After their opening-Test defeat in Australia, the tourists must now steel themselves for a visit to the Gabba — a ground where England have not tasted victory since 1986.
For decades, men wearing three lions have too often become lambs led to the slaughter at the Gabbatoir.
Yet among the broken English hopes, dreams and bodies lie rare moments of inspiration, none greater than the masterpiece crafted by a shining knight 15 years ago.
It was at Brisbane in 2010 that Sir Alastair Cook produced one of the great Ashes innings: a career-defining 235 not out, rescuing the first Test and setting England on the path to their only series win in Australia in nearly four decades. Cook went on to compile three centuries and 766 runs — a tally surpassed by only Wally Hammond among Englishmen in an Ashes series down under.
England won that 2010-11 series 3–1, every victory achieved by an innings. They have not won a Test in Australia since.
“You forget the tough times — the nerves and the anxiety that went into it,” Cook tells the Test Match Special podcast.
“I look back with pride. I played a significant part in a series England won 3–1 in Australia, and all three wins were by an innings. That just doesn’t happen. One day, I need to sit down and watch some of it.”
Cook’s route to that Australian epic began 18 months earlier, after the 2009 Ashes at home. England had regained the urn, but Cook averaged under 25 with only one score above fifty.
He knew he needed more.
“Cricket is a team game, but there’s an individuality to it — you want to pull your weight,” he says. “The stats were very clear. I wanted to be part of an Ashes series where I performed, because then it would truly mean something.
“I wanted to measure myself against the best, and at that stage my game wasn’t standing up to the world’s top bowlers.
“Two days after the celebrations I was back hitting hundreds and hundreds of balls with Graham Gooch, trying to groove something that felt completely unnatural, but believing it would make my technique stronger in the long run.”
The early returns were positive: Cook made three centuries during the 2009-10 tours of South Africa and Bangladesh.
But when he returned home for the 2010 summer, things unravelled. In eight innings against Bangladesh and Pakistan, his highest score was 29 — a full-blown “stinker”, as he puts it.
By James Kisoo
