However rushed and sweaty the buildup, this is still the same premium substance that sparks Australia v England Test series
No fans, no form book, no tour games, no trash talk, no grand swooping narrative arcs to be completed – no real idea what might happen next.
There may have been more stripped back, low pulse preludes to an Ashes series than the weeks leading up to Wednesday midnight UK time, and day one at a damp, slightly wary Gabba. But none that spring to mind. And certainly none in the past three decades, the digital years, during which Test cricket’s premium series has become a steroid-fed leisure brand: tourism magnet TV rights beano, not to mention maker of legends, definer of careers, fuel for score-settling books and all the rest.
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