5 reasons we should still watch the 5th Ashes Test
In the world of professional sport, fortunes can change in a whisker. Ignominiously overlooked for selection in the ODI squad and with talks of age catching up with him, Alastair Cook was silently contemplating about his retirement at the start of the summer. His Australian counterpart, Michael Clarke, having won the World Cup and retired from the ODIs, believed he could play Test cricket for a few more years.Everything has changed radically within the space of a series. Clarke has announced his retirement while an emphatic Ashes win has taken away any thoughts of immediate retirement from Cook's mind.The series has been decided, the Ashes has been won and Australian cricket has been thrown into a state of significant crisis. The fifth Ashes Test is inconsequential as it cannot affect the final outcome of the series but it hardly promises to be uninteresting. An Ashes Test always turns out to be a high octane clash because of the tradition, rivalry and pride at stake. The heat of the clash never fails to instigate the kind of drama and emotion that is the delight of any quintessential cricket lover.Here are five reasons why the fifth Ashes Test still promises to be an exciting affair.
#1 Clarke\'s swansong
Michael Clarke has announced his decision to retire from the international cricket arena after the last Ashes Test and fans around the world will be welling up with emotion at the prospect of bidding adieu to one of the true modern greats of the game. "You never want to walk away. My performances over the past 12 months have not been acceptable to me. I want to play the last Test at The Oval and give it one more crack. The time is right," Clarke said in an interview to cricket.com.au.
Former greats like Mathew Hayden and Andrew Symonds have lambasted Clarke's performances with former Australian coach John Buchanan rather controversially claiming that Clarke has "eroded the culture of the baggy green". Clarke being popular among the current players, such comments have not gone down well with the team and Mitchell Marsh has echoed their sentiments: "The comments have angered the team. It has been quite disrespectful to someone who has given our game and Australian cricket so much."
Clarke's numbers suggest that he should be remembered as a legend of the game and he will do everything in his power to score some runs and captain his side to a possible victory to end his illustrious career on a high.