Will the 2-2 result of the 2023 Ashes hurt Australia more than the 2019 leg?
"Romance can make the heart sound just like panic and panic can make it stop cold in your chest" - the monologue from the longest-running medical drama Grey's Anatomy sums up Australia's quest to win their first Test series on English soil since 2001.
Romance and panic have gone hand in hand in the last six occasions for Australia in England, where they have missed out on an Ashes series win, two of which are likely to hurt the most until the streak is arrested.
However, it is tempting to debate which drawn result would have hurt Australia more. There is very little to choose between the 2-2 outcome in 2019 and the repetition of the same scoreline in 2023. The general belief is the 2023 leg takes the cake for one obvious reason - this was an aging team and most of the current crop are unlikely to make the flight to the United Kingdom in 2027. Besides, the burning question is how did they fail to convert a 2-0 lead into a certain win? It's the only output expected of any generation of the Australian team.
The reasons why the missed opportunity in 2023 would sting are undeniably valid. As Pat Cummins had put it, 'that is legacy-defining stuff'. There was little 'legacy-defining' in the way Australia played for most of the series. For teams to be remembered, they must cease giving up winning positions, at least as much as the tourists did on this occasion. Be it in favorable batting conditions at Headingley in the 2nd innings and 1st innings at Old Trafford, where they had the opportunity to amass a behemoth score and avoid England even a sniff.
The unforgettable 2023 #Ashes series ends 2-2, with Australia retaining the urn! pic.twitter.com/jTBufwPR2m
And what of the missed catches and Cummins' inability to contain the batters from taking singles due to questionable field placings? Here the tourists left no stone unturned in helping England vindicate Bazball by playing to their strengths. Nathan Lyon's absence halfway at Lord's had undoubtedly deprived them of a gun, which combated Bazball from the outset.
But what does that say about a team that has shouldered the burden on one bowler to counter the opposition's style of play? Moreover, what of a team whose three frontline seamers have over 150 wickets each at below 30 apiece?
Yet, the Aussie bowlers didn't struggle as much as their batters. Usman Khawaja's 496 runs were the highest, but he couldn't be attacking enough when opportunities arose to seize the initiative. David Warner showed marked improvement from a forgettable 2019 series and might have done just enough to bid farewell to the format at his will; however, it wasn't superhuman. Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith tried exceptionally hard without replicating the series that defined them as battle-hardened cricketers.
Travis Head remained consistent without going big, while the wheels fell off for the very promising Cameron Green. Mitchell Marsh's counterattacking 118 at Headingley was the most memorable knock from the Australian perspective in the series but had little to show in his remaining innings. Alex Carey looked assured in the first dig at Edgbaston, but the stumping row at Lord's and the backlash thereafter looked to have constantly played on his mind.
How well does Australia's Ashes 2019 result stack up against the Ashes 2023 outcome?
Since Australia failed to win both series by a whisker but not losing either, it's incredibly enticing to know which series hurt Australia the most. The 2023 Ashes might stand out for most viewers, but was the 2019 leg not equally the best chance? Steve Smith was impregnable, Marnus Labuschagne emerged as his perfect understudy, Nathan Lyon did what he does best, Mitchell Starc as always was the X-factor, and Pat Cummins was the unburdened bowler who took wickets at will.
The wins at Edgbaston and Manchester were also far more convincing in 2019. Headingley 2019 would have hurt a lot more than 2023, given how it was the individual brilliance of Ben Stokes that left Australia dazed. Then the haunting and eerie similarity between Cummins' and Tim Paine's decision to bowl first at The Oval despite knowing how the odds stack up in the fourth innings.
Stokes might have played Bazball at Headingley, but that England collectively had nothing similar. It was easy to keep them down. Unlike that England side, the current crop hits hard every time the opposition tries to keep them down.
The first Aussie men's skipper to bring the #Ashes home from England since Steve Waugh in 2001. pic.twitter.com/Au7sNLqTqx
The one significant reason why 2023 takes the cake of disappointment and regret is that Paine-led Aussies might have earned respect even if they had lost the 2019 leg fighting. It was a team still trying to find its identity and didn't even know its best side. Hence, Australia exceeded expectations by retaining the urn.
By contrast, Cummins' men were primed to break the 22-year drought, with the World Test Championship mace boosting their prospects. Furthermore, Bazball didn't ransack them until Manchester.
Not all doom and gloom for WTC champions
For all that Australia achieved and didn't achieve, the tour of the UK wasn't less than a success. Retaining the urn on English soil is no small feat and drawing the series when New Zealand and South Africa were steamrolled is an achievement for which Pat Cummins' men can hang their heads high. Yet, the burning narrative will be whether even a 2-0 lead wasn't enough for a series win. And Australia will have to live with that mere retention at least until 2027.
Among Usman Khawaja's runs, Mitchell Starc's indefatigability and endurance, and Todd Murphy's will to prove himself as Nathan Lyon's able successor, the most underrated moment was Marnus Labuschagne's ton at Old Trafford.
Labuschagne didn't look as assured as he was four years ago, but the fighting hundred to push England on the back foot and halt Australia's freefall under challenging conditions was poetic. His footwork while hitting Joe Root for two sixes was confident and his defence against the four-pronged seam attack seemed more compact than it had throughout the series. The haul of 328 runs in 10 innings was underwhelming, but it was again evident that Labuschagne will stand tall, just as he did as the first-ever concussion substitute.
And what of Cummins, who has received little respite and calls have already begun to sack him as captain? It might be a reasonable ask, but it might be this mess that triggers an upturn.
Australia have returned to their land with the urn secured for the next two years or maybe even until 2027. But the romance and panic continue, and it might just be the incentive that fuels their veterans to try one more time four years later.