Outraged fans "have taken aim at Cricket Australia" for its stage design for the Ashes trophy celebration, accusing the host of "disrespecting" England, according to the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. Steve Smith lifted the Ashes trophy "to secure a four-nil series victory on Monday." But "rather than praise Smith and his side, much of the talk on social media was about two giant props at the back of the podium." On "either side stood two large hands:" one with four fingers lifted in the colors of the Australian flag and "another with the England flag with a closed fist." Not "everyone was a fan" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 1/7).
GREEN AND GOLD: To celebrate Australia securing both the women’s and men’s Ashes, CA lit up the sails of the Sydney Opera House over night.
The landmark was bathed in green and gold, with the Ashes urn and the Women’s Ashes trophy taking center stage. The Ashes Series was attended by 866,732 people around the country, making it the second-most attended Australian Test series on record, after the '36-37 Ashes series (948,498) (
CA).
