Welcome to Twenty Two Yards, a weekly newsletter celebrating cricket's culture and characters.

In this issue:

• Coach Ravi Shastri’s take on American cricket

• Twenty Two takes on The Ashes

• Catch last week’s issue with Jafer Chohan

Twenty Two Takes on Ashes 2023

By Angus Wilson

An Ashes series for the ages. Expectation, elation, admiration, trepidation, celebration, consolidation, opposition. Cricket fans worldwide experienced it all within 25 days of cricket...give or take with rain delays.

Now that the heart rate has dropped and the covers rolled out, we've made an effort to give you our twenty-two key takeaways from a historic encounter.

1. Zac Crawley smashes the very first ball of the series for 4.
   After weeks/months of anticipation, the England opener duly delivered without hesitation as he set the tone for an incredible summer of cricket.
   

2. Moeen Ali's finger injury was cured by a letter from an NHS doctor and some honey.
   Moeen's finger couldn't keep up with the strains of Test Match cricket after coming out of retirement. A doctor/cricket fan saved Ali by recommending a special Medihoney cream via a handwritten letter.
   

3. Ollie Robinson balances the brands on his feet.
   On the third day of the First Test, the England seam bowler took to the field in one New Balance spike and one Adidas spike. It works as he went on to bowl out a well-set Khawaja (thanks to a favourable chop-on) and gave him a send-off Stuart Broad would be proud of.
   

4. Students in Leeds had the best (free) seats at Headingley.

   We can guarantee all lecture and coursework deadlines were missed between the 6th and 9th of July.
   

5. England women end Australia's 10-year ODI streak.
   Australia may have retained the Ashes, but England were the real winners. Despite losing the Test match, the English beat the World's best T20 and ODI teams in their respective series.
   

6. Fast bowling is alive and well and electrifying.
   As proven by Mark Wood and his record breaking over at Headingley - 91, 93, 95, 93, 94, 93mph. Sheesh.

7. Rooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot!
   No, the crowd weren't booing him. Joe Root is a fan favourite, and his performances with bat and ball give the crowd plenty to chant about.
   

8. Lyon's limps off.
   Kudos to the legendary off-spinner for limping out at Lord's to add any runs. Adding 15 runs for the last wicket when you have one functioning leg is no mean feat.

9. Bairstow deals with just stop oil.
   A baffling sequence of events that resulted in an iconic picture and kicked off a bonkers Test match at Lord's.
   

10. THAT stumping…
    It's just not cricket. But it also is. Stay in your crease, Jonny lad.

11. "See ya later, Smudge!"
    Not quite "Mind the windows, Tino", but not far off. Bairstow enjoyed that wicket.

12. The Long Room wants their ball back.
    It takes a lot to stir the gentlemen in cricket's elite member's club, but Australia managed to turn the quiet and polite into tribal and abusive—only Ashes cricket.

13. Harry Brook does it at home.
    After suffering with the short ball early on, you feared for young Harry and the hype that had followed him. But his match-defining 75 at his home ground showed what he is made of. Walking away from the series with an average of 40.33 is no mean feat.

14. England team swap shirts in support of Alzheimer's.
    It's the small gestures that matter. And when the England players walked out onto the field ahead of the third day of the final Test, it made us all stop and think how lucky we are.

15. Woakes proves he's one of England's greatest clutch cricketers - and one of the World's most underrated.
    A player born in the wrong generation, perhaps? If it wasn't for Broad, Anderson, Stokes, Bairstow, et al. Woakes may be getting the headlines and accolades he deserves. Hitting winning runs and taking vital wickets. Take a bow, Chris.
    

16. Crawley's daddy hundred.
    Zac is living proof of the well-documented fight-or-flight response, and boy, did he fight by delivering a knock for the ages.
    

17. The fucking rain.
    Death, taxes and a rain-interrupted Test Match in England.
    

18. Australia are still the #1 Test team in the World
    Yes, England are making headlines and winning hearts, but Australia are the best in the World and showed exactly why with a fearful bowling attack and relentless batting lineup.

19. Mystic Broad swaps the bails.
    Possibly the greatest sequence of events in sporting history and now the new trick in the book for all village cricketers.

20. History almost repeats itself with an England sub fielder running out Australia's best batsmen.
    But for a contentious decision by the Third Umpire, George Ealham could have joined Gary Pratt as a legend of English cricket. The fact Ricky Ponting was on commentary at the time of this happening makes it all the more unnerving. Cricket is a funny old sport.

21. The Golden Generation have arrived.
    There's a reason England women's side have been drawing in record crowds at Edgbaston, The Oval and Lord's. They've got some world-beaters in their squad that are approaching their prime…Sophie Ecclestone, Charlie Dean, Lauren Bell, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Sarah Glenn, Issy Wong…and the next few years could be explosive.
    

22. Stuart Broad shows that romance in cricket exists.
    In his final game of professional cricket, with his country needing two more wickets to win the final Test of the Ashes series and maintain their unbeaten series record against the 'arch enemy'...Stuart Broad delivered the moment all cricket fans craved—the perfect goodbye for England's greatest showmen.

There you go, folks. See you in 2025 over in Oz.

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Issue: Two Questions with Ravi Shastri and an Ashes Post Mortem
Publisher: J. LaLonde
Editor-At-Large: Angus Wilson
Contributing Writer: David Scipione
Contributing Writer: Ollie Goodwin
Illustration: Sidney Secolo