Australia may have retained the Ashes but a chance to win a Test series in England will spur them on after they “got away” with a draw in Manchester.
Ashes-holders Australia have arrived in London for a series finale at The Oval starting Thursday with the urn secured at 2-1 up with one to play after England dominated the fourth Test at Old Trafford, only for rain to ensure the match ended in a draw.
Australia also led 2-1 in 2019 only for England to win at The Oval and end the series all square at 2-2.
Pat Cummins’s squad, which contains several survivors from that trip, are determined to avoid a repeat as they bid to end Australia’s 22-year wait for an Ashes series win in England.
Australia will consider recalling specialist spinner Todd Murphy, omitted from an attack plundered for 592 at Old Trafford — a total featuring Zak Crawley’s 189.
It was less than two months ago that now injured off-spinner Nathan Lyon helped bowl Australia to victory at The Oval in the World Test Championship final against India, taking 4-41 in the second innings.
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh, who returned to Test cricket after a four-year absence with a hundred in England’s win in the third Test at Headingley, is struggling with “soreness”, while fast bowler Mitchell Starc has a shoulder problem.
As a result, fellow paceman Michael Neser could make his first appearances of the series after a successful stint with Glamorgan in the English County Championship.
England, meanwhile, named an unchanged team for the match on Wednesday.
Fast bowler James Anderson, 40, has retained his place in the side despite struggling to make an impact in the series with just four wickets in three matches.
Anderson said he has “no thoughts about retirement” in his Telegraph column on Tuesday.
Pace bowler Stuart Broad, who captured his 600th test wicket when he dismissed Australian Travis Head in the fourth test, will play his fifth match of the series.
England have sometimes inadvertently annoyed the rest of the cricket world with a self-proclaimed mission to “save” the Test format, making it sound as if their wins are to be celebrated and any defeats don’t matter provided the public are entertained.
That opinion is unlikely to be changed by England batsman Harry Brook saying Tuesday: “If we can win this week, it almost makes it a moral victory.”
England’s aggressive ‘Bazball’ style, however, has yielded 12 wins from 17 Tests since England captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum joined forces last year.
In this series, Stokes was arguably too bold when least required by declaring on the opening day of the first Test at Edgbaston before England had scored 400 in a match Australia eventually won by two wickets and insufficiently bold by not declaring at Old Trafford in a match forecast to be interrupted severely by rain.
Not that he seemed overly concerned, with the all-rounder saying after the Manchester washout: “As much as I would love to be an Ashes-winning captain, I want this to be a legacy team. Regardless of how the series ends up, people will always talk about us.”
