Australia wasted little time celebrating winning the Ashes by mocking England’s ‘Bazball’ philosophy with their own victorious T-shirts.
Pat Cummins led his team onto the outfield at an empty Adelaide Oval long after the final ball of the third Test was bowled to enjoy their victory, with every member of the team and backroom staff wearing a ‘RonBall’ T-shirt.
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The logo featured an image of Andrew McDonald, the Australia head coach affectionately known as ‘Ronnie’ thanks to the surname he shares with the famous fast-food chain mascot.
But the connotations of the T-shirt could not be missed. Much has been made of ‘Bazball’ during the reign of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, and Australia have relished destroying every shred of it inside just 11 days of cricket since the start of the series.
After winning the Ashes with two tests to spare, Cummins and the rest of his side enjoyed beers together out on the pitch. They were joined by injured batsman Steve Smith, who captained Australia in Cummins’s absence in the first two tests but had to sit out in Adelaide after suffering from illness, and spinner Nathan Lyon – on crutches after being taken to hospital with a suspected hamstring injury suffered during the final day’s play.
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Batsman Usman Khawaja posted an image of himself wearing the T-shirt on his Instagram profile, with team-mate Travis Head commenting: “Ronball is purring, isn’t it?”
Travis Head has been one of the best players of the series – Instagram
‘The worst Australian team in 15 years’
Cummins’ team were branded ‘Dad’s Army’ before the Ashes after selecting a squad that featured only one player under the age of 30 and two 31-year-old debutants. Stuart Broad, so often the Aussie taunter-in-chief, said England would be going up against the “worst Australian team in 15 years”.
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It seems those comments have not been forgotten in the home dressing room. Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne took delight in rubbing the series win back in Broad’s face. Speaking after victory on Sunday, he said: “Being called the worst Australian team in 15 years, it’s nice to be sitting where we are now three-nil up. The job’s not done yet. We will certainly be enjoying tonight, I think Heady (Travis Head) will make sure we enjoy it. But the job is we want to make sure it’s five-nil and we really take that urn.”
An Australian fan holds up a sign celebrating Nathan Lyon – Getty Images/Gareth Copley
Australian great Mark Waugh wasted little time in getting stuck into the beaten England side and said that both Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett should fear for their place in the remaining two tests in Melbourne and Sydney. However, he also acknowledged the lack of batting depth within the wider England squad as a reason why one of them may be given a selection reprieve.
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“I think Pope and Duckett’s spots would be in doubt for the rest of the series, but who have they got?” Waugh told Fox Sports. “They’ve got one spare batsman. They might have to go to the Big Bash. I think they brought in Sam Billings last time in Hobart.
“They just look so low on confidence. Bethell will definitely come in for one of them, but two of them, there’s not another spare batsman so one of them will get a reprieve.”
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