Australia secure Ashes retention as weather thwarts England

Australia 317 (Labuschagne 51, Marsh 51, Woakes 5-62) and 214 for five (Labuschagne 111) drew with England 592 (Crawley 189, Bairstow 99*, Root 84, Brook 61, Moeen 54, Stokes 51, Hazlewood 5-126)

Australia have retained the Ashes after escaping a fourth Take a look at dominated by England with a rain-ruined draw. They may depart Manchester on Monday morning with a 2-1 lead, and have the chance to clinch a primary collection win in England since 2001 at The Oval subsequent week.

After solely 30 overs of play had been doable between showers on Saturday, Australia trailed by 61 runs of their second innings with 5 wickets remaining heading into the fifth day at Emirates Previous Trafford. However persistent showers meant that Sunday’s play was deserted and not using a ball bowled, with the draw lastly confirmed at 5.24pm.

Heavy in a single day rain delayed the beginning on the fifth day, and deliberate inspections had been then pushed again by persistent showers which swept throughout the bottom. A begin time of 1pm was introduced throughout an early lunch break, however the rain returned nearly instantly after which set in for the remainder of the afternoon.

England’s gamers kicked a soccer round on the outfield, as if to sign their willingness to play, however finally returned to the dressing room after being drenched. The rain solely turned heavier, with a considerable quantity of standing water on the covers and puddles forming on the outfield.

By the point the umpires determined to name play off for the day, the overwhelming majority of the sold-out crowd had gone residence – with the Social gathering Stand completely abandoned. Pat Cummins shook fingers with Joel Wilson and Nitin Menon, earlier than telling his team-mates that they may have fun retaining the urn.

Ben Stokes spoke within the build-up to the Take a look at in regards to the prospect of the climate forecast forcing England to “push the sport on much more” than traditional and there was not far more they may have executed. They scored at 5.49 runs per over of their solely innings, and took 15 wickets in 161.2 overs within the discipline.

However the rain – and sluggish over-rates from each groups – restricted the Take a look at match to 269 overs, which proved inadequate for a consequence on both facet. This was England’s first draw within the 17 matches they’ve performed since Stokes’ appointment as captain final 12 months, after 12 wins and 4 defeats.

For Australia, the consequence signifies that they can’t lose the collection regardless of being on the again foot for the final two Assessments. 4 years in the past, they left Manchester 2-1 up however misplaced at The Oval, lacking the chance to win outright; they are going to be determined to make amends subsequent week.