Drawn Ashes would be a ‘fair’ result: Crawley

England believe a 2-2 Ashes scoreline would be the fairest result for the series, adamant the final Test at The Oval is no dead rubber.

Australia enter the finale with almost everything still to strive for, up 2-1 but driven by the desire to win their first Ashes series in England in 22 years.

England, by contrast, cannot walk away with the Ashes urn and are instead attempting to save face with a second straight drawn series.

But the hosts do not see it that way.

Players are insistent they have matched it with Australia through the whole series, following three thrilling Tests at Edgbaston, Lord's and Headingley.

The hosts also outplayed Australia at Old Trafford before rain forced a draw, re-enforcing England's belief they deserve to finish level on the scoreboard.

"I think 2-2 would be fair," opener Zak Crawley said.

"They had the better of us at Lord's, Edgbaston could have gone either way, we probably deserved this one (at Old Trafford) and Headingley could have gone either way.

"We're disappointed. We wanted to win, we were in a good position to win, and two days of rain cost us. But that's how it is.

"We're massively up for (The Oval). Any game, you want to win.

"It felt like we were getting on top of them for sure and if we'd won this game it would have been very interesting to see."

England named an unchanged 14-man squad for the fifth Test, with bowling allrounder Chris Woakes under an injury cloud after pulling up sore from Old Trafford.

James Anderson's spot is also under a cloud following an underwhelming series, with questions over how much longer the 41-year-old will continue.

That has put quicks Josh Tongue and Ollie Robinson both back in the frame, after Tongue impressed at Lord's and Robinson recovered from back spasms at Headingley.

Crawley's spot is in no such doubt, with the English opener now the leading run-scorer in the series with 385 at an average of 55 following his lightning-fast 189 at Old Trafford.

The 25-year-old believes Australia's attack suits his game, a point emphasised by the fact his captain Ben Stokes claimed on Sunday that Crawley made Australia look a second XI side at times.

"Fast bowling suits my game and the Australian attack is a quick attack. I think a bit less when they're faster," Crawley said.

2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK

First Test: Australia won by two wickets

Second Test: Australia won by 43 runs

Third Test: England won by three wickets

Fourth Test: Match Drawn (Australia retain the Ashes)

Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood