Cricket Australia considers allowing England players to participate to improve Ashes competitiveness

“India has always been a great team,” Smith said. “They had good bowlers. We saw last year [Jasprit] Bumrah was at a different level, he was complemented by some other bowlers who were hitting really good areas on the wickets we are playing now, that’s what you need.

“As far as batsmen are concerned, there are batsmen coming into the Indian team from all over. There are probably a lot of guys who can play a good role and do as well as some of the players who were not here last year and played. In white-ball formats, you see that as a well. You can almost play with an Indian B or C team and they can compete with anyone in the world.”

What about England? Smith pointed out that Australian players generally play more games in England at club, county or international level.

“It’s a good question so that we can be more competitive when we finish in England,” he said. “A lot of our players have had the opportunity to play some county cricket, play with some of their wickets and get used to them.

“I think over the last few years we’ve had actors who have done other shows in England before, so we’ve been exposed to these conditions and it’s completely different. That might have something to do with it.”

One of the main differences between England and Australia is that the existence of 18 county clubs means there will always be opportunities for overseas players; The tight, relentless competition in the six-team Sheffield Shield is more or less off-limits to foreigners.

In Adelaide, CA chief executive Todd Greenberg opened up the possibility of there being room for some English players to feature in the Shield in future seasons to better understand Australian conditions. But this strategy will face significant opposition from six states, and it’s hard to see Australia’s chief electoral officer, George Bailey, looking too favorably on it.

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“History says this has been done before. I think we need to keep an open mind to that,” Greenberg said. “As the global world changes for cricket, the concept of us locking in our own ways and our own systems without a broader knowledge of what’s going on around us [is wrong]. So I’m open-minded to that.

“I was with you [ECB chief executive] Richard Gould’s first two Tests saw us start talking about the next Ashes series. “There is a spirit of dialogue where we can work together on this issue and vice versa to help it.”

But this is not a concept England captain Ben Stokes expected to happen.

“It’s strange to see touring teams or players being given the opportunity to play county cricket before a major series,” Stokes said.

“I never really understood that. You don’t see that anywhere else in the world. “I don’t think Australia will sign a visa for one of our lads to come and play Sheffield Shield games before the Ashes.”

All this means it is difficult to know where the next competitive Ashes series will come from. England opener Zak Crawley, 27, the tourists’ top scorer, said his progress in Australia was improving but a win in Melbourne would help that.

“You only feel those emotions in that moment,” he said. “It’s hard to sit here and say what I’ve learned, but after playing a few Tests here, I’m definitely having more moments where I think, ‘God, I’ve made that mistake before, I’ll try not to make it again.’

“It’s always nice to win and prove to yourself that you can do it. We can definitely take that forward.”

Crawley’s promising signs will need to be more solid next time. Otherwise it will be fifty years since Willis, Botham and company took the Australian Ashes series to its final day.

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