nothing to choose between the two teams and if the pitches remain flat, one side will have to somehow find a way of bowling the other out twice. If there are any headaches for messrs Strauss and Ponting then this will be the cause.
As an Englishman, my main fear would be that Andrew Strauss’ side fail to capitalise on the get out of jail free card that they cashed in handsomely – and we’re back where we started at Cardiff earlier in the week.
Nil-nil may not reflect the balance of power, but nil-nil it is and scrambling out of the first leg counts for little if the second is subsequently squandered.
This series’ twelfth and final team has a distinct West Indian flavour at the top of the order, and a domineering captain.
While a premature retirement isn’t the solution, he or England want, he may be forced into it if he can’t maintain a long run of matches.
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