Constant effects of Covid would have meant any other series being called off by now
![Ashes show will continue because there’s too much money at stake | Geoff Lemon](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e4d09140bfa2500ba7c21570e7cb251a4f358db2/0_83_3500_2099/master/3500.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=4cba8612fdc73dd84f9e2ee2af20bbe7)
As the
Sydney Ashes Test rolls to the start line, the conversations about selections and form and conditions do not really matter. What matters is that it is miraculous this match is going ahead.
England have almost an entire coaching staff wiped out by Covid. Australia have lost their Brisbane century-maker Travis Head, with three players named as cover. The
Cricket Australia chief executive, Nick Hockley, is out and Glenn McGrath will miss at least part of his foundation’s fundraising efforts. In
Australian domestic cricket, Big Bash teams are losing quorum to the virus. Yet the show will go on.