After weather caused the fourth Test at Old Trafford to conclude in a tie, Australia great Glenn McGrath said England only had themselves to blame for their inability to reclaim the Ashes.
McGrath says England blame regain Ashes: On Sunday, they cancelled the entire final day without playing a single ball due to poor weather, and on Saturday, they lost 60 overs for the same reason.
With just this week’s fifth and final Test at The Oval in London left to play, a draw guaranteed that Australia, as the series’ current holders, would retain the Ashes with a 2-1 series lead.
McGrath stated that England had batted for too long due to the Manchester weather, known for interrupting Test matches at Old Trafford, and the bleak prognosis for the days after the third day last week.
Former fast bowler McGrath argued that home captain Ben Stokes should have declared so as to allow his team more time to bowl out the tourists, who were 214-5 in their second innings when play was suspended. England reached 592 in response to Australia’s first-innings 317.
“Looking back at that declaration (decision),” McGrath told the BBC, “they (England) could easily have picked up six or seven wickets if they (England) had finished at lunch on day three, given themselves 10 more overs when the ball was doing a bit more.”
England had the chance, but for some reason they chose to continue playing after lunch, which perhaps sealed their doom.
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Australia, the world champions in Test cricket, defeated the hosts 2-0 in the first two Tests at Edgbaston and Lord’s, despite the hosts having chances to win.
“If they (England) had played truly ruthless cricket, they could be 3-0 up by now, but they’re 2-1 down and the Ashes have gone,” added McGrath, who won the Ashes series in England in 2001 but was a member of the team that lost the Australia trip that year.
Since their victory in 2001, Australia has gone five visits without claiming an Ashes series victory in England.
Michael Vaughan, who led England to an exciting Ashes victory in 2005, wanted to see that sequence go on longer.
There is “a huge amount to play for down at The Oval,” he said. “You wouldn’t want to be the first England team to lose here since 2001.”
“Even though they are down 2-1, it still seems like England has been the superior team. They have performed well and have controlled large portions of the Test matches.
“England will definitely wipe them out,” he continued, “if Australia plays the way they have in this (Old Trafford) Test.”