Ashes: England skipper Stokes terms fourth Test draw as "tough one to take" after dominating Australia

Manchester : After the fourth Ashes Test ended in a draw, resulting in Australia retaining the urn, England skipper Ben Stokes said that the result is pretty hard to take after dominating the visitors for the majority of the match. He said they wanted to finish off the series on a high note with a win in the final Test at The Oval.

Australia retained the Ashes after rain completely ruled out play on the fifth day of the fourth test match on Sunday at Old Trafford in Manchester. Australia were leading the series by 2-1 and the rain prevented the play on the final two days of the Test, which resulted in a draw. England will not be able to regain the Ashes even if they draw the series 2-2 by winning the next Test. “It is a tough one to take, you know (the match ending in a draw). A Part of the Journey. "SAID Stokes in the Post-Match Practation.

"The injury to Pope made us think about the structure of the team. I am very pleased with everyone's effort. I have been vocal about Crawley (Zak Crawley), what Zak does is he changes the game, the way he plays and the way he takes the bowlers on.

That was an incredible innings, we knew an innings like that was not far away. Broad and Jimmy have been unbelievable examples. Broad loves the battle and he loves playing against Australia, he has a good record against them," added Stokes.

On a concluding note, Stokes said that he has no regrets about his first innings declaration during the first Test at Edgbaston.

"No (when asked about having any regrets about the Edgbaston Test). We know what the last game means to us as a team and we want to finish off on a high. Want the crowd to come out and support us," Stokes concluded.

Australia ended the Test at 214/5, with Cameron Green (3*) and Mitchell Marsh (31*) unbeaten. Labuschagne smashed his second century away from home, scoring 111 in 173 balls with 10 fours and two sixes. They trailed England by 61 runs. No action could happen on day five. England needed five wickets to keep the Ashes alive and defeat the Aussies by an innings, but it did not happen.

Earlier, in reply to Australia's 317 in the first innings, England had scored 592 runs in their first innings. They had gained a lead of 275 runs.

Australia became a victim of some heavy hitting from the host's top seven batters. Zak Crawley (189 in 182 balls, with 21 fours and three sixes) led the attack with his maiden Ashes ton.

Moeen Ali (54 in 82 balls, with seven fours), Joe Root (84 in 95 balls with eight fours and a six), Harry Brook (61 in 100 balls, with five fours), skipper Ben Stokes (51 in 74 balls with five fours) and Jonny Bairstow (99* in 81 balls with 10 fours and four sixes) played impactful knocks.

Besides Josh Hazlewood's five-wicket haul, Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green took two wickets each while Pat Cummins got one.

After opting to field first, England bundled out Australia for 317 in the first innings.

Marnus Labuschagne (51), Mitchell Marsh (51), Steve Smith (41), Travis Head (48) and Mitchell Starc (36) played some vital knocks for the Aussies.

Chris Woakes (5/62), Stuart Broad (2/68) and James Anderson (1/51) impressed with the ball for England.