There are three Tests still to play, but is the rivalry between
England and Australia gradually evolving into self-parody?
Who doesn’t love a good holiday-season ritual? Weeping through the end credits of Scrooged. Sousing mince pies with brandy cream, and eating them for breakfast. Staying up late on
Christmas Day so you can follow the start of the
boxing Day Test, even though England are already two down in the series and you’ve started to remember why the Ashes is cricket’s most consistently overrated contest.
It’s such a comfort, in our turbulent modern times, to have these traditions to cling to. If there’s a spectre at the feast, a fly in the eggnog, a potential choking hazard in the plum pudding, it is only the sense that a team with England’s considerable resources ought to be putting up a better fight than this. After all, they’re not just letting themselves and their fans down. Think of the
Australian team, who have been waiting all year for a chance to prove themselves after losing to
India. Beating this England side isn’t going to prove anything.