England captain Joe Root has no doubt he is still the guy to lead the negative regardless of defeat at Old Trafford.
Australia triumph in Manchester verified that they will continue to keep the urn and compelled England to face up to the fact of surrendering the Ashes on property for the first time in 18 decades but despite the disappointment, Root is keen to continue as skipper.
“Certainly, yes,” he said when asked whether he felt that he was the perfect guy for the task.
“Whenever you eliminate a series it hurts and I have to accept that on the brow. It is still very raw. You need to look at places you would like to get better at, both on your own and as a staff.
“But I have been given an excellent opportunity to captain the Test side and certainly will keep working very hard doing my best at that. That is in my control and I have to make sure I keep getting this team in the best shape to acquire as many matches as possible.”
The hosts started the afternoon 18-2 needing to bat out 98 overs to pull out an unlikely draw in a sold-out Old Trafford and Joe Denly (53) and Jason Roy (31) fought for 80 minutes before the latter was bowled by Pat Cummins.
Though Ben Stokes (1) had been unable to replicate his Headingley heroics, Jos Buttler made a battling 34 off 111 ballsJack Leach laboured for 12 away 54 and last guy out Craig Overton spent just under three hours in the crease for his 21 off 105 balls.
“I thought we showed great character, battle and belief in what we wanted to achieve today,” Root said. “I could not be pleased with this effort that the men put in now.
“It turned out to be a resilient performance but sadly it was not enough. Like last week in Headingley we always thought and we try our hardest.
“You always can settle back and look at several areas of the game where you might have done things differently but from today’s point of view I am really proud.
“When you’re in the place we had been at the start of the afternoon, how the men fought as hard as they did, you learn much about your own team, it shows the character and everybody stood up and played .”
Root believes there’s a lot for England to play with Evaluation Championship points on the line and a draw in the show possible despite Australia having already gained the Ashes.
The England captain included that the dominance of this seam bowlers during the series was demonstrating Test cricket at its peak.
“It is challenging to consider dropping the Ashes at this stage but we will need to make sure we pick ourselves up and down up at The Oval,” he explained.
“It was yet another fantastic Test match and it’s quite disappointing and we need to be sure we pick ourselves up and turn up for what is still rather a huge game for us at The Oval.
“We have seen some excellent Test cricket on the span of this series so far and I expect the same to be true in The Oval, it’s still a huge game for us. We want to make sure the string levels and a Test championship is to play for as well.
“I feel every seamer has put all batters under pressure throughout the series, bar Steve Smith. It has been hard work but that’s Test cricket at its best.
“You expect it to be both challenging and you expect men to challenge your defence and make life difficult for you. It’s been one of the summers where batting was challenging and you have had to work on the runs.”
Watch day among the final and fifth Ashes Test between Australia and England live on Sky Sports The Ashes September 12, from 10am on Thursday.
Read more: http://www.olcayreklam.com/fanduel-mlb-dfs-picks-september-17th/