England and Austraia will lock horns for one final time on Thursday (July 27) in the fifth Ashes Test match at the Kennington Oval in London. The visitors have already retained the urn as they have a 2-1 lead in the series and cannot lose it now. Australia escaped a loss with rain having a final say in the fourth Test as weather played spoilsport on the last two days. However, Pat Cummins, the Aussie skipper, is not ready to relax as he want his team to win the Test series in England for the first time since 2001.
Also, apart from the chaotic middle session on the second day of Manchester Test, Cummins feels that the Bazball approach from England hasn’t troubled Australia’s plans much. “If we win this one and you look back, it’s been an incredible tour over here really. We’ve played five games, we’ve won three and only lost one. It’s already a fantastic tour. But to go home, winning the urn will be phenomenal. It’s a final thing to tick off the list of titles to win for a few of the guys, who again you never know if they’ll get another chance to do it. So, we’ve said the whole time, our aim is to come here and win the Ashes and that’s the opportunity ahead of us,” he said on the eve of the Test match.
Australia also have an injury issue with Mitchell Starc falling on his right shoulder while fielding in the fourth Test. He also walked off the field for the same reason. Cummins also admitted that the left-arm seamer is not in great position at the moment but didn’t rule out him from playing the Oval Test.
“Yeah, he’s got something going on there. But he’s come out and bowled. We weren’t really sure about it. Yeah, he’s got a history with it right now. At the MCG (when he’d injured his finger), didn’t think he was going to bowl and he came out and his seam position was perfect. Probably helps his bowling. We expect him to be right as well. He didn’t do much today but will give another look tomorrow,” Cummins added further.
The Australia captain also had an advice for his bowlers that they don’t need to deviate from their plans at any moment. He also admitted that the visitors did the same mistake in the Manchester Test and that played a part in them conceding a lot of runs. “I don’t think it’s shifted too much over the series, to be honest. Think Edgbaston, again that was another moment there wasn’t a lot in it for the bowlers. They scored 400 on day one and I don’t see it as too dissimilar to last week. Think you’ve got to hold your never a little bit sometimes, you’ve got to trust that’s your best percentage to get nicks even if they hit a few cover drives,” Cummins said.
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