It’s no coincidence the two best Ashes series this century were both played in England.
It’s also no coincidence that the most memorable Ashes moments during this time are almost exclusively on English soil. Edgbaston 2005, Old Trafford 2005, The Oval 2005, Cardiff 2009, Trent Bridge 2013 and now Headingley 2019 – all thrilling, gripping, spellbinding examples of test cricket at its absolute zenith.
Can Australia lay claim to any in that category, this century? Adelaide 2006, sure. Shane Warne bowling Kevin Pietersen around the legs, Mike Hussey stroking the winning runs off Jimmy Anderson through the covers. A famous Test match, undoubtedly. But beyond ‘Amazing Adelaide’, are there any more?
Any more that – as is the barometer for sporting spectacles – one may convey to the grandkids in years to come? Hardly.
Granted, Australia has dominated recent Ashes series on home turf, whereby the one-sided nature of the series may not have lent itself to the epics we’ve seen in England. But this is just one of several reasons why Test cricket in Australia, on the whole, has in recent years struggled to reach the blink-and-you’ll miss spectacle consistently seen in the UK.
Does England have a mortgage on classic Ashes moments. (AFP PHOTO/ALESSANDRO ABBONIZIO)
The difference in using the Dukes ball versus the Kookaburra is the first and obvious reason for the discrepancy. The Dukes’ pronounced seams keep seamers in the game for longer – a fairly simple formula for closer contests – while the Kookaburra’s comparatively lesser, softer seam often ceases lateral movement off the pitch within 15 overs of first use.
Ball generally dominates bat in the UK, while the opposite effect is usually seen on these shores. “I feel like it stays a bit harder than the Kookaburra and it seams more,” Josh Hazlewood said of the Dukes pre-series. “You feel more in the game I guess bowling with one, from a bowler’s point of view.”
And so it proved in the series. Steve Smith and Tim Paine’s 145-run stand at Old Trafford was the highest of the series. Bowlers were always in the game, rarely appearing without answers (aside, of course, from when Smith was at the crease).
The pitches at all five venues are also to be commended, offering a fair contest between bat and ball. Contrast that with the diabolically placid Test pitches prepared at the MCG in recent years, and the difference could hardly be greater. The WACA and SCG roads offered up in the 2017-18 Ashes were nowhere to be seen in the last seven weeks.
As rain fell on day one at Headingley just four weeks ago, Channel Nine eventually decided – after an admirable amount of padding by Lisa Sthalekar – to show highlights from the WACA Test of the 2013-14 Ashes.
Up until the delay, David Warner and Marcus Labuschagne had been battling against a seaming Dukes under heavy skies, Jofra Archer steaming in to the rising noise of the Headingley faithful.
It was Test cricket, as the commentary felt needed repeating, ‘at its best’. But as the rain set in and Nine took us six years back, the contrast was jarring.
Not just because the game was being played under the typically bright blue skies of Perth, and nor because Australia were, contrary to the present, batting with ease. But watching the highlights back, the conditions offered nothing for the quicks and spinners.
The Kookaburra was being flung gun-barrel straight at the batsmen by bowlers hoping for a mistake rather than forcing one. It was ‘mow the lawns and come back to it’ Test cricket. What was happening in Leeds, by contrast, was the cricket where toilet breaks could wait.
Of course, the uniqueness of playing cricket in different climates is what makes Test cricket great. The challenge for visiting England sides coming to Australia is markedly different than the Test Australia faces in the UK. Visiting bowlers know they must toil longer and harder on these shores to taste success.
But the simple fact is, that Ashes cricket at present is invariably more exciting in England when compared with Australia.
They’ve got the formula right, and we can only hope that in two and a half years when we do it all again, Australia might one day host its own ‘Headingley 2019’.
Pom in Oz
Roar Guru
The pitches offered up in Oz are a disgrace. Bland roads! Hopefully, the ICC will eventually strip a venue, such as the MCG, of test status to make a point! There is so much bias to batsmen over bowlers it's ridiculous!
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Not likely. As the pitches are regularly rolled to maintain and prepare them for matches, the compacting would be the same. Even the deeper 12" trays prevent root system spreading and the traditional pitch deterioration over 4 or 5 days.
redbackfan
Roar Rookie
what were the kooka/dukes stats for the shield season? my recollection was there was surprisingly little difference . happy to be proven wrong.
Brian
Guest
Except when England won here it also wasn't as exciting. Cook batting for hours with the ball doing nothing. Here there just isn't the threat of 15 wickets in a day that you seem to get in South Africa or England.
Perth Wicket
Roar Pro
Excellent points, David. And, what's more, the dourness of Australian wickets is a contributing factor to Australia's lack of success overseas. Batting is far too comfortable down under. So, when conditions are not favourable to batsman as David Warner knows all too well, the Australian's struggle immensely. Continuing to use the Dukes ball in Shield cricket is a positive step forward. But more impetus in creating juicier wickets needs to happen too. The results might mean less Australian wins. But give me a tight series over a whitewash any day of the week.
Bee bee
Guest
Could the solution be as simple as just banning rollers on drop ins during the game?
Charlie Turner
Guest
Why are drop in pitches so benign? Surely it's possible to develop a pitch off site that would mimic the original WACA or MCG? The MCG was always a mystery bag so that may not be easy but the WACA played the same way for decades.
Tony Tea
Roar Rookie
You mean the 2010-11 Ashes? I don’t remember Ponting getting a ton. 50, tho. But I agree with your point. That pitch was a fiasco.
RAGAV
Roar Rookie
The main reason for close and thrilling test matches in England is that Australia fight hard even when they are playing in unfavourable conditions. England, on the other hand are good in England and terrible in Australia. This is reflected by their mediocre performance in Australia in the entire Test history. England, more often than not lose, lose terribly and the wheels come off their train once the tour starts going downhill. Standard flat batting surfaces in Australia are commonplace only in the last decade or so. Before that, each venue was unique and Australia dominated most of the opponents who visited their shores. This phenomenon is somewhat similar to Australia - India test matches in India too. Starting from 2001, in almost every tour of India, Australia competed very well with most tests lasting the distance and the winner emerging only in the final session or two. The tour of India in 2013 was a disaster due to Homeworkgate and new Australian team with less experience. Other than that, the tests were closely fought in India because Australia gave a tough fight in adverse conditions. When India came to Australia and faced full strength Australian squad, most of the time, it resulted in one sided matches because they are not as good as Australians in fighting back when faced with backs to the wall situations. Remember India lost 0-4, 0-4 to England and Australia in 2011-12 with one of their strongest teams in Test history.
DTM
Guest
Dom Sibley is just outside the England squad and played in Perth (at Midland Guildford) 2 years ago. Steve Parry was an England ODI player also played there and of course Alex Stewart played a few seasons. That's just 3 off the top of my head in one club in WA. There will be plenty others that we don't hear about - mostly up and comers. Part of the problem is that they will get Aus conditions but they are unlikely to get any games at Optus Stadium in Perth as no grade matches or even shield matches are played there.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Kookaburra just need to ignore what CA want and make decent balls again
Bee bee
Guest
Are the people at Kookaburra capable of raising the seam slightly. Seems like a simple solutions to Australia’s sudden increase in roads are easily found. Increasing a seam and juicing a pitch up are not complex achievements. Making pitches batter friendly to suit tv and make games last the journey is the issue.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
I would also hate to see a drop in pitch at the SCG despite the whining of the AFL about the poor condition of the square for their matches. Drop in wickets to-date have drastically changed those iconic tendencies of our test wickets. The reality seems to be based around how the trays used for drop in pitches prevent the root systems from spreading as far or as deep as in traditional pitches. This results in more compacting with every use of the roller, making pitch deterioration a forgotten thing. The MCG is the perfect example of this. It just gets better and better to bat on with every passing day. To provide a contest between bat and ball, the curator has to prepare such a green top that the game is over inside three days, which doesn't help attendance figures. Hopefully, before the SCG is forever changed, a drop in pitch should be trialled at, say, North Sydney oval to see if the climate makes it a successful project. Better yet. don't do it!
Bee bee
Guest
Why do drop in pitches automatically mean a road? Surely we are advanced enough as a species to learn how to juice up a drop in pitch? Who is preparing these drop ins?
Micko
Roar Rookie
Yep, remember that debacle when the Gabba was a road in the ashes on day 5 heading for a boring draw, and Ponting scored a hundred in front of like a thousand people with most of them being the barmy army!
badmanners
Roar Rookie
Mason Crane is the last English player I can think of who would have played on one of out test grounds but not in a test match in long form cricket? Yes, certainly some players come out here for the summer but first grade isn't first class.
Nudge
Roar Rookie
Unless England are here
dungerBob
Roar Rookie
Lol. Actually, I'd take 1-0. That would probably mean a boring series full of draws but that's marginally better than an exciting series loss. Maybe.
George
Guest
"It is about the survival of test cricket. Unfortunately, test cricket in Australia is boring as bat dominates ball most of the time." Spot on.
Stalinski
Roar Rookie
While I have an agreement that these are our conditions and opponents should have to adapt it's worth remembering that the flat roads are relevantly recent in Australian cricket. One of the great elements of the longer test tours was watching players adapt to the variety of surfaces on offer within Australia & the examinations of technique that the true greats applied, say like Smith and Broad just now in the UK. Perth with bounce & pace and the Gabba the same, often refreshed overnight with storm rains. Sydney during it's insane spinning years, Adelaide giving some relief for the batsmen while still rewarding the bowler who persevered then Melbourne for the expectation that maybe, just maybe, this year we'll actually lose one of the shorter batters in the cracks. The true beauty of cricket is in the variety available. Sports played on perfect pitches ultimately, for all the great skill & athleticism, become a simple pursuit for statistical superiority while in cricket a score of 5 off 95 deliveries can be as important, and as gripping, as a quickly hit ton. Different players are afforded their time & place.