Bradman and co. knew toughness was part of Test cricket. Do today’s players? |
In the annals of history, The Monuments Men stand as guardians of irreplaceable treasures.
They were a group of male and female art historians, architects, and museum directors, primarily from Allied nations, who risked their lives during World War II to locate, protect, and recover masterpieces of art and architecture threatened by the ravages of conflict.
Out: Steve Smith was cleaned by Josh Tongue on Boxing Day. It was one of 20 wickets to fall on the first day of play.Credit: Christopher Hopkins
They understood that history is not merely a record of events, but a living thread binding generations. It is in this spirit that we must view the Ashes, a rivalry forged in 1877, and on the cusp of its 150th anniversary in 15 months.
Yet, as the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground concluded in a dismal blur on December 27, 2025, one could not help but fear for this sacred inheritance.
The match, which promised the grandeur of Test cricket’s most iconic fixture, disintegrated into a farce. Australia and England, two nations whose cricketing souls are entwined in this eternal contest, served up a spectacle that lasted barely two days.
The pitch, prepared by the diligent Matt Page, was perhaps a day shy of ideal, its early moisture and grass yielding unpredictable bounce and seam.
Batters from both sides crumpled like autumn leaves in a gale. Wickets tumbled in clusters, scores hovered in the low hundreds, and the crowd, that vast sea of 90,000 souls at the MCG, was left cheated of the epic they deserved. What shocked me most was not the conditions themselves, for cricket has always been a game at the mercy of the elements.
No, it was the batters’ reactions: gestures of disbelief, muttered oaths, wry smiles as they trudged off, as if they alone had been cursed by a rogue delivery in the sport’s long history. They behaved like novices encountering adversity for the first time, oblivious to the blood, sweat, and sheer willpower that have sustained Test cricket through far worse trials.
These are not the first players to confront challenging conditions, and they will not be the last. Yet, in their petulance, they betray a profound ignorance of the game’s storied past. Test cricket is not a fleeting entertainment; it is a legacy built brick by brick over nearly a century and a half.
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