Ashes cricket 2023: England media, greats react to fourth Test draw, Australia retaining the Ashes

Australia has been labelled “timid and scared” of the Bazball juggernaut, as England’s media and former greats erupted after the Ashes were sealed by a fourth Test washout in Manchester.

England's Joe Root reacts while bowling on day four of the fourth Ashes cricket Test match between England and Australia at Old Trafford cricket ground in Manchester, north-west England on July 22, 2023. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. NO ASSOCIATION WITH DIRECT COMPETITOR OF SPONSOR, PARTNER, OR SUPPLIER OF THE ECB

England’s Ashes comeback is dead in the water - specifically the puddles that pooled up on the Old Trafford outfield after two days of rain ensured Australia retained the Ashes for a fourth successive series.

And they’re taking it about as well as you might expect.

Splashed across the back pages of the country’s biggest newspapers, England lamented the Manchester outcome, describing the Australian triumph as a ‘fluke’.

“You may have fluked Ashes, Pat, but we still rain over you!” read the headline in the Star, accompanying a picture of a cheery Australian captain Pat Cummins.

While at the Independent, a more simple message was offered for Ben Stokes and his troops: “Ashes go down the drain”.

“That’s so urnfair” screamed the headline from UK tabloid The Sun.

The wet outfield which caused a final-day washout, and a draw, in the fourth Test. Picture: Getty

Outspoken media personality Piers Morgan led the charge as the fourth Test was officially washed out by persistent rain on Sunday, labelling it an ‘absolute farce’ that Australia will return home with the precious urn in their keeping.

“Has there ever been a less-deserved retention of the Ashes?” asked Morgan.

“From the Bairstow debacle to this rain-soaked fiasco, it’s an absolute farce that smirking Australia have ended up with the urn still in their hands.

“England comfortably the better side as this Test showed. Gutting.

“I’d be too embarrassed to even speak to the media if I retained the Ashes in such a dismal way.”

FFS. Has there ever been a less-deserved retention of the Ashes? From the Bairstow debacle to this rain-soaked fiasco, it’s an absolute farce that smirking Australia have ended up with the urn still in their hands. England comfortably the better side as this Test showed. Gutting. pic.twitter.com/efjLtw0nnl

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 23, 2023

His view was supported by former England captain Michael Vaughan, who in the UK Telegraph said it was a cruel defeat and that Australia were ‘timid, scared and petrified’ of the Bazball juggernaut.

“England completely dismantled Australia to a point where they were unable to deliver the basics,” Vaughan wrote.

“They were psychologically affected by the Bazball juggernaut. Australia forgot that in Test cricket if your best ball gets hit, don’t go away from bowling your best ball.

“If England dance down outside off and whip it through mid-wicket, don’t stop bowling that ball. But England’s attacking instincts led to Australia suffering from amnesia.

“Australia were timid, scared and petrified of this England team all week in Manchester and played for rain. Australia were rattled: I can’t remember saying that before. They will know that only rain saved them. It ranks as one of the luckiest escapes I can remember.”

Winners are grinners: Pat Cummins smiles at the fans after securing the Ashes. Picture: Getty

Earlier, England fast bowler Stuart Broad had said it would be ‘unjust’ if Australia were to retain the Ashes as a result of a rain-affected draw in the fourth Test.

“Sitting in the changing room watching the rain fall (on Saturday), there was definitely a feeling it would be unjust if weather had a decisive say,” Broad wrote in his Mail Sport column.

Another former England skipper David Lloyd questioned the decision by the umpires to deny England’s fast bowlers late on day four, when they deemed it unsafe for the Australian batsmen to play against the rapid pace of Mark Wood under gloomy skies.

Instead, England were able only to use the spin tandem of Moeen Ali and Joe Root again Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh.

England were forced to call on Joe Root to bowl crucial overs late on day four as the gloom took over Old Trafford. Picture: AFP

Labuschagne eventually fell to Root, but otherwise Australia successfully navigated a treacherous period of play that ultimately forced day five - and secured the Ashes once more.

That, plus the lack of a reserve day for a loss of gametime due to the weather, rankled Lloyd.

“Having played at Old Trafford for 20 years and spent much of my life in the city, it was quite a normal day in Manchester,” Lloyd wrote.

“Yes - it rained but once it cleared, it was overcast and fine to play cricket in.

“Was the light that bad? You come back to the question of whether it was dangerous? It most certainly was not. It was normal. And the Australia players would admit that too.

“In those 12 overs, someone like Wood could have cleaned up and we would have been going into a deciding Test that this series deserves.

“If we lose a full day’s play or have less than 30 overs in a day, we should have a reserve day.

“Having worked in TV, I know they’ll all come back and say it’s logistics and a nightmare with hotels and all that, but the frank truth is that we have now been robbed of a grand occasion at The Oval.”