England’s reward for finishing one epic series is to immediately look forward to the next. After Mohammed Siraj ripped out Gus Atkinson’s off-stump to secure India an historic victory and a two-all series draw at the Oval this week, eyes turned to the Ashes.
Approaching this summer, England had 10 Tests in a row to define their legacy, and now they have only five. Had they defeated India, taking on Australia would have felt like the natural summit of the Bazball era, but it would have also given them something to fall back on if they failed.
