For 16 years, Australia laughed at the England cricket team. From 1989 to 2005, the urn was held safely in Australia’s hands as the Poms fumbled their way from one embarrassing Ashes campaign to the next.
Australia claimed eight consecutive series wins in that period, by a combined margin of 28 Tests to seven; all but one of England’s victories were achieved when the urn was already won and lost.
England were the South Sydney and the Fremantle of the cricket world rolled into one. It got to a point where some Aussie fans didn’t know whether to ridicule them or just feel sorry for them.
While the Aussies have won only one international match since July, England are on a hot streak. They are the World Twenty20 champions, they haven’t lost a Test series in almost two years, and their XI for the first Ashes Test in Brisbane was pencilled in months ago.
Close your eyes, ignore Strauss's accent and you would swear it was Steve Waugh talking 10 years ago.
Of course, there are many significant differences between England today and the great Australia teams of the 1990s and 2000s.
But if the Australian players, media and fans continue to act in an England-like manner, history tells us that it will give the tourists a great chance to break their 23-year Ashes hoodoo.
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