With rain disrupting the entire Day 4’s play at The Oval, the final Ashes Test is meandering towards a draw unless a quirk of fate sees England repeat some of their worst performances against Australia in Test cricket. We’ll have live scores and updates from 8.00pm AEST.
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Australia will be ruing the weather. They had a decent chance of pulling one back at Old Trafford and inclement weather ruined it for them.
Then they had an opportunity to run the English side close in this fifth Test too but the whole of fourth day ended without a ball bowled.
What this means is that only 13 wickets have fallen over the first four days and even if Australia declare their second innings after just one ball, they will be left with the onerous task of picking up 16 English wickets on the final day.
Even if we consider for a moment it’s a possibility worth examining, it must be added the pitch hasn’t had anything to offer. There’s been some turn for Nathan Lyon but swing has pretty much disappeared and even with the sweating under the covers, it wouldn’t have made it unplayable.
What Australia could realistically try is to embarrass the English batsmen in the lead-up to the next series Ashes that will be begin almost as soon as this one gets over.
Bowling them out quickly will be excellent for starters. To be able to enforce the follow-on will be even better. And if they could get the English dressing room nervous with a few second innings wickets, they would have done their job.
Look at it from England’s point of view. The way they batted on the third day – before the rains spoiled the fun – they look in no mood to compromise the chance of winning the series 3-0 by risking a defeat at the expense of going in for a 4-0 win.
And that may not change even now. Ian Bell and the rest of the batsmen will look to bat as deep into the day as possible while if it comes down to their second innings, out-of-form stalwarts Alastair Cook and Jonathon Trott will hope to get a not-out against their names.
It will be interesting to see whether throw the bait at England. Say, a target of 175-200 in 60 overs to go after. And more interestingly if England then attempt it.
Of course any of the above will only be possible if the rain stays away and does not take the life out of a Test match already on its death-bed.
Follow the live score and blog of the fifth day’s play of the final Ashes 2013 Test from 8.00pm AEST. You can join me for this live blog and post your comments below.
Joshua Kayll
Roar Rookie
Did you even watch the match? That was one over out of 40. He took a wicket as well which took even more time. I can't see how that compares to a whole day of English negativity. Of course you wouldn't be able to see that.
Da spoon
Guest
Aussies would llove to see the end of bell. Or bells end. Should set up a bell end club LOL!
Da spoon
Guest
Aussies would like to see the end of bell. Or bells end. Should set up a bell end club. Plenty of would be members on here.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
That's it from me...it's been an absolute pleasure covering it here. The enthralling cricket and your comments and feedback have kept me going, especially towards the end of the day's play, everyday! Thanks to all the support from Ronan and Geoff who have been exceptional in their coverage of the Ashes this series for The Roar and everyone else who left their feedback on the site and had insightful and thought-provoking discussions on the site. I will be back for the T20Is and the ODIs, so we still have seven matches of coverage to go - while limited overs cricket may not be as enticing as the purest form of the game, the England-Australia rivalry and the fact they are more evenly matched in those two formats should make up for it. So do join the coverage starting Thursday, August 29, when the two sides meet at The Rose Bowl for the first T20I. Ciao and have a good day, evening, night ahead!
Scouser92
Guest
Embarrassing really, you've not won a game in 9 test matches. I am enjoying this run :)
Scouser92
Guest
I love bitter aussies.
ChrisUK
Guest
you wouldn't need it if they genuinely held player safety to be the criteria. But there already is discretion about when they first go off, it's only when that benchmark has been set it becomes fixed. But yes - you'll be wanting your bed!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Right, so there must be a million pictures that must have been clicked by now with the English players at the center of them. The players' kids are out on the ground too and make for a happy bunch.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Subjectivity can only bring in more controversy. Probably a subject for another day's conversation.
ChrisUK
Guest
Only as good as your last test win, surely? Mind you, I'm not that old.
ChrisUK
Guest
Surely that's Joe Root. With Mrs Slocombe's.....cat (to avoid moderation!).
Rob na Champassak
Roar Guru
Unfortunately, I think I have. And worst of all, the Best Boy is Ian Bell.
ChrisUK
Guest
Emphasise the player safety element, and give the umpires discretion. It's never unsafe when they go off, not even slightly.
ChrisUK
Guest
WC Grace? Have you been moonlighting with Are You Being Served DVDs?
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Andy Flower asked about reports that said he was resigning from his job. Says one needs to be in the moment, not think too far ahead. In short, he's opted to keep his cards close to his chest. But he hasn't denied anything.
Rob na Champassak
Roar Guru
You're only as good as your last Test, that's my motto. At least, it has been for twenty minutes.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Yep, nothing the umps could have done, they did their best to push it as late as possible. It's the regulations the problem, although I am not sure what can be done to change these particular rules.
Rob na Champassak
Roar Guru
Nonsense. Harris just didn't want to steal the glory from the other bowlers!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thanks for following SB, hope to see you around for the rest of the games too!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thanks Ronan, great stuff from you too - and yep, the ODIs should be good, could be slightly more competitive hopefully (and end slightly later too :) )