Extra Cover. An extended BTS look at the third Ashes Test Match in Adelaide.
19-minute video: https://youtu.be/uuUjowvT47s
#theashes
England legend Jimmy Anderson ‘annoyed’ by Ben Stokes comment after Ashes defeat
I found an old journal of mine from 20 years ago and was interested to note in January 2006 that:
1. we'd just had the hottest December on record in Sydney #Heatwave
2. the USA had revealed its underbelly with its response to the #NewOrleansHurricane
3. increasing #terrorism was hanging darkly over us (John Howard's new terrorism laws had just come in)
4. people were clutching at their mobile phones to feel loved and needed
5. and we'd just lost #TheAshes 2005-06.
When people say things started to go downhill with #Covid, perhaps they forget that the world is changing all the time, and sometimes for the better.
I felt low and depressed at the state of the world 20 years ago, and yet I was cocooned compared to now. Yet we cope and manage and go on and find new ways to bring change for good.
New on my #blog: https://aspi.blog/2026/01/10/an-ashes-retrospective/
A look back at #TheAshes series that recently concluded, and a photo gallery.
#cricket #TestCricket #AustraliavEngland #Bazball #photography #birds #heron #comrorants #gulls
https://www.fogolf.com/1133620/the-ashes-cult-hero-travis-head-sinks-remarkable-putt-just-24-hours-after-final-day-of-series/ The Ashes: Cult hero Travis Head sinks remarkable putt just 24 hours after final day of series #cricket #Golf #GolfNews #sport #TheAshes
Bad news for English cricket, good news for Australia's tourism income.
#Travel #Cricket #TheAshes https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-10/barmy-army-australia-cricket-england-ashes-tourism/106214260
💪 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗟-𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦 🔥
Mitchell Starc shines with bat & ball in The Ashes 2025, producing match-winning all-round performances throughout the iconic series 🦘
[Mitchell Starc, The Ashes 2025, Australia Cricket, All Round Performance, Test Cricket, Ashes Series, Cricket Stats, Match Winner]
#MitchellStarc #TheAshes #Ashes2025 #AustraliaCricket #AllRounder #TestCricket #CricketStats #Cricket #CricketHighlights #CricketUpdates
Listening to Test Match Special (The Ashes: When Bazball went bad and one very proud dad): http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0mt0cwb
With the Men's Ashes over, Henry Moeran is joined by Stephan Shemilt to discuss the latest revelations from a disappointing tour. Plus, we hear from Jacob Bethell's father.
Boozeball 😂😂😂
Almost as good as Jim Maxwell’s Bazbollocks 😊
#Cricket #TheAshes https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/c33874p4xg3o
Apparently Mitchell Starc didn’t have any alcoholic drinks for six weeks before the start of The Ashes. He won the player of the series award and was instrumental in Australia's 4-1 victory over the seven weeks of the series.
Several of the English players had a well-documented alternative approach to drinking in the run-up and during the series.
The Starc anecdote is from this 20-minute video: https://youtu.be/jGQQYXKpRRU
Kevin Pietersen says only five England players are ‘good enough’ after Ashes defeat
Ashes to Ashes…
I woke up this quite early this morning but when I checked the cricket scores I discovered that the Fifth Ashes Test between Australia and England at Sydney had already finished. Australia wobbled a bit chasing a modest target, but won in the end by 5 wickets and thereby won the series 4-1. I think that result is a fair reflection of the performance of the two teams and Australia thoroughly deserved to retain the Ashes. England’s victory in Melbourne, on a difficult batting surface, prevented a whitewash and gave them a Test win for the first time since 2010, but none of the other matches were particularly close run. In terms of attendances it was a very successful series – the five days at Sydney broke the record – but the quality of the cricket was very variable, and Australia taking a 3-0 lead after three games made the last two Tests feel rather irrelevant.
It was a particularly disappointing series for England, who must have thought they had a better chance of winning than for a long time. Australia were without key players, especially Josh Hazlewood and captain Pat Cummins (the latter only played one Test). On top of that, England captain Ben Stokes won four of the five tosses. Winning the toss at Sydney, as Stoke did, could have set up an interesting contest had England scored enough runs when they batted first (although they lacked a world-class spinner who could have won the match). Call me old-fashioned, but one of the things I enjoy best about cricket is seeing a high-quality spinner in action. Australia didn’t have one at Sydney either, Lyons having been injured.
England of course had their own injury difficulties during the tour, losing two fast bowlers in Mark Wood and Jofra Archer early in the tour. Of the replacement bowlers, Josh Tongue looked the best – and most likely to take wickets in Australian conditions – but Stokes seemed reluctant to let him open the bowling.
As it turned out, Mitchell Starc (Man of the Series) led the second-string of Austalian bowlers extremely well. It is also worth mentioning Michael Neser, a bowling all-rounder who has played for Glamorgan, who stepped into the breach and doing well with the ball. Other Glamorgan Australians Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja did not have such a successful series; the latter has now retired from Test cricket.
Jamie Smith playing an idiotic shot against the bowling of Marnus LabuschagneI didn’t see much of the cricket – only highlights – but it seems to me there was a crucial difference in the fielding. England dropped far too many catches, including easy ones, while Australia held onto some stunners. England’s batters also had a tendency to play stupid shots at important times. I’m thinking primarly of Jamie Smith’s dismissal off the innocuous bowling of Marnus Labuschagne, which was calamitous, but there were others. Above all, though, I think the first few matches revealed England’s preparation to have been completely inadequate. Questions should be asked not only of the squad selection but also of the management of the tour, especially the lack of practice matches.
On the bright side (for England), Joe Root scored his first Test century in Australia and then scored his second. Jacob Bethell who is only 22, scored a fine century in the final Test at Sydney. I’ve read articles praising him, but didn’t see much evidence in the stats to justify their opinion. Now he’s shown what he can do in the Test arena, I wonder if he will turn out to be a successor to Root?
Anyway, that’s the Ashes done and dusted (so to speak). By the time of the next Ashes series Australia (2029/2030) I will have retired. Although I’ve been to Sydney, I’ve never visited Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide or Melbourne. Now there’s an idea…
P.S. I was slightly surprised that Mitchell Starc was Man of the Series. Travis Head scored 629 runs, which was to my mind even more impressive. Still, this award is ample compensation:
https://kmflett.wordpress.com/2026/01/06/travis-head-named-the-beard-of-the-ashes-series/
#Ashes #Australia #cricket #England #EnglandVersusAustralia #JoeRoot #TheAshes
Full trophy presentation after the fifth and final Test Match of the 2025/26 Ashes series in Sydney.
14-minute video: https://youtu.be/2OoTzGZKPiM
Australia had a few nervous moments but safely chased down its 160-run victory target before tea on the final day of the fifth Ashes test on Thursday for a five-wicket victory and a 4-1 series triumph. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2026/01/08/more-sports/australia-ashes-triumph/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #moresports #theashes #england #australia #usmankhawaja #stevesmith #benstokes
So where do we go from here? Well…
1. We admit where we got it wrong, and stop trying to defend the indefensible.
2. Ben Stokes is a magnificent cricketer and one of England’s best all-rounders, but like Flintoff and Botham before him, is he really a Test captain? (For the record, I’m not sure who should take over that role)
3. It’s a cliché, but catches win matches! 17 put down in the series when the Aussies held on to everything until Sydney, by then it didn’t make a bit of difference
4. The DRS is there to overturn the decision when the umpire makes a howler: not when you think you deserve a wicket!
As an English cricket fan, I always want the England cricket team to win and I will shout and cheer for that to happen. That said, I am glad that this Ashes series finished up at 4-1 to the Aussies for the following reasons.
1. We really didn’t need another 5-0 whitewash! (I respect Glenn McGrath as one of the greatest attrition bowlers of line and length, but that doesn’t mean that I always want him to be right!)
2. Bazball is absolutely the way forward in limited overs cricket, but needs to be put to bed in the first class version of the game.
3. If England had managed to win - or even salvage a draw - at this final test, it would have papered over the cracks of just how out of sorts we were against superior opposition, that was never at its full strength, and that would have negated my argument in point two! (Look how close we came to winning!)
May be if the Barmy Army weren't so relentlessly (noisily) supportive of their team, the English might play better. Perhaps a little pointed silence might incentivize England more than non-stop clapping.
🏏 Another #Ashes series of Test matches comes to a close, with Australia easily defeating England 4 games to 1. #EnglandCricket looks pretty crappy at the moment. #TheAshes
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