Australia appear vulnerable but we have heard this Ashes tale before | Geoff Lemon

England can now see that teams willing to counterattack the Australians can unsettle them

It is probably hackery to roll out Lady Bracknell’s most famous line in another reworked form, but great lines are great because they are universal. In this context: “To lose one home series to India, Mr Paine, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”

Two years ago Australians were, by and large, willing to accept being beaten 2-1 by a visiting India. The circumstances were special. Australia’s Test team was dizzy after the Cape Town sandpaper circus, Steve Smith and David Warner were comfortably the two best batsmen in the country and were missing on suspension, and India brought a once-in-a-generation assembly of fast-bowling quality to take advantage of their absence.

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