Leading article: He who laughs last...
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Worse, almost, was Australia's attitude to defeat. Their media lambasted the players every which way; Ricky Ponting, the captain, was said to be in meltdown. There was dark talk that his winning days were already past; some said his job was on the line. What sort of a world was it, you had to ask, in which our gung-ho, always up-for-it cricketing adversary turned defeatist?
Now we know: the real Aussies never really went away. They were just biding their time, like good warriors do. Both sides now have a stinging defeat under their belt, and the series is all square, with two matches to go. It is shaping up to be a classic Ashes series, with no quarter given and individual and national prowess on the line. If there is a lesson for England to draw from their victory in the second test, it is to drop the hubris next time around.
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