The worst Australia could do as the fifth Test plays out is to take their Test side for granted, for it is historically improbable that it will touch these heights together again in Ashes cricket. It is possible that this series has been a last hurrah.

Too much doomsaying? Maybe. But there is a pattern to these matters. Every great side, by the fact of its greatness, sows the seeds of its own destruction. Australia well know it. In 1983 and again from 2007, an exodus of great but ageing players exposed a gap in succession and precipitated a downturn in fortunes. In those doldrums, England had their only two series wins in Australia in the past half-century.

The leaders of the all-conquering Australian Test side: coach Andrew McDonald and captain Pat Cummins.Credit: Getty Images

Again, an Australian team has grown great but old together, accumulating trophies, winning acclaim but stalling turnover, two sides of a golden coin. The average age of Australia’s Ashes winning team was 33.6, the vanquished English 28.3. That gap is tantamount to a generation. Australia have become the dear old things of English caricature.

Captain Pat Cummins is wise to this. “Realistically, there is going to be some rate of........

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