Six-part show may serve as PR for Australia in the aftermath of scandal, but it adeptly chronicles a dramatic 16 monthsFrom the aftermath of their 2018 ball-tampering meltdown through to last summer’s Ashes defence, Australia’s male cricketers were followed by a camera crew. Net sessions, team meetings, coach journeys, the dressing room – hundreds of hours of access-all-areas footage were shot inside the team bubble.Those 16 months have been edited down into an eight-part documentary series for Amazon Prime entitled The Test: A New Era for Australia’s Team, which begins this week. It is a hefty slab of work, the production values of which point to the director Adrian Brown’s team being deft operators and remind you how burnished cricket’s...
Bound by idealogical shackles, next year’s World Cup hosts have often found themselves playing catch-up with the leading nationsAs the Australian men’s team launched into their home summer over the weekend, powering their way to a T20 victory over Sri Lanka, one could almost hear the faint echoes of distant summers past.A sunny afternoon. A clinic of muscular first-innings batting, personal milestones, and sympathy for the opposition bordering on mild condescension. Then the innings break, when you ask, “is there a game here?”, during which time brutish Australian quicks have already stung the bodies and claimed the wickets of hapless top-order fodder in fading light, while commentary reminds us that they “must adjust to the bounce in Australia”. Related: Australia...
Smith’s majesty, Archer’s mastery, the miracle of Headingley: our writers give their verdicts after an extraordinary Test seriesVic Marks There’s no room for smartarsery here. It has to be Steve Smith averaging 110 in a bowlers’ series. Without him Australia would surely have lost the Ashes. Related: Five steps England must take to regain the Ashes in 2020-21 | Rob Smyth Related: Weary Steve Smith is just for once unable to rise to the occasion | Geoff Lemon Related: Jonny Bairstow’s role in the middle order is key to England’s future | Barney Ronay Continue reading...
The Yorkshireman was excellent behind the stumps again but his batting position must be questionedIn the end a losing draw felt about right. England and Australia have finally left the building. Although at times during this fifth Test Australia seemed to have checked out some time early last week. Related: England win fifth Test to draw Ashes series but Australia keep urn Continue reading...
A scrapbook of cricket memories would include the miracle of Headingley and much, much moreThere has been some suggestion, when analysing the individual performances at the Oval Test, that certain players are looking tired from their long summer of international cricket. It is easy to empathise with them – it’s been an epic one for all of us. Some of England’s players will be rested during the T20 series in New Zealand and it is tempting to follow their lead. When else are we supposed to take stock of all we’ve seen? Related: There have been 2,358 Tests since 1877 and this was the greatest of them all | Matthew Engel Continue reading...