It took just eleven days of Test cricket for England to lose the 2025/26 Ashes series in Australia, but there is very little doubt that they have stumbled upon the key to turning this sunken ship around. And it seems  they may have found that key in the bottom of a Noosa pint glass.

After losing the first two Tests, utilising just six of the allocated ten days, the England players took a well-deserved detour on their journey from Brisbane to Adelaide. Like many English tourists before them, they found the allure of the Noosa Coast too strong to resist. So they carefully packed up all their barely-used cricket gear, pulled out the togs and sandals and took the short trip to one of the jewels of Queensland’s tourism scene.

We saw ample television coverage of the lads frolicking in the beautiful Noosa surf, down 2-0 in a series they thoroughly expected to win, seemingly without a care in the world. Each of them no doubt heavily daubed in the SPF50+ sunscreen and delighted to feel sand between their toes rather than the shifting stones of home.

And what is the best way for a tourist to end a long day of cavorting on a sunny Australian beach? A good feed and a truckload of beer to wash away the salt, sand and sun stroke. 

It has been reported that during the nine-day gap between the second and third Tests, the England cricketers were on the drink for six nights, including the four nights in Noosa. It seems about right, six hard days of cricket, six nights of hard drinking. What better way to bond, lay your cards on the table and feel free to discuss where things went wrong and plot your upcoming series revival. 

Fans of the old-style rugby league State of Origin camps will well remember how important the team bonding sessions were to a successful Origin campaign. Players are much more willing to go into battle alongside a bloke they have shared a hazy fews nights with downing copious amounts of alcohol. As the name suggests, these sessions tighten the bonds, turning mere teammates into good mates. 

When you fully understand what makes an elite athlete tick, you will come to accept that footage of a heavily intoxicated Ben Duckett, looking even more lost in Noosa than he does at the crease, is proof of the hard work these players were putting in for their country. It may well take a few more sessions before any of his teammates care enough for Duckett to not lose him in an unfamiliar town, but eventually the fruits of this endeavour will be become more obvious. 

With Duckett rounded up, the team headed to Adelaide for the must-win Third Test , where captain Ben Stokes would lose the toss for the first time this series. It looked like a good toss to lose as the Adelaide pitch provided enough promise to trouble an Australian line-up devoid of their dizzy middle order rock, Steve Smith. At 4/94 England were right on top, the cobwebs cleared and the good mates working together towards their common goal. Then Usman Khawaja was dropped early and he was able to punish the tourists, rebuilding the Australia innings alongside Alex Carey. Carey continued the fightback with Josh Inglis and Mitchell Starc, enjoying the benefits of dodgy DRS technology on his way to an otherwise fine century. After claiming the first four wickets cheaply England allowed the next six to accumulate 277. 

England survived the first over from Starc and built a comparatively healthy opening stand of 37 runs before Zak Crawley became Pat Cummins’ welcome back wicket. Ollie Pope refused to waste anyone’s time, spooning the 10th ball he faced to Inglis to welcome Nathan Lyon back to the series. We saw a much-improved effort from Harry Brook as he somehow made his way to 45, before Stokes showed us the real value of Noosa. Gone was the frenetic Bazball flailing, in its place some genuine Test-match grit and patience. His captain’s knock of 83 came off 198 deliveries in a display which revealed that Stokes was through with saving Test cricket through entertainment, he was hellbent on saving this series. Still, England fell 85 runs short of Australia’s first innings, with the pitch starting to look like a very good batting surface.

Despite taking Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green and Inglis cheaply in the second innings, England couldn’t contain Inglis and Carey and were left a mammoth chase to save the series. 

This time it was Crawley who decided he would best honour the bonds cemented in Noosa by playing like a Test batsman. Going into Day 5 England were down, but not out at 6/207 with the promising duo of Jamie Smith and Will Jacks needing another 230-odd to claim an astonishing victory. Smith made his way to a solid 60 before trying to score the remaining runs off one Starc over proved his downfall. England’s final wicket fell an agonising 82 runs short.

To take the Third Test into Day 5, with a shot at winning and staying alive in the series shows just how far England had come since their two-day eight-wicket hiding in Perth. The margin in Adelaide was conceded only through some sloppy catching. Despite the media-led public outcry, the improvement was there for all to see.

It can only be hoped that England ignore the criticism, have an enormous feed and piss-up session on Christmas Day and head into the Boxing Day Test with a sniff of victory in their nostrils and some well laid plans for a massive bender over the New Years Eve break, before lacing up the boots again in Sydney. 

If there is one thing we have learned about this current England side, it’s that once they are onto a good thing, they doggedly stick to it.