Lid on celebrations after Aussies 'get out of jail'

Stung by a failure to convert their Ashes retention to an outright series win four years ago, Australia have vowed to keep a lid on celebrations after admitting they were the lucky benefactors of miserable Manchester weather.

With the visitors five wickets down in their second innings and still 61 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat, England were robbed of the opportunity to pursue victory at Old Trafford after only a solitary session of play was possible across a wet weekend.

"I think we definitely got away with one there," Cameron Green, who finished not out on three, told cricket.com.au. "We didn't play our best game. The rain gods were in our favour the last couple of days. You just take it and move on to the next game.

"There's no point denying it. Whilst we were behind the game, and you never know what would have happened, cricket is a funny game, but England dominated this one. We definitely got out of jail."

The 2019 Ashes series also saw the penultimate match of the series played at Old Trafford, where Australia bounced back from their Headingley heartbreak to claim a comprehensive victory to ensure the urn remained in their possession.

On that occasion, the team celebrated with fervour.

After joyously re-enacting key moments of the series in the dressing rooms, players sung the team song and performed push-ups on the outfield, while some even heckled a reporter doing on a live cross to a morning television program.

But it was a different scene this time around.

Australia of course did not sing their 'Under the Southern Cross' given they did not win this week and it would be hard to imagine there were scenes of joy before they left the ground on Sunday evening.

Captain Pat Cummins' sheepish demeanour as he acknowledged the cheers of the hardy handful of sodden Australian fans who saw out the final-day rain deluge highlighted the notion his side has unfinished business.

"I don’t think there will be huge celebrations," Cummins told reporters as he faces just a three-day turnaround ahead of the final Test at The Oval.

"Maybe a bit of a pat on the back for retaining the (Ashes). There’s been a lot of work gone into putting us into a position where a draw does make us retain the Ashes.

"But there’s a Test match starting in three days so that’s going to be our full focus."

Members of the last Ashes touring party have since admitted the emotional high of achieving what no Australian team had done since 2001 bled into their poor performance in the ensuing match at the same south London venue.

Image Id: 3EE1FA2AE8D2493491204076F1CFFFF2 Image Caption: Marnus Labuschagne waits patiently on day five // Getty

"The last time they were here they had a win here to retain the Ashes," said Green.

"It's a bit different this time around and I'm sure a few guys are hurting from last time around. We'll keep it level-headed tonight and looking forward to the next game."

Cummins has made it clear from the tour's outset that anything less than a series win would mean they had fallen short of expectations.

"It’s a pretty similar group to 2019 when we retained it and we all came away feeling okay, but we felt like we’d just missed what we’d come over to achieve," said the 30-year-old whose two Ashes series victories have both come at home.

"In some regards whatever happened today wouldn’t really change how we look at next week.

"We want to win it to make sure we win it outright."

2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK

First Test: Australia won by two wickets

Second Test: Australia won by 43 runs

Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley

Fourth Test: Match drawn

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, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood