The Fifth and Final Test at The Oval

First topic message reminder :

England bowling first!

England Team
A Lyth, AN Cook*, IR Bell, JE Root, JM Bairstow, BA Stokes, JC Buttler†, MM Ali, SCJ Broad, MA Wood, ST Finn
Australia Team
CJL Rogers, DA Warner, SPD Smith, MJ Clarke*, AC Voges, MR Marsh, PM Nevill†, MG Johnson, PM Siddle, MA Starc, NM Lyon

Two changes for Australia - Siddle in for Hazelwood, and Mitchell Marsh replaces his brother. No Shane Watson recall.

England unchanged.

4-1 is so very possible.

Well I see trebell's rain arrived on cue...

Somehow doubt it will continue for five sessions. But does make you wonder if Cook had received a bit more support what might have been.

Not that it really matters : in truth Australia have still dominated this match , whether or not they get a win in the books. And , more importantly , England beat them handsomely 3-1 over the first four games and have fully earned the rights to the urn.

If they want to have a chance of retaining it in a couple of years a few more improvements are needed ; fair enough. Work for the new coaching group. Starting with the UAE tour.

But for now ; celebrate as soon as this is finished one way or another

One last bet for the series - 14/1 that this game is a draw. One last nibble.

Tomorrow looks horrific, weather wise, and currently we have the sort of rain which will last for a few hours.

And need I mention that Moeen and Broad both have test centuries?!

Told you Alfie.  I worked hard on that dance. (not hard enough it turns out).

Agree with all you say there.

silly London, can't even rain for a whole day.

Congrats Aussie.

Overall good to get the Ashes back but a poor quality series really.

Game over. Series over. Well done to Australia in this one.

England land the expected victory, but it was closer than I anticipated. Serious improvements need to be made on the batting front if England are going to have a chance against Pakistan and South Africa - hopefully the form of the bowlers will remain; England always have a chance if their seamers bowl with the kind of aggression that we saw in Birmingham and Nottingham.

What a woeful series in terms of quality and entertainment

Olly wrote:What a woeful series in terms of quality and entertainment

I thought there were some good performances at times but the complete absence of ebb and flow in every match was very disappointing.

Oh well we managed to get one test back at the end. Well done to you English on winning the series though. Wait until you come and play us in Oz. We will whitewash you next time...honest

Regards

We? Are you Steve Smith?

Duty281 wrote:We? Are you Steve Smith?

I'm an honorary Aussie for the Ashes. Always have been since I was a kid. But well done to you lot on wining a deserved series victory

Shame on you, Steffan. Cheering against Wales, even when Simon Jones was performing some heroics in 2005.

Duty281 wrote:Shame on you, Steffan. Cheering against Wales, even when Simon Jones was performing some heroics in 2005.

Watching Welsh players for England is kind of like watching Giggs for Man United. I would always be happy for him score 2 or 3 goals...as long as by the end of the match the other team had scored more