England won by 49 runs
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Chris Woakes
Batter
Bowler
Oh Stuart!
Dad Chris thought you weren't going to make it as a batter
But you impressed him with the ball
You were 3 T20Is, a few ODIs old going to the 2007 WT20
Yuvi took Flintoff's revenge on you with 6 sixes
At 21, taking that brutal assault, needed some steel
You used that experience to build a whole mental routine
Withering away was not your thing
Set your foot on an arena that you would go on to dominate
Even scored a daddy hundred when the chips were down
Proved how good you are with the bat too
Varun Aaron's hit shook you up
But you put on a beast mode as a bowler
Ottis Gibson made you think
You redefined right-arm pace round the wicket to left-hand bats
The world took notice and the trend became more common
Rattled Australia for a 5-wicket haul in 19 balls
Gave us the "Oh my Broad" celebration
People fell in love with your wobble seam bowling, cutters
They were not just appeals, but demands
Your celebrappeals were a sight to watch
Everyone knew you would leave nothing in the tank when you have the ball in hand
You owned David Warner
Every ball you bowled in 2019 felt like you would get him
When you were on a run, you glued us to the seat
Formed a lethal combo with Anderson that had people in awe
Made a style statement with the Bandana
When they left you out, you voiced your heart out
And when the next opportunity came you backed up the talk
Showed why they should have never left you out
You were a captain's delight even if the pitch had nothing
Key weapon when England transformed their Test cricket
With impact match after match, you drew us even closer
And out of the blue, you stunned us by calling it quits
But you ensured, you left the way you wanted - on a high
Thank you for your services to cricket's purest format!
What an Ashes series we've been treated to. Lot of parallels to 2005. Is this better, was that better questions! Would Bazball work against Australia, the real Test for Bazball is now vs Australia talks. At the end of it all, Baz McCullum and Stokes had a great intention to make Test cricket entertaining and they have done a fabulous job in this series too. Sure they raised a lot of eyebrows, but they also won a lot of moments with it. Australia were a mixture of very good and not-so-good. They had moments to dominate the series but they let them slip. But that's Ashes cricket for you. As one goes up, the other pulls you down. Thank you, England and Australia for putting on a spectacle.
Ashes summed up in Raju Peethala style
England ring the Bazball
Crawley Cummins first ball
Khawaja Root full of skill
Aussies win the opening drill
Bouncer after bouncer
Stokes scripts a blinder
Starc catch at fine leg
Long room members on the edge
Bairstow stumping
Broad chirping
Lyon limping
Lord’s roaring
Wood-boost for Headingley
Mitch Marsh with a century
Under ten(overs) for T Murphy
Brook sparks a boundary-spree
Jimmy back for Manchester
Crawley knock a blockbuster
Jonny B on 99
England’s review goes in vain
Rain rain go away
English hopes fade away
Tense faces, time races
Australia retain the glorious Ashes
Green Crawley (slip) catching wonders
Bairstow lifting pitch invaders
Woakes bowling brill outswingers
Stokes trolling tag 'cry babies'
Robinson Khawaja send off
Ponting not gonna hold back
Change of balls, change of bails
Nathan Lyon walking on crutches
Broad news a shocker
He ends with a sixer
Gloomy skies for Warner
This Ashes is a bonzer
Stats courtesy Deepu Narayanan
Stuart Broad Test career
- Fifth most in wickets chart (604)
- Fifth most balls bowled (33698)
- Two hattricks (joint most)
- Seven instances of 5+ wkts in a spell (most by a seamer since 2001)
- 39 ducks as a batter (second most)
- 398 wickets at home (third most)
- 1039 wickets by Broad & Anderson in 138 Tests together (the most)
Batting dominated Ashes 2023
Most sixes in an Ashes series: 74
Highest run rate in an Ashes series: 3.93
Highest run rate for a team in an Ashes series: 4.74 by England
224 by Australia in 2nd inngs of Leeds Test is the lowest completed total in the series - the highest lowest completed total in an Ashes series.
Ashes series ending in stalemates
1-1 in 1938 in England
1-1 in 1962/63 in Australia
1-1 in 1965/66 in Australia
1-1 in 1968 in England
2-2 in 1972 in England
2-2 in 2019 in England
2-2 in 2023 in England
The only other instance of a side coming back to win/draw an Ashes series after losing the first two Tests was Don Bradman's Australia in 1936/37 (3-2).
Moeen Ali: Been amazing, great to come back. Was taken aback when I got the message from Stokes, didn't know that Leach was injured but I really enjoyed it after coming into the series. I knew mentally it was going to be tough but I knew the toughest thing was going to be physical. Was an amazing series, I'll never forget. I thought it's going to be my last few Test matches so I'll do it for the team. I've batted at three before so it was great. No, I know I'm done. If Stokes messages me again, I'm going to delete it. That's me done. I've had a great time but I know that's it for me. As soon as I saw it going into his hand I thought it was out but I was gutted when I saw it went down. I thought I'm never going to get Steve Smith out again. These things happen in Test cricket. Happy for Bairstow, he's done really well with the bat and gloves. Really pleased for Broad as well for the way he finished. It proves that our approach is great especially against a quality bowling attack. Zak Crawley and Duckett have been amazing. Great to see Jimmy (Anderson) still going. You see Baz sat back all the time, I really love that style of coaching. The backroom staff have been amazing.
The two captains hold the urn and both set of players join them for a photograph. No big celebration as there was no clear winner. Broad's family is out there and he walks up to have a chat with them.
(2/2) I've played with Broad for a long long time, he's been an unbelievable performer for England. To watch him has been amazing. There was no doubt he was going to pick up those two wickets. Moeen came in after an unfortunate injury to Jack Leach. I picked him because I knew what he's capable of. He was just incredible. We'll let Moeen reflect on everything and make his decision about the India series. Coming into the series, if you look back a couple of weeks ago, would've been difficult for any team to bounce back from 2-nil down. What a series this has been. We've been very vocal about keeping Test cricket alive. This series has been amazing, its attracted so many new fans. It's the purest form of the game and I absolutely love it. It's hard to lose an appetite when you love Test cricket as much as I do.
Ben Stokes | England captain (1/2): Feel really good. 2-2 is a fair reflection at the end of the series. Australia, WTC champions, absolute quality team. Don't think many teams would've been able to respond like we did after being 2-0 down. Very proud of the entire team and the effort they put in. Having played a lot of cricket here, you know what it's like in the 4th innings. Australia played really well yesterday but turning up here and knowing that you still need 250 runs is really tough. The wickets came in clusters like they usually do. Our mentality was great. Real good, the way in which Woakes has come in. Not only with the ball but also with some crucial runs. He did an amazing job in the first two Test matches he came in. Wood could barely walk today, he was very sore but he gave it his best and still said he was ready to bowl.
Pat Cummins | Australia captain: I think so (that 2-2 is a fair result). Two really high quality teams and it was a wonderful series to be part of. I didn't even entertain the conversation of a draw, we were here to win the Ashes and it was a great day of Test cricket. We can be hugely proud of retaining the Ashes, not easy to do that against a quality England side. There were so many moments in this series, that's what makes Ashes so special, the crowd and the pressure, a couple of moments if you could change then the result would have been different. Great competitor, always saves his best for Australia, he has had some hard days in Australia but always keeps coming and I wish him all the best.
Chris Woakes | Player of the Match and England's Player of the Series: It has been amazing few games and nice to come into the side and contribute. The belief was there even at 2-0 down to go on and win the series. Not been part of the team and squad for 12 months, so was desperate to get back and perform, You couldn't have asked for anything better. You always felt will I get an opportunity, I kept myself fit and available because it was a gruelling schedule with five Tests back to back. I got an early wicket in that spell (at Headingley) and that settled the nerves, I found my rhythm from that moment on and carried that into the next couple of tests. That was one of my best moments in Test cricket (hitting the winning runs at Headingley). Incredible for him and to go out like that, typical of Broady. It is not easy to pick big scalps and that is the pleasing thing for me this series to pick the big wickets. Ashes is the pinnacle of test cricket and I am happy to contribute. When you have a ball change you hope it works for you but still have to put it in the land it in the right areas. We will see and leave it to the captain Stokesy. I want to play as much cricket for England as possible. There are more and more cricket coming up with franchise cricket but you don't get anything like Test cricket.
Mitchell Starc | Australia Player of the Series: It's been an incredible five Test matches, been exciting, ebbs and flows throughout. The way we finished today, spoke of the quality of cricket and the emotions of the Ashes. Happened quickly, much like the ebbs and flows of this series. It's come down to the last session of Day 5. Congratulations to Stuart Broad, couldn't have probably written it better for him. It's been a fantastic tour. I've had the backing from the group, fantastic group to be a part of. We've had a fantastic tour considering the 6 Test matches we've played. It's quite a resilient group. We've got a fantastic support staff. No doubt been a busy 8 weeks, the quality of cricket on display has been fantastic. {On Bazball] Didn't approach it too differently than I would have. Was great to witness two different approaches to Test cricket. We looked at traditional ways of playing Test cricket, playing attacking cricket and setting fields and it worked for us.
(2/2) At this level of cricket, there are a lot of things to knock you off but if you can stick to your strengths, success will come your way. I think I stuck to them this Ashes series. If I'd changed the bails 10 years ago I'd have been alright wouldn't I? I thought it was a bit of an Aussie thing to change the bails and bring luck but it was nice to do that and for it to actually work. There aren't many regrets in my career but one thing I could change in this series was taking the new ball at Edgbaston. The new ball has been the hardest part to bowl throughout the series. It starts to swing after 10 overs. The old ball was soft, Cummins and Lyon were struggling to get it away. I knew if I could turn back the clock a bit for that final hour at Edgbaston we could've won but I bowled my socks off and knew my team had given everything. Really cool to see people with headbands. Really nice gesture, ended up being a bit of a superstition. I started to wear that during the Covid time when we were not allowed to shine the ball, didn't pick wickets when I stopped wearing it, so went back and continued wearing the headband. Great to see a few fans wearing them.
Stuart Broad (1/2): It was absolutely wonderful. Woakes and Moeen set the tone after the rain break. Woakes has been such a wonderful player to play with all these years. The Oval crowd was fantastic. To come and pick up the last two wickets was fantastic. You think when you announce your retirement what your last ball is going to be but to get a wicket to win an Ashes Test is amazing. I've always enjoyed bowling to left handers, was great to bowl to two left handers, to swing it away and bring the slips into play. Special mention to Moeen Ali as well. He's been a special friend and has been amazing to play with. I like detail, data and research. I need facts and data to believe in something, that was very evident when I came around the wicket to left handers in 2015. I did a lot of research against David Warner because he was so hard to bowl at and found ways to dismiss him. It also helped me hammer down my strengths as a bowler. It's about knowing what your weaknesses are but also about finding your strengths and sticking to them.
Day summary: 135/0, Warner and Khawaja going great guns, all 10 wickets in hand and the pitch doing nothing. Australia were in a great space. But that changed ball yesterday just before the rain break and the overhead conditions coming in, Chris Woakes made the ball talk. Both Warner and Khawaja gone in quick succession and soon Wood sent back Marnus. Three wickets down, Smith had to rebuild and Head rode his luck to counterattack. Australia recovered pretty well when the rains came in. With Smith at the crease, the visitors had a great chance but Woakes and Moeen formed a brilliant partnership to blow the Aussies away - 4 wickets fell for 11 runs. Murphy and Carey were frustrating England, but magician Broad swapped the bails around and got Murphy next ball. He finished the game fitting by getting Carey and ended an extraordinary career.
18:26 Local Time, 17:26 GMT, 22:56 IST: The Oval is up on its feet. They are all applauding. The family is emotional in the stands. What a theatre the home fans have put on for their stalwart. Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad lead England off the field. He turns to all corners and thanks everyone for the love and support. Australia come down to congratulate England. This series ends 2-2, but Australia retain the Ashes. You would have to say England have been the better side. A side that had clarity, a side that had clear intent and the never say die attitude. They stunned the Aussies in the first Test with a comeback, only to lose it at the end. They came so close at Lord's again. They were determined to win the series from 0-2 down and conquered Headingley. Rain played spoilsport in Manchester and at The Oval despite losing the toss, they negated Australia's advantage and levelled the series and in the process won a lot of hearts.
Broad to Carey, out Caught by Bairstow!! Edgeddd and gone! Stuart Broad fittingly finishes it off for England. 604 Test wickets and he pulls the curtains down in style. They say leave on a high. He ran in and bowled his heart out in his final spell and won it for his country. Sticks to his stock ball, the scrambled seam length delivery, ball moves away to take the edge and a regulation catch for Bairstow. He goes off on his aeroplane celebration and England celebrate with him. Carey c Bairstow b Broad 28(50) [4s-1 6s-1]