Ashes 2023: England Batting Coach Marcus Trescothick Optimistic About a Result After Rain-hit Day Four of 4th Test Against Australia
England's chances to keep the Ashes alive took a hit as during a rain-affected day four, not only did the hosts miss out on a lot of precious game time, but century by Labuschagne also reduced England's lead to just 61 runs. The hosts need to take five wickets to win the match by an innings. If they win, they will keep the Ashes alive at 2-2, setting up an exciting decider or else, the best they can do is win the fifth Test and draw the series 2-2. But still, Aussies will retain the Ashes in case of a series draw.
Manchester [UK], July 23 : After a rain-hit day four of the fourth Ashes Test, England batting coach Marcus Trescothick expressed optimism that his side will push for a result if they get a full day's play on the final day of the match. England's chances to keep the Ashes alive took a hit as during a rain-affected day four, not only did the hosts miss out on a lot of precious game time, but century by Labuschagne also reduced England's lead to just 61 runs. The hosts need to take five wickets to win the match by an innings. If they win, they will keep the Ashes alive at 2-2, setting up an exciting decider or else, the best they can do is win the fifth Test and draw the series 2-2. But still, Aussies will retain the Ashes in case of a series draw. Marnus Labuschagne Scores His 11th Test Century, Achieves Feat During Day 4 of ENG vs AUS Ashes 2023 4th Test 2023.
"It all depends on what goes on with the forecast, really. If we get a full day's play I think we will be very confident in what we can try and do and push for a result," said Trescothick as quoted by Sky Sports. The former batter said that his side was not expecting much action today and whatever they could do was a "bit of bonus".
"So fingers crossed, overnight and coming into tomorrow, it changes a little bit and we get a few more hours in than potentially what it's looking like. But we will have to wait and see," he said. "Everyone's got a different one [weather app] on their phones, or there are lots of different ones on computers knocking around. And they are all pretty much saying the same thing at the moment: rain, unfortunately. But we will wait and see," he added. Regarding umpires decision to not let seamers bowl during the day due to deteriorating light, Trescothick said that from the balcony, they did not feel that the light had deteriorated that much."The umpires out in the middle deemed it was too dark and they have got to make that decision. It did not feel like it from where we were, but we're 50/60 metres from the edge of the pitch," he said.The batting coach lauded Joe Root for his bowling, which earned England a hard-fought wicket of centurion Marnus Labuschagne. Trescothick that after removing Labuschagne, England has "one less person to knock over".
"He has a little bit of a golden arm, is not he?. He just has that ability to come in, two or three overs here, a little spell now and again and just pick up one or two wickets and he has a good knack of doing that," said Trescothick. "We know how good a player he (Labuschagne) is. It is a big, big player out of the way on a decent pitch. So we have still got a decent amount of work to do, it is not going to be a case of turning up and the ball is going to swing around with a new ball all over the place and nip about, and we will roll them over in ten overs. I think we are going to need a bit more time and a bit more graft than that, but there is one less person that we have to knock over, which is important," he concluded.
Australia ended the fourth day at 214/5, with Cameron Green (3*) and Mitchell Marsh (31*) unbeaten. Labuschagne smashed his second century away from home, scoring 111 in 173 balls with 10 fours and two sixes. With this, England's lead is just 61 runs for now.Earlier, in reply to Australia's 317 in first innings, England had scored 592 runs in their first innings. They had gained a lead of 275 runs. Brian Taber Dies: Cricket Australia Mourn Demise of Former Australian and NSW Wicketkeeper.
Australia became victim of some heavy hitting from the host's top seven batters. Zak Crawley (189 in 182 balls, with 21 fours and three sixes) led the attack with his maiden Ashes ton. Moeen Ali (54 in 82 balls, with seven fours), Joe Root (84 in 95 balls with eight fours and a six), Harry Brook (61 in 100 balls, with five fours), skipper Ben Stokes (51 in 74 balls with five fours) and Jonny Bairstow (99* in 81 balls with 10 fours and four sixes) played impactful knocks.
Besides Josh Hazlewood's five-wicket haul, Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green took two wickets each while Pat Cummins got one. After opting to field first, England bundled out Australia for 317 in the first innings.
Marnus Labuschagne (51), Mitchell Marsh (51), Steve Smith (41), Travis Head (48) and Mitchell Starc (36) played some vital knocks for the Aussies.
Chris Woakes (5/62), Stuart Broad (2/68) and James Anderson (1/51) impressed with the ball for England.