No Ashes (cricket) drama

Australia hammered England in the third Ashes test, and by so doing they have regained the Ashes urn.

 The key to this Test series and each match is not hard to determine -- it's the sublime batting of captain Steve Smith. In the first Test, he had 141 runs in the first innings and didn't have to bat in the second. In the second Test, he had a surprisingly tough match, with only 40 in the first innings and six in the second -- which was one reason this was the only close match. In the third Test, they never got him out in the first innings; he was on 239 when they declared the end of their first inning batting, and didn't need to bat a second innings because England couldn't make the Australian first innings score.  Major ouch there.

It's funny, because I had thought Australia was declining in the cricket rankings. Apparently they're pretty good at home, at least.

And Smith is incredible.

The actual Ashes urn is the little one on the right.  The crystal vase on the left is awarded to the winner of each Ashes Test series.  So Australia gets that one too, this time.