Since England do not do draws, the equation as the Ashes head to Lord’s is a little simpler than it otherwise might be: lest they intend to defy the best part of a century’s worth of history, Ben Stokes’s side are in must-win mode.
Only once has a team come from 2-0 down to claim the Urn, that being Australia back in 1936-37, who were hammered by 322 runs and an innings and 22 runs in the first two Tests but won the last three to complete a still unprecedented comeback. Crucially, they could call on a certain Donald Bradman, who made hundreds in all three of those wins, two of them doubles.
Being what they are, this England team would, should it come to it, no doubt saunter up to that challenge with little regard for precedent. Still, against a rival this good, who would from that position have every right and incentive to treat the draw as victory, the task would be unenviable.
Narrow defeat at Edgbaston came with confirmation that England are on the right track and without sustained calls for change from just about any corner of the cricketing commentariat. That another in such quick succession would be received quite so forgivingly is a little trickier to conceive. One can imagine the criticism now: that winning is what matters in sport, that entertainment should be left to Sir Elton John.
Neither Stokes nor Brendon McCullum give off the impression of being too bothered by the expert view, nor should they be, having already overseen a period of more success and more enjoyment than any of its recent comparables. Heck, they could be whitewashed on home soil and that still technically be the case, though the light from the bottom of that particular barrel would be fairly tough to make out.
That is, of course, beyond worst-case scenario stuff. In fact, on last week’s evidence, there is nothing to suggest four straight English wins are any less probable than four Australian ones and, given the hair’s breadth difference between them throughout the five days of the opener, plenty to imply that two apiece might be most likely. The First Test was littered with too many turning points and what-if moments to hone in on one, but play them all out to their myriad alternative endings and plenty would have fallen in the home team’s favour.
There is, however, a conflict in the assertion that England are not a team driven by results but by a want to inspire — namely, that the latter is far easier to achieve when the former is going your way.
Look through this century’s moments of great national sporting engagement and they all share one thing in common. London 2012 did not have children queuing up outside local athletics tracks because Jessica Ennis-Hill, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah all claimed plucky bronze, nor velodromes because Bradley Wiggins fell off his bike just shy of the line. Andy Murray’s Wimbledon triumphs did more for tennis than Tim Henman’s various near-misses (though thanks to some sub-par administration, still nowhere near enough). Would rugby’s participation figures among youngsters have shot up as they did had Jonny Wilkinson’s drop-goal crept wide of the posts in 2003? Perhaps only football, with its effective status as the national religion, has licence to inspire through heroic failure — and given the long wait for a men’s major trophy, it is just as well it does.
The viewing figures for last week’s opener were staggering, Sky calling it the most-watched Test ever aired on its platforms, with a peak audience of 2.12million home viewers poking their heads over the paywall. That is a remarkable point of embarkation for an Ashes series, which tend to begin with optimum excitement among cricket fans but can take a little longer to grab the broader attention and, should England be doomed from the outset as they often have been away, sometimes never do.
An average of 877,000 people tuned in across the five days’ play, smashing Sky’s previous record of 717,000 for the Fifth Test series decider at the Kia Oval in 2009. The mind boggles at the victims Ashes fever might have claimed should this contest build to a similar climax. To keep the momentum rolling, though, England must first hit back at Lord’s.
