- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Australia may have retained the Ashes, but their other key objective – to beat England in England for the first time since 2001 – ended in failure with a 49-run loss in a thrilling final Test at The Oval.
Whether it was the controversial ball change on the fourth evening, a mid-Day 5 collapse of four wickets in 19 balls, or – most shocking of all – a stunning one-handed catch by Jonny Bairstow, the big moments that the visitors had won consistently in the first two Tests of the series mostly deserted them.
There were positives for Australia, with David Warner defying the doubters with a gallant 60 to get the run chase off to a bright start and give him the chance to retire on his own terms in the home summer, Mitchell Starc’s eight-wicket haul seeing him pip Usman Khawaja for Player of the Series honours, and Todd Murphy shining bright in his first real chance to prove himself after being underbowled at Headingley.
For England, though, victory will taste all the sweeter for Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali, previously maligned figures in English cricket who completed crucial series to be the defining figures on the final day; with Zak Crawley adding another half-century to a career-saving Ashes and Joe Root continuing to prove he’s the premier batter in world cricket, there were no shortage of heroes.
Here are The Roar’s player ratings for the fifth Ashes Test.
David Warner – 7
Heading in once again under heavy pressure to keep his spot for his proposed farewell tour in the Australian summer, Warner’s final match in England all but ensured he will be given the chance to bow out on his own terms.
Once again failing to capitalise on a start in the first innings when he edged Woakes into the cordon on 24, the veteran could hardly have given the visitors a better start to their run chase, blunting the new ball with Usman Khawaja and contributing 60, his second half-century of the tour, to a 140-run opening stand.
It took a blinder from Woakes again to nick him off in the end; ironically, after it was suggested in some corners his slip fielding would keep him in the team it was that area which failed at The Oval, dropping a sitter early on the first morning to reprieve Ben Duckett.
Usman Khawaja – 6.5
In a series where England’s brazen batting has been the hottest talking point, Khawaja finishing as its highest run-scorer, at a strike rate of 39.27, perfectly sums up Test cricket.
It was at The Oval where the greatest contrast between Australia’s premier batter and their opponents came: criticised widely for his second morning go-slow, eking out 47 off 157 balls but derided for failing to put any pressure on England’s bowling, his tempo lifted substantially in the second innings.
The result was a fine 72, his fourth score of 50-plus for the series but first since Lord’s, as he and Warner provided the perfect start to a challenging run chase. Like his opening partner, he could blame the controversial ball change late on Day 4 for his final-morning dismissal.
Loses half a mark for twice wasting reviews on LBWs that were stone dead plumb – decisions that could only be described as Watsonesque.
Marnus Labuschagne – 1
Labuschagne looked to have returned to his best with a match-saving century in the second innings at Old Trafford, but the fifth Test was arguably his worst performance of a lean series.
Completely bogged down by England’s bowling on Day 2, his painstaking 82-ball 9 was finally ended by a blinding Joe Root catch; while conditions were difficult, the lack of intent to score saw both he and Khawaja soundly criticised – though he took umbrage later in the Test to ‘boring’ jibes from the crowd.
The second innings was no better: while unlucky to come in with England’s changed ball hooping around corners, he’d make just 13 before edging Mark Wood into the cordon.
Labuschagne’s Ashes average of 32.79 is his lowest in a series since entrenching himself at number three in England four years ago. No doubt he’ll be itching for the chance to redeem himself in 2025/26.
Steve Smith – 8.5
After a down series, Smith could have done little more for Australia at The Oval – except, perhaps, to provide a match-winning hand.
A steady hand on Day 2 amid first a go-slow and then a collapse, Smith’s 71 came at a reasonable clip and was only ended by his own madness – a wild slog batting with the tail saw him caught by Bairstow running back with the flight, and seemingly cost Australia any chance at a lead.
Just as good on Day 5 – albeit helped by a bizarre Stokes drop – Smith’s second half-century of the Test had Australia on track for a famous win, before falling as part of a four-wicket burst from Woakes and Moeen Ali to rip the heart out of the chase.
This was Smith’s chance to reach one of the few achievements that has eluded him in his legendary career – a fourth innings run chase.
Travis Head – 5
England didn’t have time to try their short-ball approach on Head in the first innings before he edged Broad behind with just 4 to his name.
The South Australian fared better in the second dig, playing with gusto especially before tea as he and Smith took Australia to 3/264 and in the box seat, but it was his dismissal on 43, edging Moeen to slip, that started the collapse that handed the game to England.
Head has achieved plenty this series as his star grows, but unlike in the World Test Championship final or the 2021/22 Ashes, he never produced a match-defining century, a big reason why England were able to square the series.
Mitchell Marsh – 3.5
Having surged ahead of Cameron Green in the all-rounder pecking order with his batting heroics in the third and fourth Tests, The Oval was a reminder that the Western Australian is by no means a complete batter.
Low scores in both innings after starting with brutal fluency both times, Marsh first dragged Anderson onto his stumps for 14 on the second day, before an inside edge off Moeen brilliantly caught by Bairstow for 6 on the final day effectively sealed the tourists’ fate.
He’d take the first wicket of the match, but from there looked short of a gallop in unthreatening conditions and was even taken over his head by Zak Crawley in the second innings: the debate whether he or Green (or both) play against the West Indies to start the Australian summer promises to be an intriguing one.
Alex Carey (wk) – 4
The difference between the two teams in a thrilling first Test was Carey’s keeping over Bairstow’s; by the end, though, so clearly had the Australian gloveman’s runs dwindled that it’s a matter of debate whether he or his clumsy English counterpart had the better series.
With his keeping starting to unravel at The Oval with a first-day drop, he failed to make up for it with the bat in either innings, though his defiant final-day 28 did keep Australia’s flame flickering.
However, one could suggest he needed to be more aggressive with the bat with the tail, as Stokes famously did at Headingley in 2019.
Mitchell Starc – 7
Overlooked for the first Test, Starc ended the series as, remarkably, the highest wicket-taker on either side, and the most likely Australian to stand up against England’s Bazball bashing – plus, his ball to remove Stokes on Day 1 might just be the best of the summer.
Eight wickets for the Test gave the left-armer his best match haul since December 2019, but featured contrasting performances across the two innings: magnificent on Day 1 by removing Stokes and Harry Brook in quick succession to spark an afternoon collapse and then cutting down a wagging tail, he was taken apart by Zak Crawley and Duckett with the new ball on Day 4 and only rescued his figures with three wickets in three overs as England went for a late-day tonk.
Still, having managed just one match on the 2019 tour, Starc can be proud of having been, by some distance, the pick of the quicks four years on – and finished as a surprise choice for Australia’s Player of the Series.
Pat Cummins (c) – 2
The honeymoon is well and truly over for Cummins’ Test captaincy, and with his bowling having looked more ragged the longer this series has gone on, the question has to be asked whether the dual workload is taking a toll.
With just two wickets for the match and once again taken at more than five runs an over, the long-term top-ranked ICC Test bowler has had no answer for Bazball, finishing with a series average of 37.72 and economy of 4.27 – the latter a career-high, the former third-worst behind two subcontinent tours against Sri Lanka and India in the last 12 months.
As for his captaincy, whether it was the ultra-defensive fields, the inability to stop England rotating the strike or bashing boundaries at will, or the unsuccessful bowling plans, particularly to Crawley, it’s hard to remember an Australian skipper copping more flak than Cummins has this series – especially given he’ll be taking home the urn.
Loses more points for an ugly slog on the final day to just about kill any chance Australia had left of a run chase miracle.
Todd Murphy – 8
Nathan Lyon’s calf injury proved a turning point in the series, but Murphy proved at The Oval that he should be front of the queue whenever the GOAT decides to hang up his hooves for good.
While given just six overs on Day 1 in England’s rapid innings, the off-spinner still struck two crucial blows, bowling both Moeen Ali and Wood as they tried to heave him down the ground one ball after clubbing boundaries – the youngster’s temperament, incidentally, looks tailor made for Test cricket.
The pick of the bowlers on Day 3 as England surged, he lured Stokes into a false shot after steadily building pressure, then castled Root with a low shooter – two fine wickets to add to the collection – and then wrapped up the tail for a richly deserved four-wicket haul.
As for his batting – as his six-laden 34 in the first dig to haul Australia into a surprise lead showed, he’s more than capable with willow in hand, and able and willing to take the fight back to even the pacy Wood; his doughty 18 on the final day offered more resistance than some of his top-order teammates.
Josh Hazlewood – 6.5
He still went at more than four an over in both innings, but Hazlewood has regularly been the most difficult Australian bowler for England to get away.
Had both Root and Jonny Bairstow chopping on cheaply in the first innings, while in the second, he looked far more capable of stemming the tide than either Starc or Cummins, with his beauty to dismiss Brook the ball of the day.
Zak Crawley – 7.5
Having had his spot questioned throughout the last 12 months, Crawley finished the Ashes as dynamically as he started, to vindicate Brendon McCullum’s faith in the aggressive opener.
After getting started and getting out in the first innings on 24, the 25-year old flayed the Australian attack to all parts second time around, giving England control of the game with a run-a-ball 73; in both innings, he’d put on partnerships of 60-plus for the first wicket with Duckett.
His safe hands in the slips are another boon, with four more catches – including three key ones on the final day – giving him nine for the series, and only dropping a tough chance late on the final day.
Ben Duckett – 6.5
Duckett loves London; and I mean, he LOVES London. A pair of 40s at The Oval gives him a Test average of 89.2 in three matches at that venue and Lord’s this summer, including a one-off pre-Ashes clash with Ireland; everywhere else, it’s 57 runs at 11.4.
Unlike in the second Test, though, while the left-hander started superbly in both innings – aside from being dropped by Warner early on Day 1 – he couldn’t cash in either time, strangling Marsh down the leg side for 41 in the first dig and getting a faint nick off Starc for 42 in the second.
Moeen Ali – 7.5
Considering his match looked done when he injured his groin on the first morning and proceeded to go the tonk, what could be the veteran all-rounder’s final Test could hardly have gone better.
His attacking 34 and 29, while far from game-turning scores, proved crucial come the final day, but having achieved mixed results with the ball all series, a turning Oval pitch gave him the chance to return, though still hobbled by his injury, to play a key hand in England’s win.
Beginning the collapse with the wicket of Head, Moeen found sharp rip and bite to trouble all batters, adding Marsh and Cummins to a three-wicket haul just as crucial as Woakes’ heroics. Having been lured out of red-ball retirement on series eve by Stokes, he can now head into the sunset with pride.
Joe Root – 7.5
Dragged on for just 5 in the first innings, with Australia’s celebrations perfectly demonstrating how prized his wicket is; but there would be no such reprieve of Root’s brilliance for the visitors on Day 3.
With first Stokes and then Jonny Bairstow, Root was sublime from the first ball, even indulging in a few of his trademark reverse-ramps over the slips cordon. The only disappointment was, just as had happened at Old Trafford, he’d be denied a seemingly inevitable century by a low shooter, this time castled off the inside edge by Todd Murphy for 91.
With the ball, his off-spin was once again a far more major threat than his part-time status would forget, first picking up two wickets to help close out Australia’s first innings, then looking the most dangerous England bowler on the fourth evening when Warner and Khawaja were otherwise untroubled.
Harry Brook – 7
With four half-centuries for the series, one in every Test barring the first, the English prodigy has been a permanent threat without ripping a game open as he did in Pakistan and New Zealand.
He threatened to do that on Day 1 at The Oval with a boundary-laden 85 to seemingly steer England towards a whopping total, only to fall for 85 during a mid-afternoon collapse. His 7 in the second innings, slogging a six before a perfect Hazlewood ball had him nicking behind, perfectly encapsulated a series which has had a touch of feast or famine, with three single-figure scores to go with his 50s.
Ben Stokes (c) – 5
Even while unable to bowl, Stokes is England’s talisman in every sense of the word, so Australia would have been glad to see the back of him in both innings without too much punishment, though a second-innings 42 together with Root set the hosts on a platform to seemingly bat the Aussies out of the match.
Just about flawless with his captaincy in Australia’s first innings, with his field choices excellent and management of his bowlers shrewd, Wood’s injury-affected end to the Test created issues, while he could be said at times to have had too much faith in the consistently unthreatening Anderson.
He also had what could have been a game-deciding blunder on the final day, when he ‘Herschelle Gibbsed’ a catch at leg slip to remove Smith and knocked the ball out while beginning to celebrate.
Jonny Bairstow (wk) – 7
Future generations may look at Bairstow’s series, with its three half-centuries and average north of 40, and not realise that his shoddy glovework and key failures early in the series were arguably what cost England the Ashes.
Sloppy as ever behind the stumps at The Oval for large parts, all was forgiven when he clutched a screamer off Moeen to remove Marsh and continue Australia’s final-day collapse, while his batting in the second innings continued on from his Old Trafford onslaught as he piled on 78 aggressive runs before being caught behind chasing a wide one.
It’s impossible to say whether England would have fared better this series with Ben Foakes behind the stumps, but Bairstow provided more than enough for McCullum and Stokes to stick with him as a keeper-batter for some time yet.
Chris Woakes – 9.5
Wood’s return for the third Test has been cited as the move that swung the series England’s way, but just as if not more impactful has been Woakes.
The Oval was his finest performance yet: claiming seven wickets, he was the pick of the bowlers throughout, never more so than on the final day when he got England’s new ball talking to remove both Warner and Khawaja and later sparking Australia’s collapse with the wicket of Smith. His first-day 36 also ended up proving crucial, with his 49-run stand with Wood exactly what England’s victory margin proved to be.
A deserved Player of the Match and series for the hosts, despite missing the first two Tests, Woakes’ resurgence comes at the perfect time to replace the outgoing Broad as a permanent member of England’s attack.
Mark Wood – 6
While hobbled by a leg injury and unable to have the same impact as he’d had in the third and fourth Tests, the express paceman still was a key contributor to England’s win.
Taking the breakthrough wicket of Labuschagne on the final morning, while his only wicket on Day 5, Wood claimed the Australian number three’s scalp in both innings, while his daredevil 29 on the first day, in partnership with best mate Woakes, was the latest in a number of critical turns with the bat from the moment he was recalled.
If Woakes hadn’t won Player of the Series, then Wood would have been a deserving recipient – should he stay injury-free for the 2025/26 Ashes, he promises to be a handful again.
Stuart Broad – 7.5
The only way Broad’s Test swansong could have been better scripted was if his final two wickets in the shadows of Day 5, the last of his long list of Ashes-turning spells, had been the ones to retain the urn.
While four wickets for the match – two in each innings – was a far cry from some of his major hauls in Ashes old, the veteran’s knack for the key wicket remained; he’d take Khawaja and Head’s scalps on Day 2 in successive overs to spark a collapse; then, given the ball for the last time with Carey and Murphy rallying on the final evening, he produced a peach to end the spinner’s defiance, and finished fittingly with a wicket off his last ball in Test cricket.
He also became just the second player, and first since the 1980s, to hit his last ball for six. A fair way to bow out!
James Anderson – 2
You’d be forgiven for thinking English cricket would be better placed if Anderson had been the one retiring instead of Broad.
Completing a horror series with another unthreatening display, the 41-year old, who celebrated his birthday on the fifth Test’s penultimate day, managed just one wicket for the match, and as it had been at Edgbaston to start the series, was overlooked by Stokes for Woakes and Broad in a situation and conditions he would have once feasted on.
Writing Anderson off has proved a dangerous business, but having been quite clearly the worst of England’s bowlers from first day to last, he may have a fight on his hands to keep his spot in the team and retire as happily as his fabled new-ball partner.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.