'Is it 2010 yet?': Receipts, Ronball revealed in Ashes triumph

After Australia won the T20 World Cup in Dubai four years ago, white-ball song-master Adam Zampa reminded the first-time champions of those who had written them off.

It is not in the nature of Alex Carey, who led the Test side's thunderous delivery of 'Under the Southern Cross' on the Adelaide Oval outfield on Sunday, to be as combative. The Aussies have indeed avoided saying anything that could generate an inflammatory headline at every turn over the past few months.

But as they savoured their Ashes-clinching victory first with their families in Adelaide's cool evening air and then among each other long into the night, the 'receipts' kept by Pat Cummins' side became apparent.

In October, Stuart Broad boldly asserted Australia's squad was the weakest they had put out for an Ashes series since the paceman helped lead England's 2010-11 triumph. In the early hours of Monday morning, Head posted a smiling photo of him and Pat Cummins saluting, overlaid with the caption: "Is it 2010 yet?"

That quip may endure as an emblem of this 2025-26 Ashes just as much as his earlier kiss of the Adelaide pitch, which his great mate Carey re-enacted to laughter during the Aussies' lengthy post-Test ceremony. 

The white 'Ronball' shirts donned by players and some staff members during the celebrations, a symbol of this group's sense of humour, also appear to have been a product of Head's cheek.

After months of fielding questions about how they would cope with the 'Bazball' craze named for England coach Brendon 'Baz' McCullum, here was the Aussies' sly response. McCullum's counterpart Andrew 'Ronnie' McDonald was pointedly not wearing one.

"You can ask 'Trav' about that one," a laughing Mitchell Starc said when asked about the t-shirts.

The love for the backroom staff was evident as players and coaches alike stood arm in arm in the hours after their victory.

"A very special staff group, probably not enough is spoken about how much they give to our playing group," said Starc.

"For the most part they're three-format 'players', because they're with the group non-stop around the world, across formats.

"Not only the way Andrew and Pat have led the group, but the (wider) staff group – this is as much their Ashes win as it is the players. I can't thank them enough as a playing group for the time and effort that the staff group has given.

"As much as we take the mickey out of Andrew, he's been phenomenal."

None among the Aussies are immune from the mickey-taking. Nathan Lyon, who described himself as "absolutely filthy" at the decision to leave him out of the second Test, found he had a new nickname in Adelaide: 'Phil'. The moniker got prominent airtime on the stump microphone as Head and Marnus Labuschagne repeated it loudly as they fielded around the bat to the off-spinner.

It was not just Broad's pre-series comments that had come across the Australian players' desks. Suggestions their veteran squad's age profile was on the high side proved another bone of contention.

Comparisons between the home side's squad that featured just one player yet to turn 30 (Cameron Green), and a visiting group led by phenoms Zak Crawley (27), Harry Brook (26) and Jamie Smith (25) had clearly done the rounds.

Even as Australia have suffered a litany of 'old-man' issues – Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott and most recently Lyon have all strained hamstrings, while Usman Khawaja was plagued by a back complaint – the tactical nous underpinned by their deep experience has shaded an England group that has consistently second guessed themselves through three Tests.

"A lot was made about how old the group is and how experienced we are," said Starc

"Perhaps that's played into our hands having been through some good times and not so good times over the course of our careers together.

"I think certainly in the last number of years, it's been a pretty level group. Things have never got too high or low. If we haven't had a good day, it's pretty easy to move on from and learn from. (Calmness) is absolutely a feature of our group."

As Head's post-Test antics confirmed him as Australian cricket's larrikin spirit animal, there were other aspects of their celebrations that underscored there also exists a straight-laced element to them.

An invitation from Cummins to greats like Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist into the changerooms, as reported by Code Sports, showed an enduring respect for the past despite previous tensions between former and current players. Whether Ben Stokes will issue a similar invitation if England win a Test this series after labelling ex-players turned critics as "has beens" will remain to be seen.

Then there was the rendition of 'True Blue' that served as the curtain-raiser to the more raucous team song. It capped a poignant Test after John Williamson had sung his Aussie classic in a similar spot five days earlier to honour the victims of the Bondi terror attack.

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Third Test: Australia won by 82 runs

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad (third Test only): Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue