Cricket won as clashing ideologies scripted an Ashes epic
From the first ball, with Zak Crawley striking a boundary off Pat Cummins, till the last ball on July 31 when Stuart Broad took the wicket of Alex Carey, the cricket world experienced 45 days of edge-of-the-seat cinematic action that could not have been scripted by mortals.
The 2023 Ashes has been like no other Test series in living memory. It pitted two styles of cricket against each other: England's fearless Bazball versus a far more orthodox, coupled with characteristic resilience of Australia.
The heavens, like all good scripts, had to intervene with ever-pulsating drama. Eventually, over the set of matches all worthy of five-star reviews, a 2-2 appeared a fair result even though it could have gone either way.
The Aussies geared up to the Ashes with the fire in their belly, having defeated India in the WTC Final. The next target for Cummins' side was to be the first Australian side to win an Ashes in England since 2001.
England also targeted to win the Ashes with Bazball, a style that has seemingly taken draws out of the equation in Tests. This has made Tests interesting at a time when the red-ball format has been under constant threat from the sport's shortest format, aided by lucrative franchise leagues.
In the series opener, Stokes' surprise declaration at the end of day one to get an early wicket didn't work. England's sloppy fielding was worse than that declaration. Dropped catches and missed stumpings gave a champion side in Australia the chance to breathe. And with their historical resilience, Cummins and Lyon pulled off an improbable victory at Edgbaston.
The following Test at Lord's was played off the field as well. The 'spirit of the game' was challenged by Carey's stumping of Bairstow. And then, Stokes went on a rampage to emulate Headingley, 2019. The crowd joined in as did the members of the Long Room at Lord's. On-field controversy even induced an exchange of words between the Prime Ministers of the participants. In the end, Australia had a 2-0 cushion, but at the cost of losing their talismanic spinner, Nathan Lyon, for the rest of the series.
Backs against the wall, England had to tweak Bazball to get results. With their Two Ws in Woakes and Wood, England were unstoppable from then on and emerged victorious at Headingley. Old Trafford was where England could have levelled the series, but then the heavens had a different say.
Rain has always been a 'player' in an English summer. England had the upper hand in Manchester, but the Test being washed out meant Australia had retained the Ashes. However, the two teams went to the final Test at The Oval with plenty at stake.
The Oval had all the elements of theatre. Stuart Broad touched the stumps and got a wicket, the next ball two times. England had luck in a ball change. Rain breaks helped England this time. Australia uncharacteristically collapsed. Broad -- who surprisingly announced his retirement on the third evening -- scripted a fairytale farewell. His last bat was a six, and his last ball won an Ashes Test and levelled the series. Moeen Ali, too, had called it quits once the series drew its curtain with a fitting climactic end.
Overall, it was hard to deem one superior than the other. If England won a session, Australia crawled back in the next or within the same session. Each result was close. Australia won two Tests by 2 wickets and 43 runs. England won two Tests by 3 wickets and 49 runs.
The difference, however, was in the attitude. England's new-school Bazball to score runs quickly and forcefully and get twenty wickets was challenged by Australia's old-school resilience of patience, grit, and biding time.
In the end, Test cricket won. The red-ball game brought new-school and old-school generations together. The young of today are bound to remember the latest Ashes edition for a long time.