Before a ball was bowled, Cricket Australia announced the fifth Test would not be played in Perth, due to Western Australia's almost impenetrable state border.

It sparked a bidding flurry for the lucrative fixture which was ultimately shipped to Hobart, much to the chagrin of a Canberra public who had fleetingly dreamed of watching a potential Ashes decider at Manuka Oval.

CA put that one to bed pretty quickly, but COVID was only just waking up. It struck again on the eve of the second Test in Adelaide.

Fresh from a crushing maiden win in Brisbane, new skipper Pat Cummins was dining at an Adelaide restaurant in dangerously close proximity to a patron who subsequently tested positive to the virus.

Fellow bowlers Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon were present at the same restaurant, but seated at a different table - far enough away from the infected diner to keep them outside of the close contact circle.

It meant Cummins was ruled out of the Adelaide Test match at short notice, paving the way for Steve Smith to take up the captaincy cudgels for the first time since Australia's sandpapering in South Africa.

Cummins joined fellow spearhead Josh Hazlewood on the sideline for the Adelaide Oval Test, the latter nursing a side strain after his exertions at the Gabba.

That opened the door for Jhye Richardson to play his third Test match, while Cummins' brush with COVID allowed Michael Neser to debut.

The pair took seven wickets between them, and gave unsuspecting English batters no relief. Richardson's five wickets in England's second innings were particularly crushing, and led the home side to a 275-run win.

Were the Aussies full strength, neither Richardson or Neser would have played in Adelaide, unless selectors opted for a spot of early series rotation.

The 'R' word [rotation] doesn't sit too well with a lot of Australian cricket fans, but Richardson and Neser have certainly given selectors that option this summer, if necessary.

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Nathan Lyon came into this Ashes having been stuck on 399 Test wickets for almost a year.

He was also under pressure to retain his spot in the Australian side, according to an outspoken Shane Warne in the lead up to the Gabba Test. Not that any of that affected the former ACT Comet.

His 400^th Test victim was Dawid Malan, caught by Marnus Labuschagne for 82. Crucially, it came at a time when England had been threatening to haul themselves off the canvas and back into the match after Malan and Joe Root had bunkered down for a 162-run, third-wicket stand.

The dam wall burst after that - Lyon finished with four for the Test, and grabbed another five in Adelaide as Warne's criticism quickly melted away.

He's the veteran of this Australian side now at 34 years of age with 102 Test notches in his belt, and not at all contemplating retirement despite his advancing years.

Lyon took 20 wickets when Australia retained the Ashes in England, in 2019, and looks well on track to beat that mark this time around.

England, meanwhile, are devoid of a dangerous spin option after Australia actively tore apart Jack Leach in the Gabba Test. He wasn't even selected for Adelaide, and won't be the first Englishman to head back home with Gabba-induced nightmares.

If we can pick a flaw in this almost bulletproof Australian side, it must be the form of opening batsman Marcus Harris - the only Aussie who is yet to really cash in this series.

His 38 runs have come at less than 13, and despite two lopsided wins, the 29-year-old West Australian-turned-Victorian hasn't yet cemented himself as a long-term answer at the top. In fairness to Harris, he was perhaps unlucky in Adelaide, dismissed for three in the first innings after Jos Buttler took a screamer behind the stumps off Stuart Broad's bowling.

He made a start (23 off 66) in the second dig, but couldn't go on with it like all of his teammates.

Usman Khawaja is waiting in the wings for a Test recall, but you get the impression the selectors will stick with Harris for at least the MCG Test.