NEWS
Follow UsA rain-enforced draw is not any team or captain looks forward to. Ben Stokes-led England were left frustrated on the last two days of the Manchester Test, as there was very little play that paved the way for the match to be drawn and ensured Australia would retain the Ashes.
With England on top right from the first day, one could understand their frustration of not going on to level the series. Former skipper Joe Root suggested something unique to rectify this.
"It doesn't get dark here in England until 10 PM in the summer, why can't we just play until we bowl the overs?" asked Root during the Manchester Test.
"There's been a lot of chat about not bowling the overs. There are so many different ways of trying to find opportunities to get as much play in as possible. At every opportunity at every stage, you should be looking to find ways to get the Test on. We batted in worse conditions at Edgbaston, but that is cricket. You just want consistency in those conditions."
In response, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting called the suggestion ridiculous. "You can't just choose to change the laws of the game whenever you want to," Ponting said in the latest episode of The ICC Review.
"I'm sure there have been times when England have wanted to not get back out there and play themselves. I mean, that's just a ridiculous thing to say."
Fast bowler Stuart Broad in his column in the Daily Mail, wrote it would be "unjust if weather had a decisive say" ahead of the final day's play.
While Ponting sympathises with Broad, he reminds him that this was not something that happened for the first time and certainly would not be the last.
"I can understand Stuart's frustration. You know, they had dominated that game. They had to dominate that game, they had to win that game to get themselves back in the series. So they'd done everything that they possibly could, but unfortunately, the weather came in," Ponting said.
"So I can understand the frustration there, but it's not like it's the first time it's ever happened, especially in the UK and especially in Manchester. Looking at the numbers the other day, Manchester now I think is on an even keel with the Sydney Cricket Ground on the most full days of international cricket that have been washed out. So it's not the first time it's happened here, won't be the last time."
With Australia having already retained the urn, it now gives them an opportunity to go on and win the fifth Test at The Oval, starting Thursday (July 27), and if they do so, they would have won their first series in England in 22 years.
