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Australia may have retained the urn following the rain-enforced draw in the fourth Ashes 2023 Test at Old Trafford in Manchester. However, both teams still have a lot to play for when they meet in the final Test of the series at Kennington Oval in London starting Thursday, July 27.
The Aussies will be keen to win a Test series in England for the first time since 2001. On the other hand, England will be desperate to win at The Oval and end the Ashes with a credible 2-2 scoreline.
The first two Tests were highly competitive, but Australia managed to sneak home. England emerged victorious in sensational fashion in Headingley and looked set to square the series in Manchester, but the weather played spoilsport. The hosts have named an unchanged playing XI for the fifth Test, retaining veteran pacer James Anderson despite his lack of form.
Meanwhile, there has been plenty of interesting chatter in the build-up to the final Ashes 2023 Test. Here’s a lowdown.
David Warner dismisses retirement talk
One of the major talking points ahead of the final Ashes 2023 Test has been around the red ball future of veteran Australian opener David Warner.
While some reports have been doing the rounds that The Oval Test could be his last, the man himself denied any knowledge of the same.
He told reporters:
“No, I haven’t heard anything actually. I haven’t seen anything. I’ve been on the golf course. I don’t have an announcement. For me, it’s about trying to work hard in the nets, as I did today. Potentially come out tomorrow and, if selected, go out there and play and try and win an Ashes series.”
Warner had earlier stated that he planned to retire from Tests in January 2024 after the series against Pakistan.
“We’re not focused on winning, we’re focused on making people enjoy” - Harry Brook
England batter Harry Brook has had a reasonably good Ashes 2023. In four matches, he has scored 271 runs at an average of 38.71 and is above Steve Smith (248) on the list of top run-getters in the series. However, he made quite a bizarre statement in the build-up to The Oval encounter.
Reflecting on England’s performance in Ashes 2023, Brook commented:
“We’re not focused on winning as a side, we’re focused on making people enjoy watching and bringing Test cricket alive again. I think we’ve done a decent job of that in the last 12 months and it’s been exciting to watch. It’s definitely been exciting to play in.”
While this was not the first time such a statement had come from the England camp, Brook, not for the first time in his career, was brutally roasted on social media.
Another legend, another retirement clarification
Not just David Warner, there has been retirement talk around England great James Anderson as well, who has failed to make an impact in Ashes 2023.
In three Tests, the pacer, who will turn 41 on July 30, has managed only four wickets (same as Joe Root) at an average of 76.75. Like Warner, though, Anderson too is not thinking of retirement as yet.
Writing in his column for The Telegraph, Anderson asserted:
"There are no thoughts about retirement. If I was bowling horrendously, with my pace down and hobbling around in the field I might be thinking differently. But the hunger is still there. I feel like I'm bowling well, that I can still offer something to the team. I felt like I bowled well at Old Trafford and if I get another chance this week, I will just keep trying the same stuff and hope my luck changes.”
Anderson has 689 wickets in 182 Tests at an average of 26.29, with 32 five-wicket hauls to his name.
“It's a big one” - Pat Cummins on The Oval encounter
Australia may have retained the Ashes, but skipper Pat Cummins wants to finish the tour on a high. He termed The Oval Test a big game and said that “winning” the urn would be phenomenal.
He said ahead of the final Test:
"It's a big one. If we win this one and you look back, it's been an incredible tour over here really. We've played five games, we've won three and only lost one. It's already a fantastic tour. But to go home winning the urn would be phenomenal. It's a final thing to tick off the list of titles to win for a few of the guys, who you never [know] if you'll get another chance at it.”
Cummins is the second-leading wicket-taker in Ashes 2023, with 16 wickets at an average of 33.38.
Should Todd Murphy play?
A lot of critics were baffled by Australia’s decision to leave out off-spinner Todd Murphy from the previous Test. Many believe that he should make a comeback for the final Test at The Oval.
Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody told ESPNcricinfo:
“I'd be surprised if he doesn't come into the side just to create that balance, but also give the team better combinations for Pat Cummins to lean towards.”
Former Australian captain Mark Taylor shared similar views. He wrote in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald:
"Australia need to go into the last Test with a more positive attitude than Manchester. First and foremost, what is the best way that they win the game? Murphy has to play. We’ve seen Moeen Ali get some important breakthroughs for England in this series and it does spin a bit at The Oval.”
Murphy was dropped for the fourth Ashes 2023 Test at Old Trafford after managing just one wicket in Leeds. Significantly, he bowled less than 10 overs in the match.
Ben Stokes reflects on “bizarre feeling” after Manchester draw
It has been repeated numerous times in the last few days that England were unlucky with the weather in the previous Test. They looked set to level the Ashes 2-2, but rain prevented them the chance and, in the end, they were forced to concede the urn.
Speaking ahead of the final Test, Ben Stokes admitted that the feeling at the end of the Old Trafford contest was a bizarre one.
The England captain elaborated:
‘I've never left a field, or a game feeling pretty emotionless. It was a bizarre feeling, the game petered out the way it did because of the weather. You look back and think 'Do you wish we'd got beat' or we had played and Australia pulled a draw off? We leave the ground when you can't do anything, it's a strange place to be. It makes you feel very odd.”
England dominated the Old Trafford Test, but could not enforce a win as the entire Day 5 was washed out due to persistent rain.
