Australia keeps urn as weather wipes out day five of the Ashes
Wet conditions have handed Australia the Ashes as play was abandoned in Manchester, delivering a draw and ending England’s hopes of taking back the urn
READING LEVEL: GREEN
Rain has kept the Ashes from England’s grasp for a fourth successive* series after Manchester’s wet weather ensured* Australia survived to retain the urn with a draw.
Despite the occasional window of hope, no play was possible at Old Trafford* on day five, allowing the Aussies to escape from a match they were almost certain to lose and take a 2-1 lead into the fifth and final Test at The Oval, beginning on Thursday.
It was a clear reprieve* for the Aussies, who finished 5-214 in their second innings, still 61 runs away from making England bat again.
Only one session was played across the final two days of the match, with dire* pre-match weather forecasts coming true.
In brief dry spells on day five, England had started warming up, but as soon as it was announced that play would resume at 1:00pm local time if there was no further rain, the skies opened again.
By mid-afternoon on Sunday it was clear that the match would be a washout.
The result means that by the time the next men’s series is held Down Under in 2025-26, Australia will have held the Ashes for eight years.
England was unlucky at Old Trafford, although losing opportunities to slow over rates did not help its cause.
Former captain Joe Root lamented* his side’s predicament*, asking on the BBC why extended daylight hours weren’t used to squeeze in more play.
“It doesn’t get dark here in England until 10pm in the summer – why can’t we just play until we bowl the overs?” Root asked on Sunday.
“There’s been a lot of chat about not bowling the overs. There are so many different ways of trying to find opportunities to get as much play in as possible. At every opportunity, at every stage, you should be looking to find ways to get the Test on. We batted in worse conditions at Edgbaston (in the first Test), but that is cricket. You just want consistency in those conditions.”
While Australia will be relieved to have dodged a loss, the team’s ambition to win an away Ashes series outright for the first time since 2001 means the stakes will remain high for the tourists when they head to London.
Four years ago, Australia won the Manchester Test to establish a 2-1 advantage heading to The Oval, but was defeated on the back of brilliance from Jofra Archer after deciding to bowl first after winning the toss.
While England clearly had the better of the running across this Test, the efforts of Marnus Labuschagne and Mitch Marsh to bat for two overs on Saturday afternoon played an important role in helping Australia save the match.
England last won the Ashes in 2015, with Australia claiming 4-0 wins in the following pair of home series as well as the 2-2 draw in 2019.
This result also marked the first drawn Test for England’s Bazball era, dating back more than a year since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes took over as coach and captain respectively*.
POLL
GLOSSARY
- successive: happening one after the other without a break
- ensured: made certain to happen, guaranteed
- Old Trafford: Manchester’s famous sporting ground, home of Manchester United FC
- reprieve: temporarily delaying punishment
- ceded: gave up, conceded, surrendered
- lamented: expressed regret, frustration or sadness about something
- predicament: an unpleasant situation that is hard to escape
- respectively: in the order just given
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QUICK QUIZ
- What happened to give Australia the draw?
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