BRISBANE, Aug. 10 -- Australia had not lost a Test at the Gabba since 1988. Thirty-three years of that fact accumulated before England arrived in Brisbane for the first match of the 2021-22 Ashes, and it accumulated one Test heavier when England's second innings folded for 297 on the third afternoon with Pat Cummins, leading Australia for the first time in an Ashes match, watching from slip.

The margin was 9 wickets. The message was clearer than that.

Mitchell Starc set the conditions in the first hour. His figures - 5 for 57 from 19.5 overs across England's first innings - do not fully capture what he did to England's top order between overs three and nine, but they are the closest shorthand available. Rory Burns was bowled for 0. Hase...