Both Australia And England Have Recruited A Dad’s Army In Ashes Series

LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 29: England batsman James Anderson shares a joke with fielder Steve Smith during day three of the LV= Insurance Ashes 5th Test Match between England and Australia at The Kia Oval on July 29, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

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Australia is fielding the Dad’s Army jibes as their 2025 Ashes squad misses the elixir of youth. The elder generation has often featured on both sides with varying degrees of success.

England’s propensity for picking vintage was most recently evident in the 1980s and 1990s, when cricket selection committees were running the show with old-school eccentricity. Here is the rundown of a combined Ashes Dad’s Army when the 35 to 50 club was alive and well.

No.1: W.G. Grace (England)

All 22 of W.G. Grace’s Test matches were played against Australia. He played in the very first Ashes Test in 1882, as the Aussies defeated England at the Oval. During that game, Grace controversially ran out Sam Jones after the batsman had wandered down the pitch in echoes of the Jonny Bairstow 2023 Ashes controversy.

Grace was known for his voracious appetite for food and runs, scoring over 54,000 of the latter. He strode out in his last innings against the old enemy as a 50-year-old. He scored just one, but had made his mark as the ‘father of cricket.’

No. 2 and 3: Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting (England)

Ray Illingworth led England to an Ashes win as player and captain with a Dad’s Army in 1972. However, Illingworth found it harder to replicate as chairman of selectors 22 years later.

Gooch was 41 and Gatting 37 as they embarked on the 1994-95 Ashes tour down under. The two veteran soldiers hopped on the flight to Australia and played in all five games. Gatting made one of the most tortured centuries on a belter at Adelaide but also three ducks, while “Mr Gooch”, as Shane Warne called him, didn’t reach 50 once. They both retired as England lost 3-1.

No. 4: Don Bradman (Australia)

Bradman walked to the crease for his last Test appearance at the Oval in 1948 needing just a boundary to guarantee a Test career average of 100. Over the course of a brilliant career, his only weakness had been a slight confusion in picking leg-spin. ‘The Don’ was bowled by an Eric Hollies googly for a duck, but the damage to England had been done. He scored 19 of his 29 Test centuries against the old enemy.

No. 5: Steve Waugh (Australia)

When 37-year-old Steve Waugh turned up at Sydney for the last Test in the 2002/3 Ashes series, Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns was unable to guarantee the skipper’s position.

Yet this was the man who had scored a century on virtually one leg against England at the Oval 15 months previously. Coming in at 56-3, he rediscovered his love for English bowling in front of a captivated capacity crowd. The Nine Network delayed the news to see if Waugh could hit two runs off the final ball of the day to reach his century: he duly smashed Richard Dawson through extra cover. The Aussies lost, but Waugh had bought himself time. He fittingly retired on his own terms a year later.

No. 6: Wilfred Rhodes (England)

Yorkshire through and through, Rhodes was the oldest man ever to play Test cricket at 52. In his 49^th year, he was recalled to an England XI who were locked at 0-0 going into the last Ashes Test at the Oval in 1926. Although his wily finger spin had less bite after a 30-year career, he managed to pick up six wickets. “If batsmen think I’m as spinnin’ them, then I am,” he claimed. England reclaimed the urn as well.

No. 7: Don Blackie (Australia)

Donald Dearness Blackie became the oldest Australian ever to make a Test debut in 1928 at the age of 46 years and 253 days. In a magnificent Freddie Flintoff-style effort, he managed to toil through 59 overs of off-breaks in England’s first innings at Sydney in a timeless Test. Blackie was a precursor to Shane Warne with his penchant for excitable appeals, and he also played for Warne’s home club, St Kilda.

No. 8: Colin Cowdrey (England)

Approaching his 42nd birthday, Cowdrey was looking forward to a family Christmas at home in Kent when he received an SOS call from Mike Denness during England’s catastrophic 1974-75 Ashes tour. Days later, one of England’s true gentlemen was facing the terrifying pace of Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee at the WACA.

“I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Colin Cowdrey,” said the batsman as he offered a handshake to a bewildered Thomson. Cowdrey went on to face almost 200 balls for 63 runs across the two innings. Thomson later acknowledged that the England great was the only one who was brave enough to get behind the ball.

No.9: Bert Ironmoger (Australia)

Before D.D., there was Bertie. Ironmonger had previously held the title of oldest Australian debutant 14 days earlier, at the sprightly age of 46 years and 237 days. Australia lost that match by a staggering 675 runs, although Ironmonger went on to become a very effective slow left-armer, a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact that half of his spinning finger had been lost in a chaff-cutter accident as a boy. He played in the Bodyline series of 1932-33 at the age of 50.

No. 10 Bob Taylor (England)

Evergreen and ever grey, Bob Taylor was known as ‘Chat’ for his incessant banter. His finest moment came in 1981 in the heat of the great Botham-inspired Ashes at the age of 40. He extended his Test career another year on the return tour down under. The retired Taylor was carrying out corporate host duties at Lord’s in 1986, when he replaced the injured Bruce French behind the stumps against New Zealand.

No. 11: Jimmy Anderson (England)

Jimmy Anderson is still playing county cricket at the age of 43 and has just signed a contract extension with Lancashire. Anderson played in ten Ashes series, winning three of them, and was particularly devastating in English conditions. One of the fittest fortysomethings around, he took just five wickets at an average of 85 in the 2023 Ashes and finally retired from the international scene in May 2024.