A Much Garlanded Draw

Collins and Henderson

For all the generosity of the interviews after the fact, it is hard to believe that Ben Stokes, or anyone else for that matter, believes that a 2-2 draw was either “fitting” or “fair”. Any self-respecting professional sportsman, and any partisan England supporter, will be thinking “how on earth did England contrive not to win?” They were, over the five games, very much the better side. It’s all very well singing a hymn of self-praise about how the game is played but there were times that England were so intent on winning the moral Ashes – a series of their own devising – that they forgot to win the actual Ashes.

There is a lot more after the break, including praise for Zak Crawley which is surely worth the admission fee on its own. Please do sign up as a paid subscriber if you are not already.