Aside from the obvious headline query, the central research question coming into this Ashes experiment was simple: could England’s batters go about their Bazballing business against the world’s best attack? After one last dominant day, the verdict, in the affirmative, is clear.
The fate of the Fifth Test, and therefore the series result, remains unresolved, but England are a decent bowling display away from the consolation of a 2-2 draw, after their batting unit signed off for the summer in style to leave Australia 377 behind and facing a daunting chase for a first outright series victory here in 23 years.
