S8 Ep278: THE FINAL ASHES TEST IN SYDNEY AND THE FUTURE OF TEST CRICKET Colleague Jeremy Zakis. Jeremy Zakis discusses the final Ashes test in Sydney, noting that heavy storms threaten to wash out the match, potentially handing England a "moral victory" if they per

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🗓️ 4 January 2026

⏱️ 8 minutes

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Summary

THE FINAL ASHES TEST IN SYDNEY AND THE FUTURE OF TEST CRICKET Colleague Jeremy Zakis. Jeremy Zakis discusses the final Ashes test in Sydney, noting that heavy storms threaten to wash out the match, potentially handing England a "moral victory" if they perform well before the rain hits. He observes that Englandsurprised him by employing a hybrid strategy—mixing conservative play with their aggressive "Bazball" style—which allowed them to accelerate strategically. Conversely, Zakis notes that Australia stuck to a conservative tempo and failed to counter England's aggression quickly enough, causing their run rate to lag. He views this final game as a glimpse into the future of test cricket, anticipating Australia might test younger players or T20-style tactics.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Friendsfister Debating Society. I'm John Batchel in New England, and Jeremy Zackis is in New South Wales.
0:06.8	And in between is a very discouraged English team. It's difficult to feel sympathy for, say, a culture that practices arrogance for lunch.
0:17.9	But in this instance, I have some sympathy.
0:22.1	Australia came with a plan, England came with a plan.
0:25.8	The Australia plan seemed to have not been remarkable.
0:28.5	They played cricket.
0:29.9	The English plan, well, that's part of the discovery I'm not certain of.
0:34.1	Because the game was over, the match was over, the contest was over after three of the five
0:39.9	tests. In fact, it might have been over after the first test. When it went so fast, there was
0:46.1	food left over. This will be the match that's remembered as excessive sausages, et cetera, food that you're supposed to eat while watching
0:57.1	an eight-hour contest or a 12-hour contest.
1:00.7	Jeremy, the weather has in some way affected this contest?
1:06.3	In other words, is the English looking for excuses?
1:09.2	Good evening.
1:10.9	Well, they could just be, John. And honestly, everybody is expecting this final series or part
1:16.8	of the test is going to be affected by weather. We're actually looking at the potential for
1:21.3	heavy storms and heavy rain over the next two days, which the ashes started just a few hours
1:27.0	ago, so we're in day one right now. But if we get a really heavy rainfall days, which the ashes started just a few hours ago, so we're in day one
1:28.2	right now. But if we get a really heavy rainfall tonight, which we potentially could, or we get
1:33.1	it again tomorrow, here in Sydney, it could actually wash out the test series, which means
1:37.6	that England, because they are currently batting first, while they kind of, well, is technically
1:43.3	a draw, if they have more runs on the bore, it's kind of an unspoken victory at that point because you've beaten the weather and sort of had a had a win but honestly the weather is playing a big part in this final part of the series and we don't know what it's going to do we don't know whether or not england's going to play the same way they've played and whether Australia's going to play the same way, which means we could be all over and done
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