England captain Ben Stokes was at his best during the post-match press conference after the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester was declared a draw as no play was possible on the fifth day due to continuous rains.
Australia was 214/5 in their second innings still trailing by 61 runs in reply to England’s massive 592 runs in their only innings. Despite England’s best efforts and their ‘bazball’ batting keeping in mind the rain forecast on the last two days of the Test, only one session of play was possible out of the six sessions scheduled.
England was on the verge of leveling the series 2-2 after suffering two early defeats in the contest. On the back of a win in Headingley in the 3rd Test, England did everything within their power to roar back and restore parity in the series in Manchester.
They amassed their highest Ashes innings total on home soil since 1985 with a total of 592 after folding Australia for 317. Zak Crawley hit 189, Jonny Bairstow made 99*, and Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, and Harry Brook scored fifties.
For Australia, Marnus Labuschagne was the lone fighter with 51 in the first innings and a century in the second innings.
“No, Not Really,”- Ben Stokes’ To The Point Reply To Reporter’s Question Leaves Everyone Smiling
Following the lost opportunity for England and their Bazball strategy, captain Ben Stokes was posed with a typical question and it came from an English reporter, in the post-match presser. He was asked whether going 0-2 down early in the series was a bigger “disappointment” for the team than the drawn fourth Test,
And Stokes came up with a terse response, and said with a blank face and a stare before smirking: “No, not really.”
“It is a tough one to take. Playing the cricket we managed to play over the first three days and get on the wrong side of the weather it is tough to take but it is all part of the journey. Coming into the game, knowing what we needed to do, played into our hands a little bit. It was another do or die game for us. It will be tough to look back on but there is one more game to go and we’ll be trying to tie the series and a lot of pride to play for. We want to draw the series like in 2019,” he added.
The fifth and final Test will be played at the Oval from July 27 onwards.
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