The fifth and final day of the fourth Ashes Test ended without a ball being bowled at Old Trafford, Manchester. As a result, the match was drawn and Australia retained the urn on account of their 2-1 lead in the series.
After conceding a huge first-innings lead of 275 to England, the visitors were struggling at 214/5 in their second essay but they were helped to a draw by incessant rainfall throughout the final day of the Test match.
Asked about the feeling of retaining the urn, Australia skipper Pat Cummins said their aim was to win the Test series in England and they would be looking to do the same in the fifth Test, slated to be held at The Oval from July 27-31.
"Our preference is to come over here and win the Ashes. Not the greatest of circumstances but happy to retain it now. What happened today doesn’t really change how we look at the next game. It’s been an amazing group, we all turned up here very motivated. Will be a special week at the Oval," Cummins said at the post-match presentation.
"In the last year or two, [I've dreamed of lifting the urn]. It'll be special, but more special if we get a win," he added.
Australia were outplayed by England in the first three days of the Manchester Test. Asked to bat first, the tourists’ first innings folded for 317 and then the Three Lions rode on Zak Crawley’s 189 and half-centuries from Jonny Bairstow (99*), Joe Root (84), Harry Brook (61), Moeen Ali (54) and Ben Stokes (51*) to pile up a mammoth 592 on the board.
Cummins acknowledged that no plans worked for Australia against the Stokes-led side at Old Trafford.
"England batted really well, we tried a couple of plans but it didn’t work. We weren’t at our best so we’ll look at that," Cummins said.
In the end, Cummins heaped praise on Marnus Labuschagne, whose second innings century saved the Test match for Australia.
"Marnus was fantastic with Marsh yesterday. He got to show his class out there. We all turned up here to win the series, retaining the Ashes is nice but we’re fully focussed on winning it," he concluded.
