"My first day at the Gabba was 23 years ago, half a lifetime having passed since I slept on my brother's sofa across the river and followed the Ashes tour as a backpacker. The coin went up, Nasser Hussain decided to have a bowl, and Steve Waugh's Australians cashed in on generosity. Having not returned until 201718, and then covered the Covid tour four years later, the Sydney finale in 2003 remains the only time I have seen England win a Test on Australian soil."
"Even then I missed the last day: flat broke and forced to head back to Queensland to find work, I eventually found myself on a farm upstate, shovelling melons like a scrum-half for eight hot hours a day while dodging venomous snakes underfoot. It was three dollars to the pound back then, but the main difference before the tour started was expectation."
A first visit to the Gabba occurred 23 years ago after sleeping on a brother's sofa and following the Ashes as a backpacker. A coin toss saw Nasser Hussain bowl while Steve Waugh's Australians capitalised. Returns did not occur until 2017-18, with another tour covered during the Covid period. The Sydney finale in 2003 stands out as the only England Test win in Australia witnessed, with the last day missed due to financial hardship and subsequent farm work in Queensland. England's solitary 3-1 victory in 2010-11 contrasts with whitewashes and heavy defeats. Pre-tour optimism rested on pace bowling and a perceived Australian decline, but a chaotic two-day match in Perth shifted sentiment, placing England under pressure at the Gabba with the historical barrier that no team has overcome a 2-0 Ashes deficit in Australia.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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