Even if they triumph in the last and fifth Test at The Oval in London, according to former England cricketer Mark Butcher, the team will view the Ashes 2023 as a “lost opportunity.” Notably, the Australians kept the trophy after a fourth Test in Manchester’s Old Trafford that was plagued by rain.
After scoring an enormous 592 runs and building a huge 275-run lead in the second innings, England was in a good position. The Australians were having trouble, but a steady downpour at the stadium stopped play and forced a draw.
Former cricketer Mark Butcher said that after considering the matches so far, the Three Lions will view the series as a missed opportunity. He continued by saying that Australia had turned the series in their favor and that even winning the fifth Test at The Oval would not change their fate.
“Regardless of what happens at The Oval, England will truly view the entire situation as a missed opportunity. Even in the first two Test matches that they lost, they had chances to turn around both of those outcomes, but perhaps they lacked the experience or intelligence to seize them.
which left them facing a formidable obstacle,” Mark Butcher told Wisden.
“It’s a Herculean undertaking to win three straight matches versus Australia. If it weren’t for the weather, they would have probably won the game, but in England, bad weather is only a part of the game. Weather has always been a factor in sports; sometimes it works in your favor and other times it dumps all on you.
Because they last did so in 2015, England’s unfortunate streak of losing the Ashes continues. The Australian team will be aiming to take the Ashes series away from home for the first time since 2001.
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