There might be strains of the fabled 2005 Ashes series recognisable as the current iteration approaches a riveting climax, but there are also some distant echoes of an even earlier contest that galvanised and emboldened cricket fans throughout England.
Those who are older enough to remember, or perhaps not-yet-quite old enough to habitually forget, might draw parallels to the 1981 campaign that is still simply referred to by fans on both sides of the tribal divide as ‘Botham’s Ashes’.
Certainly the link was unavoidable on day two at Old Trafford when England opener Zak Crawley blazed the fastest Ashes century seen at the 140-year-old venue since Ian Botham’s 86-ball hundred that irrevocably turned that 1981 battle in England’s favour.
While Botham’s 118 from 102 balls faced came in the middle-order of England’s second innings…