England’s captain, Ben Stokes, is determined to finish the Ashes Test series on a high note as the final Test is set to begin on Thursday.
In the fourth test, England was on the verge of beating Australia, with the series poised at 2-2, but unfortunately, not a single ball was bowled due to heavy rain on Sunday. Australia had started their second innings on Friday and was at 113-4 before progressing to 214-5 on Saturday, needing 61 runs to make England bat again.
Regrettably, the match ended in a draw due to the weather conditions, resulting in Australia retaining the Ashes regardless of the outcome at The Oval. Stokes expressed his unusual emotions after the match, feeling somewhat empty due to the game’s anticlimactic ending caused by the rain.
Looking back, Stokes expressed a wish for a different result, either losing the game or Australia managing to draw it, rather than a dampened conclusion. The moment of shaking hands with the umpires and the opposition at the end of the match highlighted the shared sentiment of both teams – a lack of emotion due to Australia retaining the Ashes and England unable to win it back.
The England team will field an unchanged squad for the fifth test. This means that 37-year-old fast bowler Stuart Broad will have played in all five tests, while his strike partner James Anderson, who will turn 41 during the test, will also retain his place despite a lean series.
In the series, Broad has been the top wicket-taker with 18 wickets, while Anderson, hailed as the most successful fast bowler in test history, has struggled and has only managed to take four wickets at an average of 76.
