The 2019 Ashes is already a classic. With Steve Smith and James Anderson due back things can only get better

Headingley was one of the greatest ever Tests. And the best batsman of the series and the hosts’ destroyer-in-chief didn’t even play. Strap yourselves in, this wild Ashes ride is only set to accelerate.

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Jofra Archer has only played two Tests, two Ashes Tests, but was happy to launch a verbal missile at all the Australian batsman before the fourth clash at Manchester.

He singled out batting superstar Steve Smith too.

They were only words, but after the breathtaking monster of a match at Headingley last week, where Archer took 6-45 then Ben Stokes turned the series on its head, the reaction to both events has added to the mounting evidence suggesting this Ashes series is going to be another epic.

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Consider that in one of the best Tests ever, the best batsman of the series, Smith, didn’t even play.

Steve Smith dominated the two Tests he has played, even when he was forced out of one.

Nor did the man most thought would be Australia’s chief destroyer, England swing bowling machine Jimmy Anderson.

Both will be back for Manchester, with the series locked 1-1, with a load of questions still to be answered about both teams despite being three Tests in.

Anyone can win it, could win it. Plenty think the last day at the last Test at The Oval could decide it all.

“You don’t know it’s an epic series until it finishes,” said Aussie batsman Usman Khawaja.

He could be an answer to one of those lingering question, about who misses for Smith.

James Anderson is tracking to be fit for his home Test at old Trafford.

There are a heap of those questions, floating on the wind like that $10 note that falls out of your pocket, and it takes forever to grab as you snatch at it and chase it down the street.

There’s lots of angst, but the pay-off comes at the end.

“That last game was obviously pretty epic for England fans. It’s funny how it keeps happening in the Ashes in a pressure environment,” Khawaja said.

Khawaja hasn’t made many runs in this version of the pressure environment. But he’s hardly on his own.

It’s why the series is still so alive.

Will David Warner fire up again? Can the Australian bowlers bounce back after their horror afternoon? What about Nathan Lyon from that missed run out?

But remember Australia rolled England for 67 at Headingley too.

“Awesome players playing unbelievable innings, bowling unbelievable spells,” was Australian captain Tim Paine’s summation of what’s been, and expectation of what lies ahead.

England are arming themselves again too. They’ll not only likely have Anderson in the team for the fourth Test, but a new opener too.

Swear words flew from Jason Roy’s mouth like bullets when he was out for just eight in the second innings at Headingley.

Ben Stokes’ Headingley innings was one for the ages, but will mean more if England win the series.

He has 57 runs from six innings in the series. If he gets a 58th, it will only because England know the rest of their team can make up for what he can’t do.

But his animation was all about fearing he may have been exiting a series that watching will be torture for anyone who could be playing.

Smith said he wished he’d been “put in a dark room” on that dark Sunday in Leeds. It’s a not unusual protocol for someone who has suffered a concussion.

But in this instance the master batsman, arguably the most influential player through the opening two games, couldn’t bear to watch.

He wants to bat anywhere, anytime. But never more than then, and now, in this series, with the tension set to reach cut-it-with-a-machete levels in Manchester.

Despite a contribution in the field, David Warner has yet to fire with the bat.

“When you're in those pressure moments you've got to want to be the one to deliver and do what you can for your team,” Smith said.

At Edgbaston Smith delivered 144 and 142, then at Lord’s 80, which turned in to 92, with an unforgettable blow to his neck from Archer in between.

At Manchester the English bowler, with raging confidence to match his outrageous speed, has vowed to go again, but not to knock over Smith.

He doesn’t care if he does or doesn’t.

"I'm not here to get caught up in a contest with one man," Archer said.

"I want to win the Ashes."

Stokes said the same. He could live off his efforts at Headingley forever. But he knows the best thing hasn’t even happened yet.

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“I will only take real satisfaction from the innings if we win back the Ashes,” Stokes said.

England are adamant they have the momentum. Team officials spruik front and back page newspaper coverage. The whole country is behind them.

But the Australian crew have dug in too.

Coach Justin Langer once had to be restrained by teammates when he wanted to go out and bat again after taking a severe blow to the head.

He doesn’t shy away from a fight, and the loss at Headingley won’t be a knock out blow for him and his men.

“We had our chance to retain the Ashes but now we're going to have to work even harder,” Smith said

“And it just makes the series all that more exciting.”

Strap yourselves in.