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The legendary Australian batsman was the focus of the initial serious read I recall reading as a child. To a primary school student, the injustice of an England's skipper ordering his countrymen to target a talented Aussie was unfathomable. Thus, similar to countless others, I developed a dislike for England.

Anticipation for the Ashes? It goes without saying. The sport's schedule makes this a special occasion to watch two of the world’s best teams challenge and provoke each other over what we anticipate will be 25 days of intense competition with the red Kookaburra.

According to Ian Botham reminded us last week at the announcement of the ticket draw for the 150th anniversary Test, the Ashes has a unique appeal. “Historically, fans globally tunes into the Ashes,” he said. “It's about heritage, the rivalry, you know that’s it all flat out.”

In England, those two recent drawn series – featuring Steve Smith’s mountain of runs and Stokes' heroic innings in 2019, and the Lord’s Long Room disgrace of 2023 – have lived up to the hype of what an Ashes contest should be. Yet, they have not had the equivalent resonance on the other side of the world when many locals falls asleep before the afternoon session begins.

On Australian soil, the Ashes has been less flat out than just flat for more than a decade. Australians expect their team to dominate easily, as it has been since the nineties. Scott Boland’s 6-7 at the MCG wasn’t born from a fierce duel, it was a comical English collapse confirming a worldview. A true rivalry should not be so one-sided.

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England's squad were greeted upon arrival by a predictable front page in the local tabloid, “Baz Bawl”, supported by a portrayal of the widely respected Ben Stokes as “cocky”. The publication then had a go at “Average Joe” Root, aka “Flop Root in Australia”. It was enough to elicit a typical media response, enabling the press to squeeze what juice is left in the days before the series begins.

On the other hand, the previous Border-Gavaskar Trophy between Australia and India sparked something on its own. The spiritual peak was that MCG experience, a moment that cannot be extinguished. The numbers, too, impressed. 838,000 were present across the series, the fourth most for any series in Australia and the top for any non-Ashes matchup. Audiences were entranced, not unlike the ratings surge for India's UK visit this year, and multiple periods drew more than two million TV fans.

In recent weeks, the emotional if unofficial farewells of two Indian legends at the Sydney Cricket Ground made ODI matches truly significant. Contrast the news title following the previous occasion England came here for a limited-overs series: “Record-low MCG crowd for Australia-England ODI raises fears for future of 50-over format”.

India’s Rising Influence

Even though rain ruined the short-format games with India, what play we saw suggests Australia are some way off the short form’s global benchmark. For the women's game, at the World Cup last month, the host nation knocked off the title holders. The all-format contest kicking off in February-March is primed as a unofficial world title decider.

It’s easy to overlook the colorful fan groups that gather at India’s matches – across all formats – as a simple reflection of the vast diaspora of the world’s most populous nation. But, to bean counters and broadcast bosses, they are an elixir.

The world’s largest democracy now means more to Australia than its historical roots, given the nations have in common an ocean, shared colonial history, and increasingly their peoples. India will likely overtake the UK, per official statistics, as the source of the largest group of immigrants as soon. The struggling defence pact is driving a recalibration of defence interests respecting the growing influence of Asian powers, a change that long ago happened in the cricketing world.

Greg Chappell, who also coached India, said last week that England was “our biggest traditional rival”, but also that “to be fair, without India, the sport would suffer”.

The Final Challenge

Until Australia claimed the trophy last summer, India had held it for a decade. On the subcontinent, Australia haven’t won in over two decades. Should the hosts win back the urn easily this summer, failing to secure the multi-match series in India in early 2027 would make this period unfulfilled.

That elusive victory on the subcontinent remains the ultimate test for this generation, and a blip against England this summer – attributed to an untimely injury, similar to past incidents – would only add to the narrative.

The tourists have not won an Ashes Test in Australia for nearly fifteen years, and despite the history, it won't support a lopsided rivalry forever. So, with a gaudy, engrossing India having only just flown out, Ben Stokes’s players have much to play for. Win the series and stay relevant. Or surrender the trophy and with it an irreplaceable asset: the right to being the top opponent. We beg the English, raise your game.