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Wherever the word England is mentioned, however far away, certain clichés will spring to the half-tutored mind: bad food, London fog, bowler hats, dignified reticence, the Beatles, competent government (all of them out of date). And cricket — even if most people barely know what it is.
English cricket itself has been at risk of becoming obsolete. Since the first world war, England have been unquestionably the best team in the world only for five years in the mid-1950s. And even in midsummer the game often struggles to get the oxygen of publicity. In even years there is normally a major football tournament, and there is always Wimbledon, which commands the major BBC channels for its fortnight, knocking cricket into the background.
But once in a while the national summer game has a window of opportunity, and one of them is happening right now. As it did in 2005, when England enthrallingly won a series against Australia after a long drought — at the very moment English cricket gave up on mainstream TV and sent it to pay-to-view Sky, thus slashing the audience by about four-fifths.
And as it did in 2019, when England won the World Cup final at Lord’s, which was seen by everyone. But then came Covid and the world shut down.
The next opportunity comes on Wednesday: a chance to inspire a new generation to enjoy a game that is now largely unknown to British kids outside posh schools and South Asian communities. At Old Trafford in Manchester, the England team have a chance to level the series at 2-2 with one to play.
They have no room to manoeuvre. The ancient traditions that govern the Ashes — the contest for a quasi-funereal urn so fragile that even the winning captain cannot touch it — dictate that the team in possession is deemed to have retained the trophy in the event of a drawn series. This is quite possible if it drizzles for five days in Manchester, where such weather is not unknown — and indeed forecast.
But that would be a bummer on every level. The three games so far have been outstanding; each shifted session by session, a constant justification for a contest that lasts five days, always considered risible by Americans and now out of fashion even in most cricketing countries.
Either team could easily have been 3-0 up or 3-0 down by now. And the third Test at Headingley in Leeds, which finished last Sunday, was the best Test match I have ever seen (and my memory goes back to bursting into tears when England collapsed at Old Trafford in 1961).
The actual finish was not quite as nail-biting as, for instance, the Ashes Test of 1902 when a spectator became so overwrought he gnawed through the wooden handle of his umbrella (no, I don’t remember that one myself). But for nonstop can’t-take-your-eyes-off-itness, Headingley 2023 was unsurpassed. Even the greatest Test matches usually offer dozing opportunities; this one was relentless.
The series began last month with England unleashing their unorthodox strategy of “Bazball” — daredevil attack, which bamboozled their non-Australian opponents last year. “Encore de l’audace, toujours de l’audace!” as the French revolutionary Danton put it.
Meanwhile, the Australians were apostles of the eternal cricketing verities, which is a reversal of perceived national temperaments. It may be relevant that the chief proponents of Bazball, the England coach Brendon “Baz” McCullum and the captain Ben Stokes, were both born in New Zealand.
But there is a sense that Bazball is beginning to recede. As a tactic it can be a formidable weapon; as a strategy it is ridiculous. The main difference between the narrow England victory and the two preceding defeats was the presence of the Durham bowler Mark Wood, who injected overwhelming pace — consistently over 90mph and up to 96 — into the attack.
Wood has missed far more Tests than he has played in the eight years since his debut: his body has been far more fragile than his abilities. And his capacity to get through the 10 days of cricket out of the 13 that lie ahead cannot be taken for granted.
But for now English cricket has that ever-fickle emotion: hope. Even before play starts at Old Trafford, there are two One Day Internationals to decide the increasingly high-profile Women’s Ashes. This is played as a hybrid, involving the game’s three main formats (long, short and very short). And England, having lost the only Test match, have now levelled the series by winning three in a row in the truncated versions that Australian traditionalists call “hit and giggle”.
Will any of this inspire a generation? That was what was meant to happen after the 2012 London Olympics, before the nation’s precious youth was inspired to play video games while gorging junk food? But cricket has had little competition this summer due to the eerie absence of football and a dreary Wimbledon of poor weather and a sudden, desperate shortage of well-known and characterful players.
Robbie Book, the chair of the Club Cricket Conference, thinks the coming summer holidays might be the great opportunity for two new initiatives to help reinvigorate the fading habit of kids playing cricket: All Stars, for the under-eights; and Dynamos, for under-11s. “Coaches used to do technique. This is about hitting the ball and having fun,” he says. And giggling a lot, one trusts.
Even for that, the English summer has to co-operate. After a fortnight of old-fashioned English weather, this country is watching reports of extreme heatwaves on the Continent with some bemusement. In 2005 England needed to avoid defeat in the final Test to regain the Ashes. “Is it cowardly to pray for rain?” asked a Guardian reader. A draw will not be enough this time.
Is it cowardly to pray for warm sunshine when England are batting, and humid air and overcast skies when they’re bowling to help the ball swing? That would help, thank you Lord.
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