Welcome to the Ashes lite. It might just turn out to be quite refreshing | Ashes 2021-22

No fans, no form book, no tour games, no trash talk, no grand swooping narrative arcs to be completed – no real idea what might happen next.

There may have been more stripped back, low pulse preludes to an Ashes series than the weeks leading up to Wednesday 4am UK time, and day one at a damp,…