Here comes the summer

Before we get into what’s to come, let’s rewind to 2019, to the last time the urn wound up on these shores, to when Steve Smith and Ellyse Perry were immovable and Ben Stokes went stratospheric.

For all of Stokes’ heroism and Jofra’s thunder, the men’s Ashes series was a slog at times, English minds and limbs exhausted after the exhilaration of their World Cup victory just a couple of weeks before that first Test at Edgbaston.

For four years, that win was everything, to turn the nadir of a group-stage exit in 2015 into a transformative win on home soil.

After that, an Ashes win would’ve simply been a spectacular bonus. Instead, the visitors retained the urn but drew the series 2-2.

For both sides, something was missing. For England, the perfect summer. For Australia, a clearly defined victory. It was an afterparty with an unsatisfactory ending.

This time round, the old contest is the show, with England’s white-ball calendar shunted to the final days of the summer.

From June until the end of July, there will be a clash of styles across five Test matches: England will stick to their philosophy of fearlessness; Australia will growl and respond by wedding themselves to that thing they always do – of being entirely ruthless. The hope is that the series rivals the exploits of 2005.

It is a big ask. But this series, with these players, provides such hope.

For those still banging the Test drum – I’m rattling away on the hi-hat – it’s essential that we see something special in those few weeks. The order of the men’s game is shifting by the day, and the first four months of 2023 have felt seismic in threatening the future relevance of the long form.

We’ve seen the introduction of new T20 leagues in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, and one in the United States is on its way, cutting into the English summer. Saudi Arabia will have its say at some point, too.

Invincible! Oval Invincibles Women celebrate winning the women’s Hundred Final at Lord’s

PICTURES: Alamy

Reports have come in of IPL franchise owners discussing contracts that will take players to different leagues under the same franchise, stamping upon the primacy of international cricket. Test cricket that doesn’t involve India, Australia or England is moving further away in the rear-view mirror. While Joe Root reverse scooping in his whites is a beautiful thing, it won’t save us.

But while a captivating Ashes series is unlikely to change the direction of the game, the fear of an uncertain future makes the here and now feel more precious. This is a series to relish, to plunge yourself into in the coming weeks, the storylines still giving off a real buzz.

It’s now coming up to eight years since Alastair Cook lifted the urn at The Oval; Australian dominance has followed exclusively. For many illustrious members of the touring party, this will surely be one last crack at a series win in England. David Warner, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja and Nathan Lyon are all nearing the finish line, and a glorious farewell is a possibility. They could end the summer as both Ashes winners and World Test champions.

While the future of the men’s game takes an uneasy shape, the recent revolutions in women’s cricket are a far more welcoming sight, particularly the ones close to home. Defeat in the Women’s Ashes four years ago to the superior Australians was promptly followed by the ushering in of a new regional structure in England and professional contracts for domestic women’s cricketers. Then came the bright lights of The Hundred, and the first two years of that much-maligned tournament have brought the stirring sight of record crowds and viewing figures.

Pace and attitude: Issy Wong

But the Ashes means that it’s the international block that takes centre stage this summer. And everything feels bigger; specifically the venues. In 2019 the solitary women’s Test was played at Taunton. This time round it’s at Trent Bridge – and it’ll have a fifth day should they require one. The first T20I of the series will begin at Edgbaston before moving to London – for the first time since 2009, England will play T20s at The Oval and Lord’s. My sincere apologies to Derby’s County Ground, but these are proper ballparks.

Will the structural changes to English women’s crick- et since 2019 be enough to help pull off a series win? It remains a tall order against Meg Lanning’s touring par- ty. This Australian side is a colossus, not just a great cricket team, but one of the finest in all sport, barely able to go a year without picking up an- other World Cup trophy.

And yet there’s still a chance of an upset, at least according to Issy Wong, the 20-yearold quick who’s got an attitude to go with the pace. “I think it’s a pretty good time to play them, you know,” she said a couple of weeks ago. “It’s a really good time to actually go at them and say, ‘Right, you are the best team in history, but you’ve a couple of new faces in here and let’s see if you’re as good as you were five years ago’.”

Wong will be right in the mix, moving into the space vacated by Katherine Sciver-Brunt, who has finally called it a day after 19 years, 267 games and 335 wickets. She took it all in – from amateur to professional, from one injury to another, from Ashes winner in ‘05 to a five-for in that remarkable Canberra Test last year, her last hurrah in whites. She will be missed, but this summer offers space for new heroes.

So here’s to the summer. To both Ashes series, and a World Test Championship final at The Oval. To The Hundred somehow figuring itself out, and to the eternal, unchanging comfort of checking in on the Championship and learning that Tim Murtagh is still taking hatfuls.