By Matt Hardy
England captain Ben Stokes has insisted his side’s legacy is as important as winning the Ashes after rain scuppered the hosts’ chance at levelling the series, resulting in Australia retaining the urn until at least 2025.
Rain fell persistently at Old Trafford yesterday on the final day of the fourth Test as England hoped to chase five wickets, draw the Ashes at 2-2, and head to the Oval later this week looking for a historic series win over the Baggy Greens.
Australia were bowled out for 317 in the opening innings, with Chris Woakes picking up a five-for, before 189 from Zak Crawley and half centuries from Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Stokes and Jonny Bairstow saw England reach a total of 517 put the hosts in a commanding position.
Ashes in the dust
But the forecast was always looking gloomy and Saturday saw just a couple of hours played, in which Root got the only wicket of the session as Australia fell to 214-5 hoping to survive long enough until the rain came.
Sunday was a complete write-off without a single ball bowled, ensuring the tourists kept the Ashes for another couple of years.
Australia can, at worst, draw the series but are able to win their first series in England for the first time in 2001 should they draw or win at the Oval in the fifth Test, which starts on Thursday.
Legacy
“We want to leave the Test match summer with a win, the reward for your work isn’t what you get, it’s what you become,” Stokes said yesterday.
“We’ve become a team that has been so unbelievably well followed and we will live long in the memories of those who have watched us.
“As much as I would love to be an Ashes winning captain, I want this team to be a legacy team and regardless of what happens over the next period, this 18 months will go down in history as one of the most exciting and proactive teams to go out there and represent England.
“There are some tired bodies and we have a short period until the Oval so we will have to see who is fit then.”
England rebuke declaration calls
England lost the opening two Tests, falling 2-0 behind in the series, before a magnificent win at Headingley to leave the series at 2-1 before the match in Manchester.
But the weather played a major role in the fourth Test, and some suggested that England could have declared to try and force a result. Stokes, however, rebuked this.
“I think anyone who is going to question the declaration in this game probably doesn’t understand the game as well as we do,” he added.
“We’ve got three hours of cricket in three days, I don’t think whatever we did, we would have been able to force a result in this game and that is unfortunately due to the weather. But it is what it is.”
The final match of the series, and England’s summer, gets underway on Thursday morning with the Test team not scheduled to be in action thereafter until July 2024 against the West Indies.
England will look to defend their one-day World Cup this autumn.
