England captain Ben Stokes is ready to have “serious conversations” about an operation on his troublesome knee injury in a bid to set him on course for another tilt at the Ashes in 2025/26.

Stokes has been struggling badly with a chronic left knee problem for the past year and has been in visible pain throughout the current series against Australia.

Having set his heart on playing a full all-rounder’s role this summer, he has been able to offer just 29 overs with the ball and has not bowled at all in the last two Tests. Batting and fielding also appears to push him to the limit at times and, at the age of 32, a solution needs to be found.

This week’s Ashes finale at the Kia Oval, which England must win to square the scoreline at 2-2, is England’s last red-ball game for six months – a window that offers Stokes the chance to tackle the issue head on.

He had a cortisone injection ahead of this year’s Indian Premier League to help manage his symptoms and, asked if he would now consider going one step further with surgery, he said: “Yeah, it’s something I obviously want to get sorted.

“The times I’ve seen specialists and stuff like that, there has been cricket around, so as it’s been manageable we’ve just cracked on.

“I was pretty broken after the Lord’s game, but I still managed to walk out. I think this is a good time to have some serious conversations with medics around what I could potentially do to get a role in which I can bowl without having to worry about my knee. Those are conversations we will be able to have in that time off.

“It has been frustrating in the last couple of years, not being able to have the same impact and play the same role that I have done for the last 10 years.

“So it’s obviously something that I want to be able to do and hopefully I can get sorted. I keep forgetting that I’m ageing every day.”

Regardless of what happens in the next five days in south London, Stokes knows it will be Pat Cummins lifting the urn instead of him at the end of the game.

That means England are now guaranteed at least a decade between Ashes wins, having last triumphed in 2015, and Stokes would love to be fit and firing to lead the charge Down Under next time around.

“It’d be nice to go out to Australia in 2025 and have a good chance of winning,” he said.

“How this series has gone and how close we were, it does make you think when we next go to Australia do we have a better chance than the last few times?

“The way in which Australians and England players speak about the Ashes, it’s obviously the big one. The Ashes is such an important series for English and Australian cricket and it would be nice to say I’ve won it twice.”

In the short term, Stokes has to work out how to spend his time away. He and head coach Brendon McCullum have worked hard bonding the Test team together over a hectic 12-month period and now face a hiatus before touring India in January.

Stokes has an open invitation to throw his hat back into the ring for England’s 50-over World Cup defence this autumn, but insisted he had no second thoughts about about leaving ODI cricket behind.

“I’m retired,” was his unambiguous response to the idea.

“I’m going on holiday after this game. That’s as far as I’m thinking. But there’s only so much ‘break’ you can cope with. You really do miss that environment, when you’re around the other lads.

“In two or three weeks I’ll probably get bored and just schedule a squad game or something like that.”

Max Malins denies that England have suffered from the high turnover of attack coaches since he made his Test debut almost three years ago.

Eddie Jones, Simon Amor, Martin Gleeson, Nick Evans and Richard Wigglesworth have each filled the role during Malins’ 17-cap Test career that began against Georgia in 2020.

England’s attack has functioned only sporadically during that time, but Malins believes the frequent changes are not the reason for any shortcomings.

“Every attack coach has their own ideas but it doesn’t vary too much,” the Saracens wing said.

“It’s not like we’ve gone from trying to play wide to hitting everything through the middle. As a general picture, it’s been pretty similar.

“There’s a solid foundation and solid coaching group that can take us forward. It hasn’t held me back.”

Wigglesworth has been placed in charge of England’s attack after joining Steve Borthwick’s coaching team from Leicester at the end of the season.

With the World Cup opener against Argentina on September 9 looming large, the four warm-up Tests that start against Wales on Saturday week will provide precious opportunities to lay some foundations.

While Wigglesworth oversees the attack, he is given assistance by fly-half generals Owen Farrell, George Ford and Marcus Smith.

“It’s very collaborative. Richard will give his thoughts on the system and how we want to play,” Malins said.

“But once we’re out on that field there’s a lot of talk: Owen, George and Marcus all pitch in with ideas on different plays as they unfold.

“It’s on the go, in the moment, out on the field, fixing things or appraising things as we do them.

“Owen and George are both students of the game. If you see them chatting in the corner, you know what they’re chatting about. Two unbelievable rugby minds.

“To have those two – and Marcus, who brings a different spin on things – it’s brilliant for the team.”

England captain Ben Stokes had an unusual start to his Ashes press conference on Wednesday, with team-mate Mark Wood interrupting the session with a burst of ‘Barbie Girl’.

Stokes had just sat down to take questions ahead of the fifth Test against Australia when the opening bars of Aqua’s 1997 pop hit began reverberating around the Kia Oval’s indoor school.

Stokes, who was five years old when the novelty track became a UK number one, took the moment in his stride as he puffed his cheeks in deadpan fashion before before correctly guessing the culprit.

Looking up and over his shoulder towards the team gym, he shouted “Woody” as laughter from the assembled journalists replaced the music.

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, launched in cinemas in the UK last week.

Stokes proceeded to name an unchanged XI and spent 15 minutes speaking to reporters, but Wood’s DJ set was not quite complete.

As Stokes finished his appearance and stood up to leave, Wood reprised the prank by playing The Imperial March by composer John Williams – better known as the song that heralds the appearance of Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies.

Pat Cummins insists Australia feel a strong sense of unfinished business as they bid to cap retaining the Ashes by completing an overdue series success on English soil.

The tourists begin the fifth and final Test with the urn already in the bag after last week’s Old Trafford washout frustrated England.

Australia have not won a series outright in England since 2001 and blew the chance to do so four years ago after paying the price for some over-exuberant celebrations ahead of their last visit to the Kia Oval, when they also held a 2-1 lead.

Captain Cummins believes the circumstances are completely different this time around and says his side are determined to end the 22-year wait.

“I think the good thing is that it’s a really similar group to 2019,” he said.

“That Manchester (in 2019) was a big win to retain the Ashes, which we hadn’t done for a long time off the back of Headingley, even Lord’s, where we probably missed a trick last series.

“I felt like that was a big exclamation mark on the end of that series with still one Test match to play.

“It feels really different here, this group has been really motivated to win the series.

“We know that it wasn’t our best week last week and at the end of the game it was a bit of a pat on the back, ‘well done, we’ve retained the Ashes’ but really it feels like the job’s not done.”

Australia, who went 2-0 up in the series, were spared a winner-takes-all decider in south London by a rain-ruined end to the fourth Test in Manchester.

England were well in control after piling up a 275-run first-innings lead but, with just 30 overs possible across the last two days, they were prevented from converting their dominance into a series-levelling victory.

The next five days could prove to be the end of an era for this Australia team, most of whom are aged 30 or above and may not be in contention for the next Ashes series in England in 2027.

Opening batter David Warner, who turns 37 in October, on Tuesday quashed rumours he is set to retire imminently and intends to stick to his initial plan of finishing on home soil early next year.

Pace bowler Cummins concedes knowing when to transition from one generation to the next is a complex issue but has no desire to see any player finish prematurely.

“It’s a hard one,” said the 30-year-old. “I certainly don’t want to rush anyone out of the door.

“I think this is about the fourth Ashes series where (England bowler) Jimmy Anderson has said it’s going to be his last one, so you never quite know. It is just an age.

“Some of these guys might be around here in four years and still be at the top level. We’ll see but it’s always a conversation.

“We’re lucky we’ve got white ball cricket, where you can have a soft entry for a lot of the (younger) guys, give them exposure to international cricket.

“It’s something the selectors talk about but really you try and pick your best XI each week.”

England defender Alex Greenwood is confident vital new connections are forming in camp that will see an improved display when the Lionesses take on Denmark in their second World Cup game on Friday.

Georgia Stanway’s retaken penalty was enough to secure England a nervy 1-0 victory in their opener against underdogs Haiti, but did little to ease concerns about their attack as it extended the streak without a goal from open play to three matches.

Yet this is a much-changed line-up from last summer’s European Championship triumph, with Sarina Wiegman’s starting line-up in Brisbane showing five changes from the one that lifted that trophy almost a year ago.

Greenwood, who replaced now-forward Rachel Daly at left-back against Haiti, said: “I was prepared. I knew my role in the team and whether that’s centre-back or that’s left-back, we’ve all played in those positions before whether that’s at club or country.

“We might not play together every week at club level, but we’re very familiar with each other.

“And that’s in training, we’ve been in training camp for three weeks together before the tournament started, and that’s enough time to prepare for your partnerships.

“You build up relationships, but as a tournament starts those things develop naturally as well. So for us, again, it’s just about keeping doing that in training, keeping forming those partnerships and eventually it will come together.

“I think it’s a case of coming together and trying different things with different people. Everyone has different strengths, and our wingers are all so gifted in different ways.

“Whoever you play with you try and play to their strengths.”

Greenwood will hope it comes together sooner rather than later as the world number four Lionesses now face much higher-ranked opponents than debutants Haiti, number 53 in FIFA’s global table, in 13th-placed Denmark.

England’s defence face a particularly potent challenge in ex-Chelsea forward Pernille Harder, while Wiegman’s forwards will need to find the finishing touch after squandering numerous chances in their opener.

While she would not speculate over potential changes to the starting line-up, Greenwood added: “I don’t know about changes in personnel, but I think for us coming away from the game, we definitely created chances and had chances to score more goals.

“That’s not a concern. We know we’ve got to put the ball in the back of the net when we have those chances and I think that will come.

“We’ve got enough players, enough quality in this team to create the chances and to put the ball in the back of the net.”

James Anderson insists that “the hunger is still there” to keep playing as he prepares for the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Oval.

England have named an unchanged squad for the Test, where they are aiming to level the series against Australia, but veteran seamer Anderson has been under the microscope.

The 40-year-old has taken just four wickets at an average of 76.75 across the series, including one at his home ground Old Trafford last week, but he is still determined to keep giving his best for England.

Writing in his column for the Daily Telegraph, Anderson said: “I have certainly not had the returns I would have liked in this series. Everyone goes through a lean patch, but you just do not want it to be in the most high-profile series we play.

“I keep talking to the coach and captain. They want me around, so as long as I am still hungry, want to put in the work, I will keep trying to give my best for the team.

“That is exactly where I am at the minute. I love playing Test cricket as much as I ever have and this is my favourite period as an England cricketer.

“If I was bowling horrendously, with my pace down and hobbling around in the field, I might be thinking differently. But the hunger is still there. I feel like I am bowling well, that I can still offer something to the team.”

Harry Brook was just two years old the last time Australia won an Ashes series in England and wants to ensure their wait goes on by securing a “moral victory” for the home side at the Oval.

The tantalising prospect of this week’s fifth and final Test being a do-or-die shootout for the urn disappeared in a downpour at Old Trafford, where England’s dominance was rewarded with a rain-ruined draw.

A 2-1 lead means the Baggy Greens retain as holders, but they remain intent on becoming the first Australian side to win outright on English soil since 2001.

Should they fall at the final hurdle, as they did from the same position four years ago, it would be a flat finish to a tour that started with a triumphant World Test Championship final against India.

And Brook, 24, is eager to press home the growing impression that England have enjoyed the better of this summer’s rivalry.

“We haven’t lost yet, they’ve only retained it. There is another Test match to be won,” he said.

“It’s a shame the weather ruined it for us because we’d have felt very confident going into this game at 2-2. We were dominating the game last week, so if the game had played out, I would like to think we would have won. If we can win this week, yeah, it almost can make it a moral victory.

“We’re not focused on winning as a side, we’re focused on making people enjoy watching and bringing Test cricket alive again. I think we’ve done a decent job of that in the last 12 months and it’s been exciting to watch. It’s definitely been exciting to play in.”

Asked if spoiling the Australian party was a motivating factor, he added: “That would be lovely. It’s not nice drawing, but it would be lovely to not give them that privilege.

“We’re just going to go out there and play the same way we have in this series.”

Brook is one of the least experienced members of a seasoned England squad and has embraced his first taste of Ashes cricket.

He has 271 runs, three half-centuries and a middling average of 38.71, but played a match-winning hand of 75 during a tense fourth-innings chase at Headingley.

“On a personal note, that is one of my favourite innings – a crunch game, at my home ground, so to have contributed a significant amount was nice,” he said.

“I’m learning every day and there are so many things I have learnt this series playing against some of the best bowlers in the world. Having grown up watching quite a bit of the Ashes, it feels like the pinnacle of Test cricket.

“There is a fine line between aggression and recklessness. I’d probably rather be on the reckless side than the tentative side. I’m not just there to survive. I like to score runs and I try to score them quite quick.”

There are some tired bodies in the England camp, particularly among the bowling group. Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are both battling stiffness and soreness, while Stuart Broad is eyeing the prospect of playing a sixth Test in just over seven weeks at the age of 37.

But while many of their group are looking forward to a well-earned rest, Brook’s youth and exuberance means he plans to turn out for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred just three days after the end of the Ashes.

“I’m going straight into it. I’m happy to play that first game,” he said.

Brook is well in demand on the short-form circuit, having won a £1.3million deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League as well as representing teams in the Pakistan Super League and Big Bash.

But he insists the international game is his overwhelming priority and has no intention of letting his head be turned.

Addressing reports that the England and Wales Cricket Board is preparing to introduce improved multi-year deals which would limit availability in T20 tournaments, he said: “I want to play cricket for England. I’m not bothered about all the franchise stuff.

“Obviously, it’s a bonus but I’m completely focused on playing cricket for England. I’m playing all three formats for England, I don’t really feel like there’s too much time to be playing any other franchise stuff, to be honest.

“The IPL is the only one that is really free, when you’re available for everything, so there won’t be much thought there.”

Harry Brook wants to end England’s Ashes summer on a high and believes levelling the series at the Kia Oval would represent “a moral victory” over Australia.

The tourists already know they will be lifting the urn at the end of this week’s fifth Test, with their current 2-1 lead enough to guarantee they retain as holders.

They are still aiming to pull off an outright victory to become the first Australian men’s side to win a series on these shores since 2001, but England can ensure their achievement rings hollow if they make it 2-2 in south London.

After winning at Headingley and dominating the first three days at Old Trafford before rain robbed them,  Ben Stokes’ men want to prove they have had the better of the contest.

“We were dominating the game last week so, if the game had played out, I would like to think we would have won. If we can win this week, it almost makes it a moral victory,” Brook said.

“That would be lovely. It’s not nice drawing, but it would be lovely to not give them that privilege.

“We’re just gonna go out there and play the same way we have in this series. It’s a shame the weather ruined it for us because we’d have felt very confident going into this game at 2-2. The rain won last week.

“We were thinking that (we deserved something) last week when it was pouring down in Manchester. It never seems to be sunny there.”

Brook has registered three half-centuries and scored 271 runs across seven Ashes innings, but would love a big score to finish the series.

On his match-winning 75 at Headingley, the Yorkshireman said: “On a personal note, one of my favourite innings, in a crunch game, at my home ground, to have contributed a significant amount was nice.

“There are so many things I have learnt this series and to play some of the best bowlers in the world, I haven’t got a big score but feel I have contributed in a few games now.

“I know I am at my best when I am trying to be positive, not just trying to survive. A couple of times I feel like I have been reckless, especially that innings at Lord’s in the first innings and then some innings where I’ve been tentative and not trying to score. It is just about getting it right.

“I have definitely got used to them (the Australian bowlers), I haven’t faced them before this series so it takes time but I feel I have watched enough and faced enough to go out there and feel confident now.”

Liverpool great John Barnes is not convinced Trent Alexander-Arnold is at his creative best when used in the central role he adopted last season.

Having attracted criticism for a series of defensive mishaps as Liverpool failed to challenge Manchester City last term, Alexander-Arnold switched to a central role in the season's closing weeks.

Liverpool won seven of their last nine Premier League games to finish fifth, a run that started with Alexander-Arnold producing two assists in a 6-1 rout of Leeds United, drifting inside from his right-back position to a hybrid role.

Alexander-Arnold then played in midfield during England's wins over Malta and North Macedonia last month, but Barnes is not sure it will become his permanent position.

"It depends on the games, if you can dominate position," Barnes told Stats Perform. "Possibly when you're playing against City, you're not able to do that.

"Are we going to get a right-back and Trent plays in midfield, or [will he] move into midfield in possession? 

"When he moves into midfield, if you lose the ball, is he able to get back to the right-back position? It really depends on what they want and how they see that. 

"Trent probably produces more playing in the right-back position, in terms of the crosses he puts in for people to score. Playing in midfield, he still creates more from a right-back position. 

"We may look at that situation and say we haven't got a midfield player who's going to produce that kind of pass, but we lose what he has at right-back in terms of his crossing."

With Liverpool bolstering their midfield with the signings of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, Barnes believes there may no longer be a need for Alexander-Arnold to play centrally.

"I don't necessarily feel that Trent creates more goalscoring opportunities playing in that role. But once again, it really depends on necessity," he added.

"Now that we have the midfield players we have, I'd be surprised. We may still do it on the odd occasion, but I think that was more out of necessity than anything else."

Former Liverpool midfielders Lucas Leiva and Gary McAllister, however, believe Alexander-Arnold has the quality to be a good option in either position.

"I think Trent showed that he's got the quality to play in midfield," Lucas said. "As a full-back, you have a little more time on the ball because in midfield you're always under pressure.

"But Trent has the capacity to play in both positions, which is very good. That gives another option to Jurgen [Klopp], depending on the game and depending on the system.

"For sure, he is capable of doing that. I'm looking forward to it also because every year, Trent is improving and getting better and better. He's a world-class player but he's still very young and coming into midfield shows another improvement from him."

McAllister echoed Lucas' thoughts, adding: "He's got the ability and has got such an amazing range of passing, first and foremost.

"But I'm sure Jurgen is going be very careful not to take away his ability to get high and wide to deliver crosses for the forwards.

"Being able to adapt with Trent in two or three different positions is a massive bonus for Jurgen. I thought it was really exciting watching him come off the side.

"I thought he was outstanding and it did marry in with fact that Liverpool finished the season really well. He hit a dozen passes that nobody else in the league could hit."

England have named an unchanged squad for the final Ashes Test of the summer with a decision now required over James Anderson’s involvement at the Kia Oval.

The Manchester weather washed out play on Sunday and wrecked England’s hopes of setting up a winner-takes-all decider this week.

The draw means Australia have retained the urn with the series at 2-1 with one Test to play, but England will try to rally as a group and win in London to ensure a second successive home Ashes ends 2-2.

An unchanged 14-man squad has been selected for the fifth Test, which begins on Thursday, and all eyes will be on what England do with Anderson.

Veteran Anderson, who will turn 41 on Sunday, has struggled to take wickets throughout the series, picking up four scalps in three Tests at an average of 76.75.

He only claimed a solitary wicket in the drawn Old Trafford match and, after being rested for England’s victory at Headingley, the return to fitness of Ollie Robinson following a back spasm will leave captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum with a tough call to make in the capital.

If Anderson is left out at the Kia Oval, it could mean he has appeared in England whites for the last time with a decision required by the seamer and the selectors regarding his role over the next 12 months with central contracts set to be handed out later this year.

Mark Wood and Chris Woakes, who did struggle with stiffness towards the end of the Old Trafford Test, have impressed since being drafted into the XI while Stuart Broad is the leading wicket-taker in the whole Ashes.

Sussex seamer Robinson claimed 10 wickets in the first three Tests of the series and Josh Tongue caught the eye with his aggression in his one appearance against Australia at Lord’s.

England’s batting line-up is set to be unchanged with Moeen Ali to continue at three, but a call on Anderson and the other seamers will be made over the next two days.

England’s suffered Ashes agony at Emirates Old Trafford, as their hopes of taking a memorable series to a winner-takes-all decider fell foul of the weather.

The fifth and final day of the fourth Test was abandoned without a ball being bowled, leaving a dominant home side unable to pick up the hunt for the last five Australian wickets.

The first draw of the ‘Bazball’ era guarantees the tourists will hold on to the urn, leading 2-1 with one more game to go at the Kia Oval, and here the PA news agency looks at some of the key questions coming out of the frustrating finish.

If England can still draw the series 2-2, why have Australia retained the Ashes?

To sum it up in a word: tradition. While England fans know all too well about one-day cricket’s tie-breakers – having needed a super over and a boundary countback to pip New Zealand to the 2019 World Cup – Test cricket has no problem with the draw. When it comes to the format’s oldest rivalry the holders must be beaten outright to lose their bragging rights. Australia’s last trip to England ended with similar questions, as the tourists celebrated a 2-2 scoreline while England reflected on unfinished business. Captain Ben Stokes was given the chance to question the custom after the match, but waved it away without a second thought.

Is there any way England could have forced a win in this Test?

Having been criticised for declaring too early on the first day of the series at Edgbaston, Stokes now finds himself scrutinised for doing the direct opposite in the fourth Test. Rather than calling his side in shortly after lunch on day three, he allowed Jonny Bairstow to continue flogging Australia’s bowlers in the afternoon session as he finished on 99 not out. England finished with a first-innings lead of 275, but did not have enough time in the field to convert that into victory. An earlier withdrawal would certainly have given them more time to collect 10 wickets, but a slimmer advantage means they would have probably needed to bat again. Ultimately, their push was ruined by the rain, with 30 overs out of a scheduled 180 over the weekend. By scoring their runs at almost 5.5 an over and picking 15 wickets, England can hardly be accused of being ponderous with the time they had.

How can cricket stop important matches ending like this?

Assuming the holy grail of cricket grounds with a roof remains an expensive pipe dream, what else is there to do? The World Test Championship final has been granted a reserve day since the International Cricket Council brought it in but the idea of rolling that idea out more broadly look fanciful in the extreme. Tours are getting shorter and more congested and the cost of booking holding venues and staff for an extra day that will rarely be used would be prohibitive, especially outside England. More realistic is a push to improve over-rates. Financial sanctions have proved a hollow threat. More proactive umpiring, fewer stoppages and run penalties could all be looked at, while others suggest eating into the lunch and tea breaks. The resistance to pulling start times forward from 11am to make up for lost time remains baffling.

What’s on the line at the Oval this week?

The last Australia side to win in England did so back in 2001, meaning the current class has a chance to do something a generation of their compatriots could not. They snapped a long losing streak with a shared series four years ago and will be desperate to go one better now. For England, there is a chance to keep up an undefeated streak under the Stokes-McCullum leadership regime and frustrate their rivals in the process. A 3-1 loss would be a poor reflection on their efforts over recent weeks, so there is some work to do to deliver a more fitting result.

Why does it feel like the end of an era?

Because it is. Several of the key protagonists are well into the autumn of their careers and face uncertain futures. The next battle is not until the winter of 2025/26 and there are a host of veterans for whom that seems a long way. England’s record wicket-taker James Anderson turns 41 at the end of the month, Moeen Ali is sure to return to Test retirement in the coming days, while Stuart Broad (37), Chris Woakes (34) and Mark Wood (33) have plenty of miles on the clock. As for Stokes, his body is creaking and the toll his injury problems are taking is not yet clear. For Australia, David Warner has already set his own timetable for departure while it would be a surprise to see Steve Smith, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon on these shores again in 2027. The Oval Test could be the last dance for these teams.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes Ben Stokes’ side still have “a huge amount to play for” in the final Ashes Test, as they look to deny Australia a first away win in over two decades.

A rain-ruined finish to the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford saw England’s chances of regaining the urn washed away on Sunday, but they have just three days to lick their wounds before embarking on the series finale 2-1 down at the Kia Oval.

The last Australian side to win a series on these shores did so in 2001, with Vaughan kicking off England’s era of dominance at home when he led his team to victory in the golden summer of 2005.

The Baggy Greens have had five winless tours in a row, also losing in 2009, 2013 and 2015 before taking a 2-2 draw four years ago, and Vaughan wants to keep the streak going.

“You wouldn’t want to be the first England team to lose here since 2001, so I do think there’s a huge amount to play for down at the Oval,” he told BBC Test Match Special.

“I know they’re 2-1 down but it just feels like England have been the better team. They’ve played some good stuff and dominated many parts of the Test matches.

“I’ll be interested to see how Australia play at the Oval and whether or not they try to be positive. If England win at the Oval, they deserve it because they have been the better side. If Australia play the way they have in this test then England will absolutely wipe them.

“They’ll go back to the first two Tests and look at mistakes they’ve made in the field and at that batting collapse in the first innings at Lord’s, but I do think they are a team that learn quickly now.”

Australia great Glenn McGrath, who was part of teams in 2001 and 2005, believes his country’s passive performance in Manchester was a deliberate tactic to scrape the draw they needed to secure the urn.

He also suggested England had cause for regret, suggesting they batted on too long on Friday before the weather turned and also passed up opportunities earlier in the series.

“To me, Australia played this game in survival mode, to protect the lead they’ve got,” he said.

“Australia knew what they wanted to do and they may have looked a bit ugly and a bit negative doing it, but their goal was to retain the Ashes in this match and they’ve done it.

“Looking back at that declaration (decision), if they had finished at lunch on day three, given themselves 10 more overs when the ball was doing a bit more, they could easily have picked up six or seven wickets.

“The story could be different. England had the opportunity but for some reason decided to play on after lunch which, to a degree, sealed their fate. If they’d played truly ruthless cricket, they could be 3-0 up by now but they’re 2-1 down at the Ashes have gone.”

Ben Stokes will not be bringing the Ashes urn back home after a fifth-day washout in Manchester but the captain believes his England side have played their way into the nation’s hearts.

Relentless rain at Emirates Old Trafford on Sunday ruined England’s hopes of putting the finishing touches to a dominant performance in the fourth Test, with five of the last six sessions in the match lost without a single ball bowled.

That was enough for Australia to get out of jail with five wickets in hand, retaining the Ashes with an unassailable 2-1 lead despite being beaten at Headingley and roundly outclassed in the first three days here.

Fans on both sides of the rivalry will now be denied the spectacle of a blockbuster series finale at the Kia Oval, but Stokes is confident his team’s thrill-a-minute style has already secured a place in the game’s folkore.

England have recast themselves as foot-to-the-floor entertainers in the ‘Bazball’ era, drawing in new fans and taking the Test format into places it has not been since the beloved summer of 2005.

“It’s a tough one to take, a tough pill to swallow. We were completely and utterly dominant throughout the hours of play we had, but the weather didn’t help us and we can’t change that,” Stokes said.

“If this game went without rain we probably would have been favourites to be sat here at 2-2 and I think that would have elevated everything that this series has already done for Test cricket.

“But I think what we’ve managed to do has already done wonders for cricket in England. I said in the dressing room that the reward for your work isn’t what you get, it’s what you become. And I think what we’ve managed to become is a team that people will remember.

“We’ve become a team that have been so unbelievably well followed and we will live long in the memories of those who have watched us.

“As much as I would love to be an Ashes-winning captain, I want this team to be a legacy team. Regardless of how the series ends up, people will always talk about us.”

Stokes refused to fumble for distractions, brushing aside questions about reserve days and the tradition of the holders having the right to retain in a draw series.

“Test cricket is five days. I don’t ever see there being a reserve day in a series like this,” he said.

“This is the way it’s always been. We know we can’t get the urn back but we can draw the series and that’s what we’ll be trying to do.”

There is precious little time for Stokes to rally his troops for that challenge, with the fifth and final Test starting on Thursday.

Whether England can carry their momentum through remains to be seen, but the prospect of denying Australia a first series win on these shores since 2001 is a motivation in its own right.

“We have to get over the disappointment and focus on that game,” Stokes said. “It is a massive one for us and we know 2-2 sounds a lot better than 3-1.

“The mentality and mindset within this dressing room is to go out and win. Every time we walk out on the field that’s all I encourage the players to do, just concentrate on what you need to do as an individual to influence a game in the right way.

“There’s no doubt if we’d managed to get a result in this game next week would have been a very, very special week in the history of English cricket, not just Ashes cricket. But we’ll be treating it as we do every other game.

“We’re always putting our front foot forward and trying to press the game as hard as we possibly can. As a captain that’s something that makes me very proud as a leader of the 10 other guys out there.”

England’s bid to regain the Ashes is over as a drawn fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford meant Australia kept hold of their 2-1 lead and the urn.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the reasons why England came up short in their bid to claim the urn for the first time since 2015.

Leach ruled out

Trusted spinner Jack Leach has had terrible luck with injuries and illness in his career but a stress fracture in his lower back a couple of weeks before the series began was a particularly cruel blow. Up until that point, Leach had been an ever-present in the ‘Bazball’ era, taking three five-fors and a 10-wicket match haul in 13 Tests, emboldened by Ben Stokes’ more attacking leadership. Leach being ruled out – and a dearth of county spinners – meant England had to hastily revisit their plans for Australia.

Declaration on the opening day

England had Edgbaston rocking and Australia on the ropes, with Joe Root starting to unleash his full repertoire after reaching his century, but Stokes wanted a crack at the opposition before stumps. He called Root and Ollie Robinson in with England on 393 for eight, coughing up the chance of going well past 400 for four overs at David Warner and Usman Khawaja, both of whom survived until stumps. Even though England eked out a slender first-innings lead, the tense climax that later unfolded meant England really could have done with the extra runs to put Australia under the pump.

Dropped catches

Fielding has been England’s weak link, with questions over Jonny Bairstow’s return as wicketkeeper just 10 months after a horrific broken leg increasing with every missed chance – eight in total. In Birmingham, his fluffed stumping of Cameron Green and drop of Alex Carey cost England 78 runs, although the hosts were profligate in general. Root and Stokes were unable to hold on to tough chances off Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon respectively, the fine margins that proved the difference in Australia’s win.

Moeen’s finger

Leach’s absence led to Stokes sending out an SOS to the more mercurial Moeen Ali, who reversed his Test retirement. He has returned just six wickets at an average of 64.5 and been outshone by part-timer Joe Root at times. This was evident in the opener in Moeen’s first Test in nearly two years, where the increased workload caused a blister on his spinning finger that then burst, impinging his ability to land the ball in the right areas. He was unreliable in Australia’s run-chase, sending down 14 overs, one fewer than Root, who was much more dangerous only for Cummins and Lyon to get Australia home.

Happy hookers

At 188 for one in response to Australia’s 416 at Lord’s, England were cruising. Australia turned to a bouncer barrage in desperation on an unhelpful pitch and the hosts obliged. First Ollie Pope, then Ben Duckett – two short of a first Ashes century – and linchpin Joe Root all flapped uncertainly as England lurched to 222 for four. Harry Brook later fell into the trap as England coughed up a big first-innings lead, with suggestions – rejected by the dressing room – they had taken an attacking approach too far.

Carey outsmarts Bairstow

The stumping heard around the world. Bairstow ducked a bouncer from Green then, believing the ball to be dead, immediately strode down the wicket after scratching his back foot in his crease. However, Carey gathered the ball and immediately threw the poles down. Cummins upheld the appeal and while the incident awoke the beast inside Stokes, the Yorkshireman’s perfectly legal dismissal left the England captain with just bowlers for company as they fell short in the chase. The issue mushroomed to the extent that the Prime Ministers of both countries had their say over the ‘spirit of cricket’.

Rain

Defeats at Edgbaston and Lord’s meant England needed to be note-perfect – and have a little fortune – to regain the urn. They rebounded at Headingley and were totally dominant at Old Trafford, bagging a 275-run first-innings lead to leave Australia shell-shocked. The writing looked to be on the wall when they slid to 113 for four at the end of day three but there was just a 30-over window over the weekend – with a Sunday washout – because of atrocious weather in Manchester. The idea that England should have declared earlier to give themselves more time to bowl out their opponents was arguably voided by them taking just one more scalp as Australia closed to within 61 with five wickets left.

England’s hopes of setting up a winner-takes-all Ashes decider were wiped out by the Manchester weather, with a fifth day washout in the fourth Test handing the urn to Australia.

The most pessimistic forecasts came to pass at Emirates Old Trafford as relentless rain meant the players never made it to the middle, salvaging a draw for the tourists and rendering their 2-1 series lead unassailable.

England arrived 61 ahead and needing five wickets to get over the line but left without a ball being bowled.

They have all but eliminated the concept of the draw since captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum ushered in the ‘Bazball’ era more than a year ago, but – for the first time in 17 games at the helm – conditions finally left them with no cards to play.

After weeks of blockbuster entertainment in the closest, most exciting Ashes contest since 2005, a shootout for glory at the Kia Oval next week was on the cards if there had been enough time for England to convert their dominance.

Instead, dreams of a stirring comeback to beat their rivals for the first time since 2015 were swept away, leaving the holders to retain in circumstances that will surely ring hollow.

Australia made it clear they were more than happy to finish the job in the pavilion rather than out on the pitch, but any post-match celebrations may be slightly muted after this narrow escape.

There is still plenty to play for, with Australia bidding to claim a first outright win on English soil in 22 years while their opponents are seeking to square the ledger at 2-2 and preserve an undefeated streak under Stokes’ leadership. But a home win being taken off the table by the elements is the definition of a damp squib.

England had made all the running here, piling up a 275-run first-innings advantage and taking five of the 10 wickets they needed to finish the job before the skies turned against them.

Five of the last six sessions were lost without a ball bowled, leaving a 30-over window on Saturday afternoon as the only play possible on the wettest of weekends. England will be cursing their misfortune and have now lost the chance to be become just the second team in Ashes history to win from 2-0 down.

The momentum of the series swung when captain Ben Stokes embarked on a six-hitting rampage in the fourth innings at Lord’s, apparently sparked into life by Alex Carey’s controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow, and, although his magnificent century was not enough to save that game, it set things on a new path.

England took the third Test at Headingley in relatively comfortably fashion – the first of three must-win games – and spent the first three days on the other side of the Pennines establishing an even more dominant position.

Zak Crawley’s outrageous 189 and an unbeaten 99 from Bairstow saw them pile up 592, their highest total against Australia in a dozen years, and an three-wicket blast from Mark Wood tightened their grip on the third evening as Australia stumbled to 113 for four.

That was as good as it got for the hosts, with Marnus Labuschagne making 111 and Mitch Marsh batting through what became the final session of the match to keep Australian heads above water.

The sides will reconvene in south London on Thursday for the final chapter in a memorable tour.