Ashes to Ashes

Australian cricket’s fearsome tradition of toughness may be coming to an end

This is not wise. In fact, it is madness. For me, as a former professional cricketer, it is a hostage to fortune. For England, with the Ashes fast approaching, it could be worse: I am tempting fate and inviting revenge. It would be risky to whisper it at dinner, let alone spell it out in print. The timing is abysmal and I am not even sure I am right. But the idea will not leave me alone. A sneaking question keeps coming into my head: are Australia losing their cricketing edge? And I don’t just mean the Ashes. I mean the whole legend of the Aussie battler that has been constructed over decades of flinty toughness.

Australia have lost their past four series. But it’s deeper than that. At home, they face accusations that they have softened. Australia has been told for decades that their cricketing culture is the envy of the world.