Australia’s Captain Pat Cummins remains resolute in their pursuit to win a Test series in England, despite retaining the Ashes in a rain-affected draw at Old Trafford.

Due to persistent rain, the final day of the fourth Test concluded without any play, depriving England of a potential series-levelling victory, even though they had dominated the match.

The outcome ensured that Australia, as the current holders, maintained a 2-1 lead in the series with one Test left at The Oval, beginning on Thursday. However, securing their first Ashes series win in England since 2001 still requires Australia to avoid defeat in London.

Speaking to reporters, Cummins expressed mixed feelings about the situation, stating, “It is a bit of a strange one… we have retained the Ashes, but it has not been our greatest week.” He further emphasized the team’s ambition to win the series, regardless of the outcome of the rain-marred draw.

Australia ended their second innings at 214-5, trailing England’s mammoth first-innings total of 592, wherein Zak Crawley’s remarkable 189 and Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten 99 contributed significantly.

Reflecting on his own performance, Cummins admitted he had not bowled well, recording his most expensive Test haul of 1-129 in 23 overs. He also acknowledged the challenges posed by England’s aggressive batting tactics, known as ‘Bazball,’ which made his captaincy decisions difficult.

While Australia may have secured the Ashes, Cummins expressed that their joy would be subdued given their performance this week.

On the other side, England captain Ben Stokes praised his team’s efforts, stating that they would be remembered as an entertaining and dynamic team that has transformed their approach to red-ball cricket. Despite the draw, Stokes saw their impact as a positive legacy for English cricket.

Looking ahead to The Oval finale, Stokes emphasized the need to regroup and focus on securing a victory, as a 2-2 series result would hold more appeal than a 3-1 defeat.

Usman Khawaja, an Australian batsman, has expressed his view that England is the most challenging place for top-order batsmen to play cricket, and he anticipates a difficult time in the upcoming Ashes series due to his prior struggles on previous tours. Khawaja has a batting average of 19.66 from six Tests played in England, which is less than half of his career average of 47.81. He was also dropped after featuring in three matches during the 2019 Ashes, which Australia drew 2-2 to retain the urn.

According to Khawaja, “England is unequivocally the toughest place in the world for a top-three batsman to bat.” He cited the demanding nature of facing the new ball and unpredictable weather conditions that can affect the outcome of the game. Luck is also a significant factor that comes into play when batting in England, Khawaja noted in his statements to the Australian media.

The Australian batsman Usman Khawaja emphasized the importance of working hard and training diligently, especially if one is preparing to play cricket in England. He advised having low expectations and focusing on each game one at a time because failure is a common experience for batsmen in England. However, when a batsman does manage to score, Khawaja suggested capitalizing on the opportunity as much as possible.

Khawaja was not the only player to struggle for runs during the 2019 Ashes series, with fellow opener David Warner recording the worst-ever average by an opener to play ten innings in a series, averaging just 9.50. Khawaja himself was dropped after the Leeds Test in 2019 and only recalled for the fourth Test during the last Ashes series played in Australia in 2021-22, which Australia won 4-0.
Khawaja impressed in that Sydney match, scoring twin centuries while batting at number five, and has since been a regular fixture in the Australian Test lineup. He believes that he has improved as a player over the past decade but acknowledges that facing bowlers such as James Anderson and Stuart Broad in England will always be a challenging prospect.