England captain Joe Root has no doubt he is the guy to lead the negative at Old Trafford finish the hopes of regaining the Ashes despite defeat.
Despite the disappointment, Root is keen to last as skipper although australia’s 185-run triumph in Manchester made England to face up to the reality of surrendering the Ashes on property for the first time in 18 decades and confirmed that they will continue to keep the urn.
“Surely, yes,” he explained when asked if he believed he was the ideal man for the job.
“Whenever you get rid of a string it hurts and I need to take that on the brow. It is still quite raw. You need to check at areas that you want to improve at, both on your own and as a staff.
“But I have been provided a fantastic opportunity to captain the Evaluation side and will keep working very hard doing my best at that. That’s in my control and I have to make sure I keep getting this group in the very ideal form to win as many matches as possible.”
The hosts began the day 18-2 having to bat out 98 overs to pull off an unlikely draw in a sold-out Old Trafford and Joe Denly (53) and Jason Roy (31) battled for 80 minutes before the latter was bowled by Pat Cummins.
Although Ben Stokes (1) was unable to replicate his Headingley heroics, Jos Buttler created a battling 34 off 111 balls, Jack Leach laboured for 12 away 54 and last man out Craig Overton spent just under three hours at the crease for his 21 off 105 balls.
“I thought we showed great character, fight and belief in what we needed to achieve now,” Root said. “I could not be more proud of this effort the guys put in now.
“It was a resilient performance but unfortunately it was not enough. Just like last week at Headingley we always thought and we try our hardest.
“You always can sit back and look at different areas of the game where you might have done things differently but from today’s point of view I am really proud.
“When you are in the place we were at the start of the day, how the guys fought as hard as they did, you learn a lot about your own team, it shows that the personality and everybody stood up and played with bravely.”
Regardless of Australia having already gained the Ashes, Root believes there’s plenty for England to play with a draw in the show still potential and Evaluation Championship points at stake.
The England captain added the dominance of this seam bowlers during the show was demonstrating Test cricket at its peak.
“It is hard to consider dropping the Ashes at the point but we need to be certain we pick ourselves up and down up in The Oval,” he explained.
“It had been yet another fantastic Test match and it’s bitterly disappointing and we need to be sure we pick ourselves up and turn up for what is still rather a huge game for all of us in The Oval.
“We’ve seen some great Test cricket over the span of this show so far and I hope the same to be true in The Oval, it is still a big game for us. We ought to make sure we level the series and a Exam championship is to play as well.
“I think every seamer has put all batters under pressure throughout the series, bar Steve Smith. It’s been hard work but that’s Test cricket at its best.
“You expect it to be both hard and you expect guys to battle your defence and make life hard for you. It’s been one of the summers where batting has been challenging and you have needed to work for the runs.”
Watch day among the fifth and final Ashes Test between England and Australia from The Oval live on Sky Sports The Ashes September 12, from 10am on Thursday.
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