The appetiser may be scheduled to take place a week on Saturday, when the age-old foes do battle at Edgbaston in the Champions Trophy, but that contest hardly warranted a mention on the various platforms that may have an interest.
And the plethora of journalists who have interviewed Ricky Ponting since he arrived for his short stint in Surrey’s colours have made no secret of the fact there is only one topic they are interested in talking about and it isn’t whether he’s had any luck on the greyhounds recently.
The Ashes, in case you’ve been on another planet, are coming and England’s thumping of New Zealand in an all-too brief two Test skirmish has whetted the appetite just that little bit more.
Michael Clarke et al may have most of their focus on the upcoming 50-over tournament, but I bet they partook in a touch more than a passing glance at events in Headingley.
And they will, or should, have come to the conclusion that England are in pretty decent shape.
In fact, they only have two issues to deal with before hostilities commence at Trent Bridge in July and that should mean the hierarchy are in a good place.
The problems, if they can be considered to be that, concerns Alastair Cook’s opening partner and the anticipated return of Kevin Pietersen.
The latter, by all accounts, is back practicing with his injured knee recovering as well as can be expected, and the debate surrounding the former will be sharpened when the Surrey man is back in the fold.
It isn’t a wild guess to suggest one of Nick Compton and Jonny Bairstow will miss out and, of what I’ve seen, it has to be Compton who receives an unwelcome phone call from the selectors.
The Somerset batsman deserves a lot of admiration for the way he worked his way into the international set-up through sheer weight of runs in domestic cricket, but his flaws have been too easily exposed in the past fortnight.
His second innings effort at Leeds was the painful 90 minute showing of a man who knows his place is under threat and is drinking in the last chance saloon.
Tense to the point of barely being able to function, the upcoming greater challenges will hardly lessen the load and while he hasn’t let anyone down, his time has to be up.
Joe Root, who has taken to the international game as though he was born to it, is an opener by trade and the argument he is doing well at number five so he should be left alone is missing the point.
Bairstow, while not the most orthodox going around, has something about him and assuming Pietersen comes straight back in, he should be left at six.
Selections-wise, that is about it.
Any talk of two spinners to probe away at the Australians’ supposed weakness against that kind of bowling is wide of the mark as England – even at The Oval, which normally encourages that approach – are reluctant to change a successful formula.
Unless injuries crop up, the XI who take to the field in Nottingham will be the ones who beat New Zealand, with Pietersen instead of Compton.
That constitutes a strong outfit.
The preparation has been as good as it can be in this day and age of muddled up fixture programmes and the tag of favourites, which they were adorned with well in advance, looks more than justified.
That takes care of the hosts and the microscope, once the one-dayers are out of the way, can turn its focus on the relative health of the visitors.
So come on Australia, what have you got?
MervUK
Guest
Root's ODI record to date, Averaging 64. 36 India (A) 39 India (A) 57* India (A) 31 India (A) 56 NZ (A) 79* NZ (A) 28* NZ (A) 30 NZ (H) 28 NZ (H) He averaged 64 from 6 innings in India in all formats with 256 runs, michael clarke hit 286 in 6 innings and was the leading run scorer in India for australia. He's also scored over a 1000 runs in FC cricket in 2013, and is second on the list for most runs in FC cricket this year worldwide, including scores of 236, 182, 179, 104, not including 166 on tour in India in 2012. I think he was around 70 runs shy of 1000 FC runs before the end of May, if he'd have made it only Don Bradman (out of 8 others) would have done it in less innings (7 as opposed to Root's 8). However, as I'm keen to state, stats don't always tell the whole story. I think the excitement has stemmed from the way he's played and his technique no matter who the opposition have been, Kohli and Dhoni were particularly impressed in India. You should have a look at you tube. No matter how he plays in the ashes, he's already shown enough at international level to suggest he's potentially going to be one of the best players England have produced for a long time....
jameswm
Roar Guru
"Joe Root, who has taken to the international game as though he was born to it" Come again? Tanks to the NZ series, Root averages 42. His test scores have been: 73 & 20* v India in Nagpur 4 & 0 v New Zealand in Dunedin 10 v New Zealand in Wellington 45 & 29 v New Zealand in Auckland (88 runs at 17 for the series) 40 & 71 v New Zealand at Lord's 104 & 28 v New Zealand at Leeds Figures flattered by playing at home against the 8th ranked test natiion in the world. He's young and might go ok, but he's taken a while to settle in - if indeed he has settled in.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
I'm not saying Bell should definitely be dropped because there is a lot to be said for consistency in team lineup, particularly against a side in Aus who are all over the shop in that regard. I just sensed that many people are glossing over his struggles. And yeah Patto bowled without rhythm in the 2 ODIs he played in Eng last year. He is yet to find his feet in ODIs, partly because he has had no continuity...he's only played 11 games since debuting more than 2 years ago.
James
Guest
i never said it wasnt life infact im pretty sure i did make allusions to injuries and the ilk being part of cricket, my point was that you should not wish injuries upon the opposition because its in bad taste. you should want to win because your team are better. and the injuries to bishop and patterson are more along the lines of those suffered by watson whilst the injuries that we are talking about are of the unforeseen short term mcgrath out for a little while 2005 ashes type. i assume that no one wishes career ending injuries on opposition players. once a player suffers from chronic injuries that are not an accident but their bodies not being able to cope with how they bowl or bat then they cease to be in the best team.
Dan
Guest
I would agree with you if McGrath had been hurt in a car crash, or punched in the face - and God knows he needed that - but he was injured prepping for a match. That's life, tough titty. By your logic, no one played the best Windies team available after Ian Bishop or Patrick Patterson were injured, so it didn't really count.
James
Guest
i didnt like it, i never want to win because of injuries or luck though with luck i completely believe that luck evens out so if you lose today youll win tomorrow because of it but to lose because you are not against the best 11 is a horrible way to win. win because you are the best on the day not because the opposition wasnt at full strength, thats such a hollow victory. and im not saying its not part of sport, im saying you should never wish for it. the dream should be england and australia both being at full strength, both happy with the teams, both confident. and england crushing them.
Dan
Guest
James - lighten up. I was whooping with glee when McGrath did his ankle in 2005. It's part of sport - he's not wishing them dead. (Are you??)
Aakash ATGM Bhat
Roar Rookie
Well one year earlier pattinson wasnt 'the big thing' that he is now.
Disco
Roar Guru
I agree. His decline is odd.
James
Guest
why is the english having some inexperienced batsmen a bad thing but the youth of australian bowlers, who are mostly equally inexperienced a good thing.
MervUK
Guest
Ian bell doesn't have a problem against pace bowling he's just not been in the best of form, he has more of a problem against high quality spin. He is also perenially under scrutiny in England, and is generally the player the media love to hate the most. However, his place is safe because he's England's technically most proficient batsmen, and he's on a bad trott. Although averages do tell some of the story, they're no replacement for watching a player game in game out. Bell actually looks in pretty good touch, all the batsmen were undercooked in the tests away in New Zealand. Considering he played staggeringly well in the ashes in 2010, why would things been alien to him? Siddle and Harris both played in the last series, for all the talk, pattinson is the only new bowler who should start and bell played him comfortably in the ODIs last summer- everyone did in fact....
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Bell had credit no doubt but over 2 and a half years he has put forth very poor figures. Of particular concern over that period is his returns in Tests when pace was a factor. Over his 8 Tests against NZ and SA he has averaged 28. Against the likes of SL, India and WI he has prospered but that is alien to what he will face in the Ashes.
Blaze
Guest
Not a horrid wish at all.... Plenty of games have been won and lost due to injuries, and god knows the Aussies have had their fair share... All I ask is for it to be shared around... As for being unlucky, that's cricket... Every game depends on luck, electing to bat on a great day, only for cloud cover to roll in, umpire decisions, hell, even the coin toss is ruled purely on luck.... Just time to share.... Just quietly, it doesn't affect me in the slightest if we won back the ashes playing only a grade cricket side due to terrible injuries to the whole English team... But hey, maybe that's just me.
Disco
Roar Guru
I'd imagine Bell has some credit in the bank (with an average in the high forties), and don't forget he batted for many hours to help save England in the third test in NZ; proper Test match batting. I do think, though, Bell needs to turn his good-looking 30s into something of substance.
Disco
Roar Guru
England a different team? Cook, Bell, Trott, Pietersen, Prior, Finn, Broad, Swann and Anderson all played in the last Ashes series! That's 9 out of 11 players. And 8 of them also played in 2009. You claim Australia's bowling is stronger. Fair enough, that's your opinion. There's no evidence or performance against strong sides to back that up, however. As for England having inexperienced batsmen - yes, well. all sides need to evolve and I'd rather selectors be picking actual batsmen in the top six than hit-and-giggle merchants. Watson, for instance, is experienced - good luck with that.
Disco
Roar Guru
What is it, Nudge, that I state ad nauseum? Please be specific. I'm not over-hyping England. But as you say, they're deserved favourites over a side that has failed to beat strong sides since 2009. I actually predicted Australia to win the last Ashes and they ended up losing three Tests by an innings, and I think Australia's batting is far worse than in 2010, which I'd imagine would tell in overseas conditions.
Disco
Roar Guru
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!
Calum
Guest
A lot of good points here. Re Bell - for sure I have no idea why he doesn't get a bit more scrutiny. Let's face it the main potential question mark for England is their batting order. They are going to have to play at least one inexperienced player (Root) maybe even 2. Therefore mo way they are going to drop him. Re aus and how they'll fair - think that saying england are a little over rated and aus are being in danger of being underrated is fair enough. I'm worried that anyone needed botham to point that out! England batting is has looked pretty brittle at times in the last couple of years. so you can see them getting bowled out pretty cheaply a couple of innings. The problem is to win a test that needs to happen x 2 in a game plus your batters need to score runs. Can only see that happening once - so I'm going with 2 or 3 -1 to Engerland. Re commentary, the standard of commentary in cricket is higher than in other sports - not beefy though, he is dreadful. Also, Vaughan is becoming a gen Y version of botham. However it definately still has the old boys club element to it.
pope paul v11
Guest
Australianesque. He's a target for sure.
Nick Richardson
Roar Guru
3 tests is extreme wishing. 3 overs is still wishing.