Ben Stokes England’s test captain said that it is a bitter pill to swallow after losing the Ashes series as he feels that his team did everything right to win the Fourth Ashes Test but was unlucky as rain played spoilsport on the final day of the Manchester test which eventually ended in a draw giving Australia the chance to retain the Ashes series since 2017.
Interestingly last time when Australia played the Ashes in England in 2019 the scoreline was the same as this time and the last and final test of the 2019 series was also played at The Oval which although Australia lost but retained the Ashes under the captaincy of Tim Paine. They have a good chance of winning the Ashes in England after 2001 when Australia last won an Ashes series on English soil.
A Lot to Play For
England still has the chance of what they did back in 2019 i.e., draw the series and selvage some pride and that is what England’s captain said in his press conference. In the words of Stokes, “It was another do-or-die game for us and I don’t think we could have done much more — bowling them out and then scoring 590.
We have got one game left and we want to go out with a win and draw the series, like in 2019,” he added. England was ahead in the match on pretty much every day and had a very good chance of winning the match and leveling the series but the rain had other plans as it washed off the entire final day and with that the hopes of regaining the Ashes.
A Happy Squad
On the other hand, the Australian captain Pat Cummins was a bit disappointed in the manner of retaining the Ashes but was happy that his team was able to retain the urn. In his post-match press conference, Pat Cummins said “The group should be pretty proud.
Our preference is to come over here and win the Ashes but it’s nice to retain it, albeit not in the best of circumstances.” The Fifth and final test of the Ashes series will be played at the Oval
