Just before those sliding doors close, let's hold them ajar one last time.

Here's the parallel universe. Ben Stokes is given out lbw to Nathan Lyon by umpire Joel Wilson. He reviews - England had a get-out-of-jail-free card in hand, remember - but Wilson's decision is upheld by DRS. Stokes remains heroic, but Australia win by a run and wrap up the Ashes. All of Australia's misadventures that day are forgotten. Lyon's a hero. Tim Paine's a hero. Scott Morrison's a hero (I did say this was la la land). They're all heroes. As for Stokes, the Aussies say magnanimously that his innings deserved to win a Test match, but, heh, you know. The recriminations are all on England's side. Joe Root gets sacked as captain. All of England splutters indignantly.

Ridiculous, of course. In this universe, Stokes was given not out, and Australia were fresh out of reviews, and so Stokes stayed in and ... you know the rest. Blame was scattered in a dozen different directions, but foremost at the hapless Wilson. How can an umpire not be to blame? How can Wilson especially not be to blame? It is an article of faith in Australia that Stokes was out. Not "lucky not to be out". Not "claimed to be out". Just plain out.

But look again through those narrowing doors at the DRS image that "proves" Stokes was out. Inexplicably, it shows the ball straightening slightly after hitting Stokes' front pad. This is what it did in real life. But ball tracking is supposed to show the imaginary line the ball would have taken if it had not brushed Stokes' pad. It looks here as if the technology did not detect the first contact. This inconsistency introduces the heretical possibility that the ball, which was delivered from wide on the return crease, might have been going on with the arm. It might have been hitting, say, half of leg stump. It might have been umpire's call. It might have been missing.