It was all just a matter of time — time, and civility. The split second in which Australia’s wicketkeeper Alex Carey chanced an underarm throw at the stumps. The split-second in which England’s batter Jonny Bairstow stepped out of his crease. The lunch that followed, during which the normally-reserved Marylebone Cricket Club members broke character to upbraid the Australians for unfair play as they passed through the pavilion, culminating — finally — in Brendon McCullum’s post-match interview, in which the English coach declared he couldn’t see the two sides “having a beer together any time soon.”
With a literal victory, not just a moral one, that particular Ashes cloud is starting to clear. This fourth test may banish its memory forever; we shall see.
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