Marnus Labuschagne 9
As much as Labuschagne was wasteful in the first innings, admitting he premeditated a leg side flick at Moeen Ali to fall lbw when the ball turned a fraction, the second innings century was one of his best. It demonstrated that Labuschagne is indeed one of the best players in the world, combining sound defence with plenty of scoring areas, and he once again proved himself Australia’s sturdiest handler of Mark Wood. A big score to win the series at the Oval would be the ideal signoff.
Australia’s players arrive on the washed out final day of the fourth Ashes Test.Credit: AP
Mitchell Marsh 8
Two more excellent contributions with the bat helped Australia’s cause when those runs were absent elsewhere and desperately needed. Marsh has shown over two Test matches that his reshaped batting mentality – first evident with his tournament-winning efforts at the Twenty20 World Cup in 2021 – has plenty of positive spinoffs for Australia. Powerful and thoughtful, he has shown himself to be the ideal number six. One of the few struggles for Marsh in this game was not of his own making. Having dismissed Zak Crawley twice in Leeds, he did not get to bowl at him here until the opener had made 112.
Josh Hazlewood 7
A strong return to the team having been handed back the new ball by his captain. Hazlewood bowled serviceably with the first new ball, but it was with the second that he made his biggest mark, claiming four wickets in a single spell to get Australia to the brink of conceding a lead of around 200. But he was one of the bowlers who reverted automatically to short stuff when James Anderson arrived, a collective failure that allowed Jonny Bairstow to pile up another 66 runs.
Mitchell Starc 6
Was consistently Australia’s most dangerous bowler across England’s innings and might easily have dismissed Bairstow more than once with the second new ball. Starc’s game has evolved nicely over time to make him a much more dangerous customer in England, and his best work was evident in the combination of late swing and seam that did for Ben Duckett. Like the other Australian seamers, he created plenty of early opportunities to dismiss Crawley, only for the opener’s good fortune to win out.
Josh Hazlewood in Manchester.Credit: AP
Cameron Green 5
Chosen in an awkward role batting at seven and bowling more, Green might easily have turned the game on its head by dismissing Zak Crawley lbw. As it was, ball-tracking adjudged the ball to be missing leg stump, and Crawley careered away to 189. Green lacked confidence with the bat in this game, and his tendency to be a somewhat awkward starter has cost him in the series. But he still made a reasonable contribution, particularly when he became the first bowler to attack Jimmy Anderson’s stumps for lbw.
Alex Carey 5
Kept wicket serviceably, claiming another couple of catches, and most of the byes conceded were the result of wayward bowling by the pacemen – or cheeky singles run by Bairstow and Anderson. What Carey will be most disappointed by is how his batting has shrunk in influence over the course of the series. Twice he has been dismissed when unsure of whether to play or leave – indecision that is anathema to how Carey plays at his best.
Travis Head 4
Australia looked to be a chance to take the Test away from England on day one when Head and Labuschagne were together. But after Labuschagne contrived to be lbw to Moeen, Head gifted his wicket to Stuart Broad straight after tea with a hook to fine leg. England’s short ball attack on Head has had a cumulative effect, and in the second innings he looked hapless in flinching at Mark Wood to glove a catch to gully. Head’s bowling, talked up before the game in the absence of Todd Murphy, was mercilessly attacked.
David Warner 4
By the modest measures Australia had for Warner at the start of the series – do better than he had managed in a desperately poor 2019 Ashes, basically – he did his job here, twice making a start to take some overs and shine off the new ball. But looked at more objectively, Warner twice failed to go on from a platform as the sort of aggressive player that has made him one of Australia’s most valued. The contrast was at its sharpest with Zak Crawley, who is picked by England knowing that while he will be hit and miss, the hits will be big. Australia have been waiting a long time – too long really – for Warner to produce another innings like Crawley’s, especially overseas.
David Warner was bowled when thinking about leaving Chris Woakes.Credit: Reuters
Steve Smith 4
Four years ago at this ground, Steve Smith arguably peaked as a player. A double century in the first innings and then a rapid 80-odd in the second to set up Australia’s urn-sealing win, he genuinely left England with no idea as to how to dismiss him. This time, Smith made a pair of starts but there was never any real sense of worry that he would lock in for a big score; England are far more confident they will find ways to dismiss him, and twice Mark Wood did. Smith’s role as vice-captain also gave him responsibility for some of the more baffling tactics employed as England’s first innings got away.
Usman Khawaja 3
Apart from a tremendous catch to get Moeen Ali, this was Khawaja’s first disappointing game of the series. Undoubtedly Wood’s introduction to the series has made things more difficult for Khawaja, and there was something involuntary about the way he fenced at a wideish delivery in Wood’s first over of the second innings. In order to win the series outright, it seems likely that Australia will need Khawaja, as their most reliable player this series, to find another substantial knock at the Oval.
Pat Cummins 3
One of Cummins’ most disappointing games as both a captain and a fast bowler. Partly, he was put in an awkward position by the inability of the batters to cash-in properly on what was a decent first day pitch for batting with the occasional bit of seam movement. But even so, England’s ability to fly away to a huge score on the second and third days was largely down to indifferent bowling and captaincy. Yes, Crawley and company had good fortune, but there was not enough consistency in Australia’s bowling nor plans to create more such chances. Ultimately Australia retained the urn because of Cummins’ contributions when they mattered earlier in the series.
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