The Sporting Hack

The latest State of Origin instalment rolls in to Australia’s sporting Colosseum on Wednesday (8:05pm AEST) as the Melbourne Cricket Ground hosts game two of this year’s series between the New South Wales Blues and Queensland Maroons.

Picture the scene, it’s late in the summer of 2027 at The Oval, London, and England captain Ben Stokes, held together by tape and bandages, summons one last Herculean effort to eke out an Australian tailender. Battered, belligerent but successful in his quest, the 36-year-old hoists the coveted urn aloft in the afternoon sunshine as the hosts wrest the Ashes back into England's hands for the first time in a dozen years.