Match: 4th Ashes Test
Teams: England Vs Australia
Venue: Old Trafford, Chester-le-Street
Date: Aug 9-13, 2013
Start Time: 11:00 am (10:00GMT)
At Old Trafford England remained unbeaten for the 11th consecutive Test, while Australia failed to win for the seventh match in a row. The result also ensured the Ashes would remain in English possession, yet the evidence of the eyes tended to conflict with that conveyed by the scoreboard and the record book. Australia appeared to have turned a significant corner, putting near enough to five days of staunch cricket together for the first time in recent memory, and England looked more than a little exhausted by their earlier efforts in the series. At the same time their batsmen showed increasing signs of frailty in the face of the tourists' admirable pace attack, a reliance on Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen to extricate the top three from bother growing more apparent with each match.
So with the series moving to a venue less familiar to both sides, though the pitch is again straw-coloured, the question is how much the trends of Manchester will have an impact on proceedings at Durham. England were by far the better of the two sides in coping with the quick onset of another match so soon after the Nottingham epic, and this time also have the added relief of not having to worry about retaining the urn anymore. They should thus be capable of playing with a little more freedom of expression, not least the young opener Joe Root, who looked near enough to paralysed during two soporific innings in Lancashire. The unrelenting seam-up stylings of Graham Onions appear a likely reinforcement for the hosts' bowling attack, which lacked a certain pep last week.
The tourists are 2-0 down with two matches remaining and have to wait until the return series in Australia at the end of the year for a chance to reclaim the urn. But such was their dominance of the drawn third test at Old Trafford that squaring the series is a realistic target for Michael Clarke's side.
"I think England will be taking the positive that they are 2-0 up in the series and can't lose the Ashes but I think the way we played in Manchester has built some momentum for us," Clarke said Thursday, "and plenty of confidence is flowing in our camp.
"We need to be able to back up what we showed in Manchester."
After the lows of Lord's, when the Australians capitulated to a 347-run loss in the second test, came the optimism of Old Trafford.
Their misfiring batsmen finally got in the runs, with Clarke hitting a brilliant 187 and both Steve Smith and Chris Rogers falling just short of centuries. And their bowlers continued to look dangerous, particularly pacemen Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle and recalled offspinner Nathan Lyon.
If it wasn't for rain over the final two days, the likelihood is that this series would still be alive. As it was, the match was eventually washed out as a draw, ensuring England retained the urn in the most anticlimactic of ways.
The celebrations have proved to be fairly muted, though.
It emerged on Wednesday that Monty Panesar, an unused member of the squad for that third test, was fined by police on Monday for reportedly urinating over bouncers at a nightclub. He wasn't included in the squad for the fourth test.
Likely XI
England : 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Joe Root, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan/Graham Onions, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Graeme Swann, 11 James Anderson
Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Chris Rogers, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Shane Watson, 6 Steve Smith, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Ryan Harris, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Jackson Bird.
Stats to look for
-This is the first Ashes Test to be played in Durham, making it the ninth ground to host a Test between England and Australia in the UK
- The last Ashes series to be drawn 2-2 took place in England in 1972
- Michael Clarke needs 103 runs to pass Justin Langer and move into sixth place on Australia's list of all-time run-makers
Teams: England Vs Australia
Venue: Old Trafford, Chester-le-Street
Date: Aug 9-13, 2013
Start Time: 11:00 am (10:00GMT)
At Old Trafford England remained unbeaten for the 11th consecutive Test, while Australia failed to win for the seventh match in a row. The result also ensured the Ashes would remain in English possession, yet the evidence of the eyes tended to conflict with that conveyed by the scoreboard and the record book. Australia appeared to have turned a significant corner, putting near enough to five days of staunch cricket together for the first time in recent memory, and England looked more than a little exhausted by their earlier efforts in the series. At the same time their batsmen showed increasing signs of frailty in the face of the tourists' admirable pace attack, a reliance on Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen to extricate the top three from bother growing more apparent with each match.So with the series moving to a venue less familiar to both sides, though the pitch is again straw-coloured, the question is how much the trends of Manchester will have an impact on proceedings at Durham. England were by far the better of the two sides in coping with the quick onset of another match so soon after the Nottingham epic, and this time also have the added relief of not having to worry about retaining the urn anymore. They should thus be capable of playing with a little more freedom of expression, not least the young opener Joe Root, who looked near enough to paralysed during two soporific innings in Lancashire. The unrelenting seam-up stylings of Graham Onions appear a likely reinforcement for the hosts' bowling attack, which lacked a certain pep last week.
The tourists are 2-0 down with two matches remaining and have to wait until the return series in Australia at the end of the year for a chance to reclaim the urn. But such was their dominance of the drawn third test at Old Trafford that squaring the series is a realistic target for Michael Clarke's side.
"I think England will be taking the positive that they are 2-0 up in the series and can't lose the Ashes but I think the way we played in Manchester has built some momentum for us," Clarke said Thursday, "and plenty of confidence is flowing in our camp.
"We need to be able to back up what we showed in Manchester."
After the lows of Lord's, when the Australians capitulated to a 347-run loss in the second test, came the optimism of Old Trafford.
Their misfiring batsmen finally got in the runs, with Clarke hitting a brilliant 187 and both Steve Smith and Chris Rogers falling just short of centuries. And their bowlers continued to look dangerous, particularly pacemen Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle and recalled offspinner Nathan Lyon.
If it wasn't for rain over the final two days, the likelihood is that this series would still be alive. As it was, the match was eventually washed out as a draw, ensuring England retained the urn in the most anticlimactic of ways.
The celebrations have proved to be fairly muted, though.
It emerged on Wednesday that Monty Panesar, an unused member of the squad for that third test, was fined by police on Monday for reportedly urinating over bouncers at a nightclub. He wasn't included in the squad for the fourth test.
Likely XI
England : 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Joe Root, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan/Graham Onions, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Graeme Swann, 11 James Anderson
Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Chris Rogers, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Shane Watson, 6 Steve Smith, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Ryan Harris, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Jackson Bird.
Stats to look for
-This is the first Ashes Test to be played in Durham, making it the ninth ground to host a Test between England and Australia in the UK
- The last Ashes series to be drawn 2-2 took place in England in 1972
- Michael Clarke needs 103 runs to pass Justin Langer and move into sixth place on Australia's list of all-time run-makers
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