One of the greats: Why Ashes Bazball v Ozball is worth the late nights

The cricket tragic in your life is running on the fumes of linseed oil this morning, and you couldn't blame them if they'd turned up to work in an old, yellow cricket shirt with green lightning bolts printed over the shoulders.

Because the first Ashes Test - an all-time classic in which Australian captain Pat Cummins hit the winning runs at about 4.23am [AEST] on Wednesday morning - is being lauded as one of the greatest games of all time.

The first question your columnist was asked this morning after alerting someone to a 5am bedtime - a time once reserved for stumps on a boozy night - was: "How the heck are you going to function today?"

But when you're watching Cummins and Nathan Lyon put on a 55-run partnership for the ninth wicket to win the opening Test at Edgbaston against all odds, that is always a problem for later.

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In an industry where perspective often makes way for hyperbole, this series opener holds its own alongside Edgbaston 2005 as one of the greatest of all time.

Eighteen years ago it was Steve Harmison having Michael Kasprowicz caught behind to secure a two-run victory for England after the Australians had almost conjured a miracle.

This time they did, finding the last of those extra 174 runs required on day five with just six overs left.

But you could wake up and check the result in the morning, couldn't you? Sure, but then you miss the theatre Test cricket provides like no other.

This series is about Bazball, the revolutionary approach to Test cricket fashioned by England and their coach Brendon McCullum. Little more than 18 months ago, England were reeling. They'd lost the Ashes and been utterly embarrassed during Scott Boland's finest hour. Come March, they'd won one of 17 Tests. Now they're running hot and scoring runs at a record clip against an all-star bowling attack.

You stay up to watch Usman Khawaja's man of the match performance, his first innings hundred marking his maiden century in England after he was dropped during the 2013 and 2019 tours and not selected in 2015.

Which is why you sledge pantomime villain Ollie Robinson from the other side of the screen after watching the Englishman hound Khawaja - even after he scored 141 - and then come back for more.

You want to know if David Warner can finally exorcise the demon that is Stuart Broad's bowling, if Australia can really win when Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne are reduced to bit parts.

You shuffle uncomfortably every time English magician Ben Stokes has a bat or ball in his hand.

You will Cummins and Lyon to survive every ball and try to keep a cool head every time a ball reaches the boundary until that last one does and the Australian skipper throws his bat and helmet in the air.

And while you stave off sleep, you dare to dream about Australia winning their first series in England in 22 years.

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