Sifting through the Ashes of cricket's crumbling old guard

As most of the world got on with weightier matters last week, much of England's media descended into an imperial lather, incandescent with outrage about the perfidious actions of the "old enemy".

For those not versed in the nuances of faded empire and crass colonials, "who", you might rightly ask, are the villains?

The dark tweaker of England's national pride was the Australian cricket team, or as it is more commonly known nowadays in England, the "same-old cheating Aussies".

For 140 years the two countries have competed for one of the most prized, and comically proportioned, trophies in international sport — The Ashes. The 10.5-centimeter urn contains the "cremated remains" of English cricket and came into the consciousness of the sporting populace after Australia's first victory in England in 1882. A satirical obit published by a British newspaper at the time probably said as much about handling defeat with good humor as it did about the parlous state of English cricket.

Fast-forward to the present and the two nations are battling across a five-match series for the small, ceramic, mantelpiece ornament.

Australia came into the series as world champion, England came in juiced on high levels of self-confidence and a belief that victory was inevitable. Under its charismatic New Zealand coach Brendon McCullum, England has adopted a swashbuckling, attacking style of play known as "bazball".Against lesser teams it has proven an exhilarating success, but it had never been tried against the hardnosed "old enemy".

On the final day of a thrilling match at Lord's Cricket Ground in London last week, the spiritual and physical home of cricket, the heretics invaded the Temple of Bazball. Looking to square the series at a crucial stage in the match, "dozy" England batter Jonny Bairstow was run out when he walked out of his crease believing the delivery, call it a "play", was complete.

But, under the laws of the game written by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the play had not been completed, as the umpire had given no signal to indicate it was; Jonny walker was out.

The outrage and vitriol that followed at Lord's, which is owned by the MCC, was monumental.

Although the Australians had played within the laws of the game, according to many English players, pundits and fans they had not played within the "spirit of game", a nebulous MCC-defined concept meant to encourage fair play and good conduct.

A quirk of the Lord's venue is that all players must access the playing ground through the Long Room, a bar for members decorated with portraits of great players. It is considered a sanctuary of genteel sportsmanship and it is a privilege to be invited there. But as the victorious Australians clattered through the Long Room in their spikes they were greeted with a hailstorm of abuse usually seen on a railway carriage full of inebriated soccer fans. Pakistan-born Australian player Usman Khawaja confronted several of the members and asked stewards to throw them out.

Since then, the outrage and indignation has moved into hyperdrive on both sides. The prime ministers of both countries have both been brought into the "Cheats v Sore Losers "spat, with each toeing the appropriate line.

But beyond the thunder and noise deeper problems in the game of cricket, a game for gentlemen after all, are being exposed.

Before the Lord's match, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket delivered a 317-page report into the state of cricket in England and Wales, which branded it "racist, sexist and elitist". While South Asians make up 26-29 percent of the game's adult recreational population, their representation in senior leadership is just 2.8 percent.

When it comes to women's cricket, the report said it heard evidence of "a widespread culture of sexism and misogyny", amid a "laddish drinking culture". In terms of pay equality, the England women's team players receive a fifth of what the men are paid. The England women's team, which is also now involved in an exciting Ashes battle with Australia, has never played a Test match at Lord's, the home of cricket, and will not do so until 2026.

Perhaps the most telling part of the report is on elitism, which goes to participation in, and control of, the sport in England and Wales.

The percentage of privately educated men in the England national team was 57 percent in 2012, and 58 percent in 2021 — "significantly higher" than the 7 percent of the general population with a private education. There is "a prevalence of elitism and class-based discrimination in cricket. Much of this is, we believe, structural and institutional in nature, driven partly by the lack of access to cricket in state schools and the way in which the talent pathway is structurally bound up with private schools".

Australia too has faced allegations of racism in cricket, with Khawaja, a Muslim, describing the difficulties he has faced fitting into the macho drinking culture of the game Down Under.

But the issue of who controls the rules and "spirit of the game" is becoming less relevant as it is clear that the financial center of the game has shifted to South Asia, with India and its massive fan base and player pool at the core. In 2014, the Big Three — India, England and Australia — looked to take the lion's share of the International Cricket Council's funding, the majority of which comes from the sale of media rights. Today, there is only the Big One. From 2024-2027, India is poised to receive 38.5 percent of the ICC funding, which is based on four criteria, including contributions to the ICC's commercial revenue. Over the same period England, the second-highest earner, would receive 6.89 percent and Australia 6.25 percent. Added to the mix is fading interest in the five-day version of the game and the growing popularity of the shorter, more exciting Twenty20 version, which is starting to resemble American baseball.

For all its drama and traditions, cricket, like the countries that are passionate about it, has moved on. England and Australia may in reality be playing for the ashes of the old game.

Contact the writer at paulruffini@chinadaily.com.cn