The final day of the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford turned out to be a damp squib as not a single ball was bowled due to persistent rain. Play was finally called off at about 6.40PMl. With the Test ending in a stalemate, Australia retained the Ashes, having won the 2021-22 series at home. Meanwhile, it turned out to be a heartbreak for Ben Stokes and the English band of brothers as the home side were in control of proceedings in the fourth Test, with Australia still 61 runs adrift of making England bat again.
There seemed to be a slight window of opportunity for play to resume, with rain relentring for a while. The restart time was fixed at around 1 PM local time. Unfortunately, further showers washed away any hope of resuming the match. By the time the umpires decided to call off the day’s play, massive puddles had formed around the ground.
It has certainly been a series of small margins so far, with Australia perhaps showing slightly better game awareness at crucial junctures, especially during the Lord’s Test. England also missed as many as seven opportunities at Edgbaston, which didn’t help their cause. On day four at Old Trafford, England had 30 overs to bowl at Australia but could only take a single wicket. Although it has to be noted that once the ball picked up some moisture and dirt from the outfield, it stopped swinging for the pacers. Mitchell Marsh smacking a couple of boundaries early on in the day perhaps made the difference as the ball scurried away over the rather damp outfield.
Marsh also played with loads of patience, as he and Marnus Labuschagne shared a series-altering 100-plus stand. Labuschagne also scored his maiden Test ton in England. Meanwhile, Mark Wood, Jonny Bairstow, Zak Crawley and Chris Woakes starred for England. However, rain ultimately had the final say as England drew their first game under Stokes’s captaincy.