Who said what - Top 5 expert reactions to England's win in the 5th Ashes Test
A hard-fought Ashes 2023 series culminated on Monday as England won the fifth Test at The Oval by 49 runs. Following the hosts' emphatic win, the five-match rubber ended in a 2-2 draw.
Australia, however, have retained the urn by virtue of winning the last Ashes series Down Under in 2021.
The recently concluded series between the two top-quality teams proved to be an outstanding one, with none of the five games ending in a tame fashion. While Australia won the opening two Tests, England made a marvelous comeback to level the series. Ben Stokes and Co. could consider themselves a tad unlucky as they were the favorites to win the drawn fourth Test before rain played spoilsport.
The fifth Test in London also went right down to the wire. Day 4 totally belonged to Australia after they stitched together a 140-run stand for the opening wicket in their hunt for 384 runs in the fourth innings.
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With some rain around on the final day, England were in desperate need of wickets. Chris Woakes then raised his hand up and managed to find the first breakthrough for England after which Australia were humbled by a batting collapse.
Despite Steve Smith scoring a fifty, Australia lost their last eight wickets within just 70 more runs. Stuart Broad, who was playing his last Test match, fittingly took the last two wickets to help his side win the match in dramatic fashion.
The nerve-wracking Test left many fans and former cricketers in awe of the game, with several sharing their thoughts on social media or TV.
On that note, here are the top five expert reactions to England's thrilling win in the fifth Ashes Test.
#5 Glenn McGrath
Former Aussie pacer Glenn McGrath heaped praise on England's Chris Woakes for his all-round abilities and breaking Australia's resistance on Day 5 at The Oval.
McGrath stated that he has always admired Woakes.
"Broad played his part of the final day but we should not forget Chris Woakes - another England player I have always admired. He is a quality cricketer with bat and ball. I don't think he bowled a bad ball in the three Tests he played and those performances were capped by his four wickets to break Australia's resistance," he wrote in his column for the BBC.
Despite not playing in the first two Tests of the series, Woakes performed brilliantly and scalped 19 wickets at an immaculate average of 18.16. The 34-year-old also provided decent contributions with the bat and was adjudged the Player of the Series.
#4 Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain, who is a renowned pundit of the game, is an ardent fan of English cricket. The former England captain waxed lyrical about the hosts' attitude in order to make a resounding comeback in the Test.
Despite claiming that England were undercooked in the first two Tests, which they lost, Hussain stated that Ben Stokes and Co. got better as the series progressed and were the better team in the last three games.
"For England to be able to put in that sort of performance on day five of the fifth Test, with the series still on the line, speaks volumes for them and the backroom staff. It is an Ashes series. It drains you more than any other series. So, the level of mental and physical fitness they demonstrated was extraordinary," The 55-year-old wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
"Yes, they may have been slightly undercooked for the first game, but they were ready as the series went on. They got better in every game and they were the stronger side in the last three matches," Hussain added.
#3 Ricky Ponting
Despite the Ashes 2023 being a highly entertaining series, it had its fair share of controversies. One such controversy erupted in the all-important fourth innings of the fifth Test when the umpires changed the ball, which went out of shape after being struck on a helmet, in the 37th over of the Australian innings.
To the surprise of a few commentators like Ricky Ponting, the changed ball looked a lot newer than the one that was 37 overs old and also moved a lot more. This arguably made a lot of difference as Australia's batting collapsed as England went on to level the series.
Opining that there should be an investigation over the decision to choose a newish ball, Ponting told Sky Sports:
"The biggest concern I have is the big discrepancy in the condition of the ball that was chosen to replace the one (out of shape). There's no way in the world you can even look at those two balls there and say in any way are they comparable."
Criticizing the decision made by the umpires, Ponting added:
"I just cannot fathom how two international umpires that have done that a lot of times before can get that so wrong. That is a huge moment in this game, potentially a huge moment in the Test match, and something I think actually has to be investigated: whether there was the right condition of balls in the box, or the umpires have just, blasé, picked one out of there that they think will be okay to use."
#2 Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan lavished praise on England captain Ben Stokes, who led the team to a memorable win at The Oval.
Vaughan feels that despite Stokes being England's Test skipper for only 14 months so far, the ace all-rounder should be considered among the country's all-time greatest captains.
Claiming that Stokes should be credited the most for such a thrilling series, Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph:
"Two teams playing in different styles, and playing out five brilliant Test matches against each other. If there’s one man that should get most of the credit for it, it’s Ben Stokes.He’s only been doing the job for 14 months but already he is right up there among England’s greatest ever captains. I think in time he will be hailed as England’s greatest ever Test captain."
Stokes made some crucial decisions over the course of the series and largely played the series as a pure batter, scoring 405 runs at an average of 45.00 across nine innings.
#1 Sachin Tendulkar
The Ashes proved to be such a gripping affair that even the legendary Sachin Tendulkar didn't hold back in sharing his thoughts through social media. He praised England's unflagging comeback from 0-2 down in the series.
Tendulkar also went on to claim that England's "tenacity" in the series was a "tribute" to the longest format of the game.
Just after the culmination of the match, the former Indian captain took to his Twitter and wrote:
"From being 2-0 down to drawing level, England's tenacity in this #Ashes series is a tribute to the beauty of Test cricket. The ability to rebound demonstrates the depth of character and the mental fortitude this format demands. Mother Nature might have denied us a series result, but that didn’t dampen the spirit of this incredible game. A series to remember for a long long time."
From being 2-0 down to drawing level, England's tenacity in this #Ashes series is a tribute to the beauty of Test cricket. The ability to rebound demonstrates the depth of character and the mental fortitude this format demands. Mother Nature might have denied us a series result,… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… pic.twitter.com/oOn9XgV6BC