Australia retain Ashes as England run into foe they could not defeat

After three days of domination on the field England ran into a foe they could not defeat, rain washing out the entire final day of the fourth Test and with it their Ashes hopes. Wet weather which clung to the north west like steadily overwhelmed the outfield and rendered this contest a draw and possession of the urn to Pat Cummins for another two and a half years.

It was a miserable and incongruous end to a series which has traced an arc light across the early part of summer. And while it leaves a series technically still alive with Australia able to win 3-1 and England force a 2-2 draw, it has robbed the series or its vigour ahead of Thursday’s fifth and final Test.

Earlier this week Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham had jointly-penned a letter complaining about ECB were guilty of a south-north bias in the placement of Ashes Tests.

As the barbecues sparked up in the south even he might concede that has not aged well. Yet while rain ended hopes of England winning a first Ashes series since 2015, there will inevitably be greater scrutiny of where this went wrong when the sun shone.

While they have placed a huge tick next to their stated ambition of entertaining the paying public – all three Tests prior to this superb contests – and they dominated here, there were flaws in their approach.

An adrenaline-fuelled declaration at Edgbaston – with Joe Root going strong – which saw them put in Australia before the close of day one after winning the toss, was over-aggressive.

Ben Stokes’s management of the wicket hunt on the final day as Pat Cummins steered Australia home not taking the new ball for five overs instead bowling Joe Root was questionable. More so missed stumpings, dropped catches and Stuart Broad bowling Usman Khawaja off a no ball were mistakes which could have tipped the balance.

At Lord’s there were more drops – Ollie Pope shelling David Warner, Jimmy Anderson spilling Khawaja on 19 with the opener going on to 77. And a stumping by Alex Carey on Jonny Bairstow which split opinion and incensed the Long Room.

Injuries for England to Pope and Australia Nathan Lyon hit the tourists harder and after a thriller at Headingley the tour landed in Manchester.

For three days England dominated this Test with bat and ball and while they could do nothing about the rain, slow over rates from both sides which robbed the match of 26 overs (an entire session) could have made a difference.

England running out of overs in which to attack the final five wickets brought Stokes’s decision to delay his declaration after lunch on day three into focus. His bowlers getting through just 16 overs in an hour and a half after the rain finally relented on day four was another factor.

Ultimately though there was little Stokes or England could do. After racking up 592 in an effort to bat once then seeing five sessions wiped out, they were robbed by fate.