Ashes Test: England Suffer Humiliating Loss to Australia
Image credit: Tim Felce via Wikimedia Commons
At the end of November, in Perth, Western Australia, the Australian team caused the English tourists a mortifying loss, forcing Ben Stokes and his team to find some humility.
The Ashes is an annual test match series between England and Australia, originating from a satirical newspaper’s comment in 1882 after England lost to Australia – it declared English cricket had died, with its ‘ashes taken to Australia’. Now, the teams play five tests from November to January, expected to last five days each. However, due to Australia’s sheer brilliance – or England’s utter ineptitude (or both?) – the first test of 2025, held in Perth, lasted only two of the five days – a remarkable feat which hasn’t been achieved since 1921. Australia easily overtook England’s runs due to Australian batter Travis Head’s century, with only two out, compared to England’s all out.
The match started with England winning the coin toss and deciding to bat first, though this winning high was short-lived. Australia bowled England out for 172 runs, followed by Australia themselves being bowled out for 132 runs. In the next inning however, England was bowled out for 164 runs – achieving a total of 336 runs for this test – which was followed by one of the best innings in Australian cricket history. Travis Head scored 123 runs off 83 balls, leading Australia to equal and then outrun England’s total of 336 runs, with only two players out.
This magnificent win for the Australian team, however, has led to an unexpected calamity for Cricket Australia: as test matches typically take about five days for the total four innings to be completed, Optus Stadium, in Perth, understandably sold tickets for all days of the test. This premature ending, after just two days of cricket, meant an estimated loss of more than $3 million AUD (about £1.5 million) due to foregone ticket sales.
Nevertheless, this test has made Aussies proud, while the English team have been slammed by Australian and English media alike, as well as their own former players. The English media have labelled their squad “gutless”, believing them to play with “arrogance” and “entitlement”, while England cricket legend Geoffrey Boycott labelled the team “stupid” in his Telegraph column.
Australia has not actually defeated England yet, though. Four test matches remain to decide which team will take home the ‘Ashes urn’ – a miniature remake of the original urn, which now resides in the MCC Museum at Lord’s Cricket Ground, here in London. The next test has just begun at the Gabba in Brisbane, Australia, and is expected to continue until the 8th of December.