England’s ODI victory gives tantalising glimpse of an Ashes series that could have been
After an Ashes series that was decided well before Christmas but meandered aimlessly into the new year, anticipation for a five-match ODI series between the same two teams seemed low.
Aside from perhaps the most partisan of Australians, the last thing cricket fans wanted was more of the same. Fortunately, this match at the MCG was anything but.
From the first ball to the last, the opening ODI offered a tantalising glimpse into an alternate universe in which the Ashes just gone could have been genuinely captivating. A taste of the bizarro-summer that could have been.
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Had Mark Wood not been injured for much of the past couple of months, England could have unleashed a fast bowler capable of unsettling David Warner and bludgeoning him into error.
And what a difference that simple addition could have made. Wood regularly topped speeds of 140km/h and occasionally pushed the 150km/h mark on the day, and in a new ball onslaught made Warner jumpy for the first time all summer.
Had England taken a punt on the leg spin of Adil Rashid, England's toil on flat pitches may have been lessened even slightly.
Rashid isn't a bowler who relies on a spinning pitch to ply his trade. He's a flight bowler, and he relies strongly on variation out of the hand — much like the tossed-up wrong'un that drew a false shot and edge from Steve Smith.
He went for his fair share of runs, as most spinners do, but Rashid troubled the Australian batsmen far more in his 10 overs than Moeen Ali did at any stage throughout the Ashes.
Had off-field tragedy not intervened, and Marcus Stoinis joined the troop of fresh faces for the first Test at the Gabba, his first foray into Test cricket could have been pretty special.
It's hard to know exactly how close Stoinis was to selection when he was forced into a brief absence from the game in November, but what is certain is the selectors are big fans. It still feels like when, not if he will receive a baggy green.
When he does, we'll all want to take the time to watch. Stoinis is one of the most powerful middle-order batsmen Australia has, and the number of teammates and opponents that speak of him in glowing terms is growing.
It was not to be, and the series would instead belong to a pair of Marshes, but his joyous half-century in Melbourne was yet another reminder of his talents.
But above all, had all English batsmen played as fearlessly, meticulously and skillfully as Jason Roy, Australia could have had some serious problems in its pursuit of the urn.
There was just so much in Roy's knock to be impressed by — the confidence to stand and deliver against Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins early, the ability to set himself a plan and to stick to it for the duration of an innings, the class to manipulate Smith's fields and stay one step ahead.
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The aggression on display in Roy's innings of 180 probably is not repeatable in a Test arena, but the quiet bravado and presence of mind certainly is.
Too often throughout the summer, England batted pensively, indecisively, almost apologetically. Roy clearly cared not for reputation or the events of the past two months, and he treated the Aussie bowlers accordingly.
This was a night of relief for England, of vindication after a tour that has delivered little of the sort. To see Joe Root beaming as the winning runs were hit was to see a man freed of the burdens that privately and publilcally weighed him down.
Had there been more days like this one this summer, we may have seen more of that boyish Yorkshire grin.
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