Ashes 2023: Retaining Ashes will be more special if Australia win final Test match at Oval – Pat Cummins

Australian skipper Pat Cummins feels retaining Ashes will be more special if they win the final Test match at the Kennington Oval, London. Australia retained the Ashes after the fourth Test match at Old Trafford, Manchester ended in a draw with rain not allowing any play on the final day of the Test match.

Australia were dominated in the fourth Test match by England and the visitors had the rub of the green on their side with rain playing spoilsport. Ergo, the tourists will be determined to make a solid comeback in the fifth and final Test match.

Australia was skittled out for only 317 runs in the first innings and none of their batters managed to convert their starts into a substantial score. Furthermore, the visitors’ bowlers were taken apart by Zak Crawley, who scored a splendid knock of 189 runs and England posted a huge score of 592 runs to take a massive lead of 275 runs.

Meanwhile, Australia had won the first two Test matches in a thrilling fashion and they will be looking to make a solid comeback.

“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,” Cummins further added.

Cummins hailed England’s batting unit for a fine performance in the first innings of the fourth Test.

“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.

The gun fast bowler hailed Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh for their crucial alliance on the penultimate day of the fourth Test. Labuschagne scored a fine knock of 111 runs and added 103 runs with Marsh.

“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,” Cummins concluded.

The fifth and final Test match will be played at Kennington Oval, London from July 27.