The Australian media mocked the England cricket team by conflating the famous Ashes obituary that originally led to the birth of cricket’s oldest rivalry between the two teams in 1882. England suffered their fourth Ashes series defeat in Australia after losing the third Test by 82 runs at the Adelaide Oval.
After the defeat, England have been criticized by fans and pundits alikewho failed to live up to their lofty claims about the team. As the Ben Stokes-led side once again capitulated on Australia’s fast and tenacious tracks, the local media left no stone unturned in pouncing on the English side.
The West Sport newspaper even mocked England by combining the famous obituary published in 1882 in the British newspaper The Sporting Times, which led to the birth of the Ashes. With the utter failure of England’s batting in Australia, the newspapers announced the death of ‘Bazball’, the term used to describe England’s aggressive style of batting.
It was also boasted how Australia managed to win the Ashes in just 11 days.
“In loving memory of Bazball, who died at the Oval on 21st December 2025. Deeply mourned by Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes but pretty much no one else. RIP Australia won the Ashes, beating the pathetic Poms in just three matches and 11 days of cricket,” read the mock obituary. Posted by West Sport X (Source: @TheWestSport)
Australia opened the series with a thrilling eight-wicket win in the first Test, which ended over two days in Perth. The visitors went on to claim another eight-wicket win in the pink ball day/night Test in Brisbane.
After being boosted by the return of their captain Pat Cummins, for the third match in Adelaide, Australia rose to the task again and registered another clinical victory despite strong resistance from England. The visitors are now staring at a humiliating 5-0 run with two games to go.
England have not won a Test in Australia since January 2011, which was also their last Ashes victory away from home. They haven’t held the urn since 2017 and will now have to salvage some pride by saving their last two games.
– The end
Issued by:
Rishabh Beniwal
Published on:
December 22, 2025
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