And if you’re not convinced by stats and data (if so, cricket isn’t for you, surely?)

Well, as I said below, look at two players from each team and their performances.

Starc and Head - injury free, fairly relaxed build up. A bit of fortune: Head in the first test. Throw him in as a surprise opener, chances his arm by going after the bowlers (“Bazball”?), gets a bit lucky and in our heads for the rest of the series. We win that game without that happening. More fortune: Starc doesn’t get injured.

Archer and Duckett - basically the polar opposite. We flogged Duckett to exhaustion, which probably contributed to his fun night out. Archer was excellent and often a real problem for them until his injury.

It’s not just Bazball (I hate that term so much, it’s reductive, cheap, easy and dismissive). Blaming that, whatever it is, isn’t looking at the bigger picture.

Posted By: APB, Jan 8, 11:11:18