Pat Cummins' message to England after 'absolute farce' in fourth Ashes Test

English fans and commentators are absolutely filthy that Australia have retained the Ashes courtesy of the fourth Test being rained out with the home side in a potentially match-winning position. While a rain delay beyond anyone's control is understandably frustrating, the fact that Australia has retained the urn comes down to one simple fact - as Aussie skipper Pat Cummins has pointed out.

The fourth Test at Old Trafford will officially go down as a draw after day five was rained out, with Australia facing an uphill second innings battle at 5-214, England still leading by 61 runs. It was an agonising result for England, who were in a commanding position to square the series at 2-2 ahead of the fifth Test at The Oval.

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Cummins, after play was officially called off, admitted that it was a 'weird' feeling to have retained the Ashes in a Test where Australia had been thoroughly outplayed by England. However he also made a key observation that England fans simply can't deny.

"It's really nice to retain it," Cummins said. "Obviously not in the circumstances we would have liked, but you look back at the last series and the first two games here and to get ourselves into this position ... The rain might have helped us out, but great result."

The fact that England came into the fourth Test facing a 2-1 deficit was a fact lost on many commentators, with several calling for the series schedule to be altered in future in the case of rain interruptions. Piers Morgan said it was 'gutting' that England were once again denied an Ashes win, despite gleefully welcoming the arrival of rain back in 2013 which allowed England to win the series under the exact same circumstances.

" Has there ever been a less-deserved retention of The Ashes?" Morgan tweeted. "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."

He would later take to Twitter to declare those pointing out that fact as 'graceless'. His declaration that England had been the 'better side', despite losing the first two Tests, was met with some bemusement from the like of former Australian player Callum Ferguson.

"I still think back to the fact that Australia earned the right to be 2-1 up and in the position they are in right now," he said on Channel Nine's coverage. "They lost every toss, Ben Stokes won every toss, (England) wasn't able to make the most of it as a team and Australia are 2-1 up with an opportunity to win The Ashes at The Oval."

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Cummins has long maintained his team did not come to England merely to retain the Ashes, rather wanting to win a Test series in the country for the first since 2001. Most of the same group came close to doing so on the last tour in 2019, but dropped the fifth Test at The Oval after celebrating retaining the urn at Manchester with victory days earlier.

Cummins admitted earlier this month that he felt unsure about those celebrations, and confirmed on Sunday it would be much more understated this time. With the urn now certain to be in their keeping, Australia's players left Old Trafford without singing the team song and their mind solely on Thursday's fifth Test.

"I don't think there will be huge celebrations," Cummins said. "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."

Asked if he felt like the side 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."

With AAP

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