Super Over 37

6 September 2025

Ball 1
Ashes tickets are selling rapidly!

The following days are already sold out:

Numerous attendance records are under threat.

Perth will smash the record for its highest ever single day crowd and for the most for a full Test.

If the members turn up, Melbourne could break the record for the most ever to attend a day of cricket.

But the big one - and probably just out of reach - is the most people ever to attend a Test series. That was set in 1936/37 - the series after Bodyline, in which Bradman led Australia back from 2-0 down to win 3-2.

It would take a lot to go right but that record of 942,290 could conceivably go - indeed even a million people might be possible. If you’re interested, here is a social media post I did, speculating on how it might happen!

Ball 2
As Australia’s quicks age, there has been concern around who comes next.

Cricinfo ran a piece on this, listing the prospects as follows:

I thought I would take a look at the stats of the ‘Next cabs’, ‘Hopefuls’ and ‘Shield stars’.

I was very pleasantly surprised. I think you will agree that the future actually looks bright.

Brendan Doggett:
Age: 31
First class bowling average: 27.3.
First class batting average: 8.6
Recent first class seasons:

Assessment: A fine bowler. Would not be out of place at Test level. Batting a weakness.

Sean Abbott
Age: 33
First class bowling average: 30.3
First class batting average: 24.6
Recent first class seasons:

Assessment: In another era would have had a lengthy Test career.

Michael Neser
Age: 35
First class bowling average: 23.7
First class batting average: 28.6
Recent first class seasons:

Assessment: As with Abbott, born in the wrong era. At 35, unlikely to play Tests again - but would not be out of place.

Jhye Richardson
Age: 28
First class bowling average: 21.0
First class batting average: 21.8
Recent first class seasons:

Assessment: I got a shock that he’s still only 28. Has had shoulder surgery in a bid to finally get it right: if he does, he is a definite Test prospect. A handier batting average than I had thought too.

Xavier Bartlett
Age: 26
First class bowling average: 26.1
First class batting average: 19.5
Recent first class seasons:

Assessment: A good prospect. I slightly prefer others but that can change with a bumper season or two.

Fergus O’Neill
Age: 24
First class bowling average: 20.0
First class batting average: 20.5
Recent first class seasons:

Assessment: Incredible average and has been elite in every season he has played in so far. Should be in the Ashes side for England in 2027 - and probably before that too. Like many here, a handy bat as well.

Nathan McAndrew
Age: 32
First class bowling average: 25.3
First class batting average: 26.1
Recent first class seasons:

Assessment: Under the radar but his recent record is magnificent. And a very handy batter. Worthy of Test consideration.

Joel Paris
Age: 32
First class bowling average: 19.6
First class batting average: 21.2
Recent first class seasons:

Assessment: One of my favourites. I have been following his career for years and each time he strings together a few matches - always with great success - he then seems to break down. But look at his career average and his recent seasons! Some would point out that the Waca has been very bowler friendly of late, but even so, his numbers are extraordinary. I would not rule out a Test chance.

Ball 3
It’s been a tough few months for Marnus Labuschagne. I had written how his Glamorgan stint was a chance to return to form after a long period of underperforming, but it was not to be.

He made just 0, 4 & 23 for Glamorgan and then 17 and 22 in the World Test Championship final, and was dropped from the Test team.

After not playing a match on the tour of the West Indies, articles appeared highlighting how refreshed he was - maybe the Marnus of old would soon emerge.

I love such articles - sometimes an enforced rest really can help a player.

But since his return to cricket, sadly, little has changed - so far at least.

In the ODI series against South Africa: he got 1 and 1 - surely he will be dropped for the series against India.

You might have read reports of his scoring a century in grade cricket: 100* off 57 balls in a T20. But either side of this he scored 28 and, yesterday, in the grade T20 final, just 2.

Nevertheless, the hundred is not nothing - even at grade level. If I were Test selector, I’d be eager to have him back in the side - but I would need to see plenty of runs, at a good clip, in these first few Shield games.

Ball 4
I got a question on TikTok about why the Ashes urn remains at Lord’s, even when Australia holds the Ashes.

I was set to reply with the standard answer, ie that Ivo Bligh, the England captain owned the urn, as it had been presented to him as a gift after England won in Australia in 1882/83 (and in so doing had won back the ‘Ashes’ of English cricket, which had been lost in the famous match at the Oval in 1882).

When Bligh died, his widow bequeathed the urn to the Marylebone Cricket Club and as such it is correctly on permanent display at Lord’s.

But as I began, it occurred to me that he was right!

So what if the urn was given to Lord’s a century ago?

Its meaning and symbolism is infinitely greater now than it was then. It would be great for cricket if the Ashes trophy literally moved country when it figuratively changed hands.

The ceremony of it being put on a plane and taken to its new home would be great fun and give extra publicity to the Ashes and to cricket.

And any notion that it is too fragile to travel is clearly silly: it has been flown out to Australia three times over the years; it can be done!

So come on MCC: do the right thing!*

*There is no chance of this happening.

Ball 5
How many Ashes Tests from England have been televised on free-to-air television in Australia.

And how many from Australia have been televised on free-to-air television in England?

Go on - have a guess.

By way of helping - the technology to make this possible first became available in the late 1960s.

The answer?

Well, to the best of my knowledge, 63 Ashes Tests from England have been shown live in full (or almost in full) on free TV in Australia.

A further 11 have been partially televised and only 9 have not been shown at all (all nine from 1968 and 1972).

And the reverse?

2 hours. Yes, just 2 miserable hours.

The first two hours of the fourth day of the fifth Test in 1982/83 were televised live by the BBC.

And that is it. Here is the TV guide from the Telegraph:

And despite the claim that 2 million people watched (from midnight to 2am!) and the rave reviews for Channel 9’s coverage, the BBC never showed another minute of Test cricket from Australia.

It was only with the arrival of pay TV that England fans got to see the Ashes from Australia: from 1990/91 onwards all have been shown in full, behind a paywall.

Ball 6
I randomly came across a video of a BBC sports show from 1999.

How much has changed in a quarter of a century!

Two of the guests were then Chelsea manager, the late Gianluca Vialli, and the then England cricket captain, Nasser Hussain.

England had had a miserable summer - failing to make the Super Sixes of the World Cup, despite hosting it, and then losing a Test series to New Zealand.

Here is a little excerpt.

Can you imagine today the England captain being the lead guest after a low profile Test series loss? And the clear cricket knowledge displayed by Vialli - an Italian who had been in England for just three years - is a reminder of what a relatively high profile cricket had in England before going behind a paywall in 2005.

In 2025, I would imagine that any person who migrated to England from a non cricketing country in 2022 would barely be aware of the existence of the sport.

In any case, it is quite fascinating viewing. Here is the full show, hosted by John Inverdale, if you are interested: