New Year’s Test to close Ashes with WTC points on the line as Khawaja brings his Test career to a close in Sydney.
Fast forward Ashes reaches its final instalment with WTC points at stake in the New Year Test.
It’s difficult to imagine that many of England’s touring supporters would have been genuinely devastated at the thought of a 3-2 Ashes loss if you had polled them back in November, keeping in mind the atrocities they had seen in Australia over the previous 15 years. Ben Stokes and Joe Root leading a triumphant lap of honour at the SCG following the kind of heartbreak from which legends are made would have, at the at least, suggested competition, belief, persistent optimism, and perhaps even a Gazza’s tears-style ending.
On the other hand, the prognosticators would not have ordered this impending situation. Even thinking about how ridiculous it would be for England to win consecutive Test matches in Australia after losing 16 of their previous 18 is obviously getting ahead of ourselves. But what if they did, from the lowest point this trip had reached? What then? Would the athletes be allowed to be proud of their ability to bounce back, or would they always regret the fecklessness that destroyed their earlier dreams of greatness?
And what about Australia, who were so victorious following Adelaide, having destroyed Bazball in just 11 days of play? For a team that had been mocked as Australia’s “worst” since 2010–11, the opportunity to deliver a third whitewash in six home Ashes had been a very real and compelling motivator going into the fourth Test. However, after a two-day defeat at the MCG that cost Cricket Australia an eight-figure sum and brought much-needed scrutiny to a team whose weaknesses England had so obviously failed to exploit at the sharp end of the series, that idea has now been banished, and in an uncompromising manner.
Admittedly, Usman Khawaja’s choice to end an 88-Test career has lessened some of that pressure. Khawaja debuted for Australia in the fifth and final Ashes Test at Sydney fifteen long years ago. Up until last week, this match had been England’s most recent victory in the nation. At the age of 39, he has read the runes and made the decision to take ultimate control of his story following a crazy mid-series break in Adelaide.
Regarding England, even though Ashes tours usually signify more endings than beginnings, there has been a perception—especially following the MCG victory—that a larger portion of this team’s composition will endure than their early-tour results might suggest.