Men’s Ashes Fourth Test Report Card, Day Five

Featuring more Manchester weather and moral victories

More Manchester Weather
Grade: A

As it turned out, the rain did arrive in time to save England on the fifth and final day of the Test, with no play possible as the Old Trafford surface instead slowly but surely turned into a namesake tribute to the two batters who would otherwise have resumed their innings.

Rather absurdly, we had been forced to buy premium tickets for the fifth day because all general admission seats were sold out. It did, however, give us a very comfortable location called The Pegasus Lounge, with a great vantage point from which to watch covers and outfields grow increasingly damp. If you’re going to be at a soaked ground, I can highly recommend this as the way to do it. Especially considering we got our money refunded at the end of the day after no play.

And so this was how we farewelled Manchester. With the Ashes retained, the ground sodden and our ticket price refunded. Sure, Old Trafford hadn’t provided a Test in terms of sheer quality to match the one we saw at Headingley last time around. But it did provide one that made a lot of England fans cross. And that has its own merits. In the spirit of the week, we’ll call it a draw.