There are not many better people than Australians when it comes to celebrating a sporting achievement. After the men’s cricket team beat England in the third Test of the 2025-26 Ashes to retain the urn once again, the team showed all its class and sense of humor, wrapping up their celebrations in a new, tongue-in-cheek concept: ‘Ronball’, Australia’s answer to England’s Bazball.
The term, a nod to head coach Andrew McDonald, nicknamed ‘Ronald’ (after the first name of fast-food icon Ronald McDonald), took centre stage when Travis Head handed out white T-shirts to teammates, featuring the word ‘Ronball’ in bold lettering alongside a cartoon of the coach.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the term was first noticed in 2022, when a piece of
paper bearing the word was seen in Australia’s viewing area during a Test against the West Indies in Adelaide. It’s apparently an inside-joke since then, around the time when McCullum started coaching, and the term BazBall was coined for his uber-aggressive philosophy.
BazBall was hyped up as the solution for England to end their Ashes drought in Australia, but its flaws were laid bare by Australia’s uncomplicated and bluntly brilliant cricket.
Head, who struck a crucial second-innings century in the third Test at the Adelaide Oval, also played host by serving jugs of his apple and watermelon gin cocktail, fittingly called the ‘Headliner Spritz’, with McDonald notably the only one not wearing the shirt.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan felt that the t-shirts epitomised how Australia wanted to humble England.
“England have had a cockiness about them for three years and the entire cricketing world has wanted to shut them up as a result. This tour has been humbling for them and the ‘RonBall’ T-shirts that the Aussies wore on the Adelaide Oval pitch after winning were the perfect example of that,” he wrote in his column for The Telgraph.
Reports in local media said the squad celebrated the win with drinks, singing and loud cheers, joined by former greats such as Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Jason Gillespie, who had been invited in by skipper Pat Cummins.
Later, the celebrations spilled outside as the team gathered at the Headliner Pavilion, sat together in the shade, and then regrouped on the outfield, forming a huddle, playing music on a portable speaker, and singing along.
The next Test will be the Boxing Day special in Melbourne, from December 26.
