Ashes retained by Australia after England's 'inexplicably dumb' move backfires

Cricket fans are questioning why England batted so long in the first innings of the fourth Ashes Test after day five was completely washed out on Sunday - allowing Australia to retain the urn. There was no play on the final day at a wet and miserable Old Trafford, resulting in a draw that sees Australia hold onto the urn for the fourth-straight series.

With a 2-1 lead in the series and one Test remaining at The Oval, Pat Cummins' men can't relinquish the urn. "I don't think there will be huge celebrations," Cummins said on Sunday.

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"Maybe a bit of a pat on the back for retaining the (Ashes). There's been a lot of work gone into putting us into a position where a draw does make us retain the Ashes. But there's a Test match starting in three days, so that's going to be our full focus."

England will feel aggrieved that the weather cost them a likely victory at Old Trafford, with Australia still 61 runs behind the hosts' monster first-innings total of 592 when the match came to a close. But many are pointing out that Stokes' decision to bat for so long on the third day backfired brutally.

Stokes allowed Jonny Bairstow to plunder 99 not out late in England's first innings, which gave them a lead of 275. The England bowlers then had Australia under huge pressure as they claimed four wickets late on the third day to leave the tourists reeling at 4-113.

But just 30 overs were bowled on day four (mainly by spinners Joe Root and Moeen Ali due to the poor light) and none on day five, with Marnus Labuschagne making a brilliant 111 to thwart England's charge. With the forecast always for rain on the final two days, many have suggested England should have been looking to win the game on day three by declaring earlier and giving themselves more time to bowl Australia out. Instead they batted on and took their lead towards 300, which ended up being the wrong call.

Ben Stokes defends England's tactics in fourth Test

Stokes later defended his decision to bat so long on day three. "Regardless of what we did, we would have ended up in the same situation," he told BBC.

"Anyone who is going to question the declaration in this game probably doesn't understand the game as well as we do. It's rained, we have got three hours of cricket in two days.

"I don't think, whatever we did, we would have been able to force a result in this game. And that's just unfortunately due to the weather."

Stokes earlier told reporters: "It's a tough way to not be able to get the urn back. We did literally everything we possibly could ... and the weather didn't help us. It's a tough pill to swallow. We were completely and utterly dominant throughout the hours of play we had."

When asked if he felt like Australia hadn't achieved anything yet, Cummins said: "That's fair. In some regards, whatever happened today wouldn't really change how we look at next week. We want to win it to make sure we win it outright.

"It's a bit of a strange one. As a group, proud that we've retained the Ashes but it's off the back of not our greatest week. We know we've got a fair bit of work to do for next week, a few improvements to make."

England had already felt aggrieved after their controversial 43-run loss in the second Test at Lord's, furious at the way Jonny Bairstow was stumped by Alex Carey in their run chase. Stokes' men also walked away from the first Test claiming it felt like a win, despite a 55-run ninth-wicket partnership between Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins that steered Australia home.

And after England hit back to make it 2-1 after a three-wicket win in the third Test at Headingley, Stokes said he believed his side played a near-perfect game at Old Trafford. But they'll still walk away without the urn, which is staying Down Under for the fourth-straight series.

with AAP

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