England’s drought breaking 2005 Ashes win marked the dawn of a bullish new era for English cricket that finally left behind the keystone cricket of their bumbling 1990s.
With a hardened edge and a wave of emerging players unscarred by Shane Warne and Fleet Street, the pulsating 2-1 win over the Old Enemy is now recognised as the moment England ceased to be world cricket’s overpaid easybeats.
Everywhere except in Australia, of course, where they’ve remained as resolute as a chocolate teapot.
The modern punk England may be unrecognisable from their preppy cable-knit predecessors, but they’re still like a cappuccino Down Under because they always promise plenty before getting exposed as mostly froth.
But even after registering one paltry series win in almost 40 years on our shores, the fa