By George Marrable
- The fourth Ashes test ended in a draw as England avoided a 5-0 whitewash.
- Alastair Cook made a magnificent 244* as England set 491.
- David Warner and Steve Smith secured a draw with 76 and 102* respectively.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA –Β England avoided Ashes embarrassment as they drew the 4th test with Australia, meaning a 5-0 whitewash is now impossible. We look at the performance of each player in the match.
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Australia
David Warner – 8/10 – It was a tale of two innings for Warner β a quick, attacking first innings in which he raced to 103, coupled with an uncharacteristically slow and conservative second innings as he made 76.
Cameron Bancroft β 3/10 β Bancroft got started in both innings with two scores in the twenties, but failed to take advantage of his positive start.
Usman Khawaja β 2/10 β Failing in both innings to make a score above twenty, Khawaja struggled for any kind of form in Melbourne.
Steve Smith – 8/10 – Australia’s talisman performed once again to secure a draw for the hosts. Smith made 102* not out in the second innings along with 76 in the first, leading from the front as he so often does.
Shaun Marsh – 6/10 – Marsh made a solid 61 in the Australia middle order in the first innings before he was trapped LBW by a resurgent Stuart Broad. However, he failed to make an impact in the second innings.
Mitchell Marsh – 4/10 – Forced into bowling as well in the fourth test, Mitchell Marsh was wicketless in the match and could only muster a high score of 29* not out from two innings.
Tim Paine – 4/10 – The Australian wicketkeeper took three smart catches to dismiss England batsmen, but failed to make much of an impact with bat in hand. Whilst only batting in one of the two innings, Paine made just 26 before being clean bowled by James Anderson.
Pat Cummins β 7/10 β Although he was expensive, going for over four runs an over, Cummins stepped up in Mitchell Starcβs absence, bowling quickly to pick up four wickets in Englandβs first innings
Nathan Lyon β 8/10 β Once again, Lyon was the stand out bowler for Australia, restricting the runs from his end to tie down the England batsmen and picked up three England wickets, including two crucial players in the middle order as he got rid of Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali.
Josh Hazlewood β 7/10 β Bowling with his usual consistent line and length, Hazlewood came away with three wickets in the match.
Jackson Bird β 2/10 β Bird struggled as he came into the side to replace Mitch Starc, coming away wicketless from Englandβs first innings with figures of 0-108.
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England
Alastair Cook β 9/10 β Englandβs former captain has had his fair share of criticisms this series, but he well and truly answered them with a magnificent 244* not out. Cook held the innings together, playing some outstanding shots to finish unbeaten at the end.
Mark Stoneman – 3/10 – Despite being one of the most impressive batsmen for England in the series, Stoneman could only make 15 before being dismissed by a spectacular caught-and-bowled by Nathan Lyon.
James Vince – 2/10 – Although he was not dismissed caught behind as he so often is, Vince struggled as he made just 17 in his sole innings in the test match, desperately looking to find some rhythm to his play.
Joe Root β 6/10 β Once again, it was the same old story for Englandβs captain as he failed to convert a score of 50+ into a century. Root made 61 in a strong partnership with Cook before Cummins dismissed him.
Dawid Malan – 2/10 – Like Stoneman and Vince, Malan struggled to get going in his one innings in the match, making just 14 before being trapped LBW by Hazlewood.
Jonny Bairstow – 4/10 – Bairstow took four catches behind the stumps, including crucial catch of David Warner in the first innings, but could only make 22 as England’s middle order problems continue to cause them problems.
Moeen Ali β 2/10 β Another disappointing game for Moeen as he was once again dismissed by Nathan Lyon, as well as finishing with expensive figures after the Australian batsmen targeted him.
Chris Woakes – 6/10 – A useful contribution of 26 down the order from Woakes helped England to their target, and he finally found some more success with the ball. Woakes picked up three wickets in the match, something he has struggled to do with the lack of movement down under.
Tom Curran – 5/10 – Despite only coming away with one wicket, Curran can be pleased with his debut test match performance as he bowled with maturity to finish with economical figures.
Stuart Broad β 8/10 β Broad stepped up not only with the ball, but with the bat in Melbourne. He took 4-51 as England dismissed Australia for 327, and then contributed an unlikely 56 in a late partnership with Alaistair Cook, batting aggressively towards the end to increase Englandβs total.
James Anderson – 7/10 – Despite conditions being against him, Anderson continued to perform in the fourth test. England’s lead seam bowler took four wickets in the test and went for less than two runs an over in the second innings.
The final test takes place on 4 January (3 January GMT)
Main Image:Β Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/REX/Shutterstock
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