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Greg Baum

Greg Baum

Greg Baum is chief sports columnist and associate editor with The Age.

Australia claimed a 4-1 victory in one of the more bizarre Ashes series.

This was the modern art Ashes series. It was as intriguing as it was baffling

Idiosyncratic doesn’t nearly begin to cover it. Abstract, certainly, if not downright obtuse. Let’s take a tour of the gallery.

  • Greg Baum

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The leaders of this all-conquering Australian side: coach Andrew McDonald and captain Pat Cummins.

Beware the generation gap: Is this Australia’s last hurrah?

England’s talent is plain to see, and it has greater upside than Australia between now and 2027.

  • Greg Baum
Steve Smith with fans outside the MCG on what should have been day three of the Boxing Day Test.

Were you not entertained? Satisfied? Making sense of a rogue Boxing Day Test

Much as many would like to wall off this Test, it might not be possible. Besides, some five-day Tests of yore should have been euthanised before their time.

  • Greg Baum
Whether or not the Ashes is alive, the Boxing Day Test is always an occasion.

The fight for the Ashes is over. But the Boxing Day Test is definitely not dead

Boxing Day at the cricket is a tradition, which makes it significant outside the scoreline in any one series. It’s a secular feast day, with all the rites.

  • Greg Baum
Pat Cummins hugs injured teammate Nathan Lyon while Travis Head waits to do the same after Australia’s win in the third Ashes Test in Adelaide.

Australia were ripe for the picking. England failed to lay a glove on them

At all the important junctures, Australia have outplayed England, simple as that. Bazball has failed not just on its own account, but because Australia have not allowed it to succeed.

  • Greg Baum
Usman Khawaja is nearing the end of his career.

He’s prolific, pioneering, easy on the eye. But Usman Khawaja should retire now

Usman Khawaja has been an ornament to Australian cricket, but the time has come to put him back on the mantelpiece.

  • Greg Baum
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Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc’s slavish devotion to the cause proved the perfect foil for Bazball.

The passive-aggressive tactics that helped Australia smoke England out of the Ashes

Bazball is built on constant, frenetic, stampeding action, but sometimes the best thing to do in a cricket match is nothing.

  • Greg Baum
Jofra Archer trains with a pink ball in Brisbane.

Burning through the Ashes: Pink-ball Tests can deliver frisson ... or farce

Just because we can stage day-night Tests doesn’t mean we always must. And for all the spectacle it creates, it still pales beside the majesty of Test cricket in daylight glory.

  • Greg Baum
Marnus Labuschagne embraces Travis Head after his epic innings.

Australia’s luck in Perth looked like a masterstroke. Here’s a wet blanket

Australia’s astounding win in the first Test was catalysed by an accident, and injuries threaten to derail the series.

  • Greg Baum
England have a history of underperformance in Australia.

Form, injury, unrest, homesickness, fright: How England’s pre-Ashes bravado typically comes undone in Australia

Bellow as you like, England, lay claim to the Ashes, declare them to be coming home – but come back and see us when you’ve won a Test match.

  • Greg Baum