England choose to bowl first at Oval in final Ashes Test

So why, then, has it become more hard to win as an away side?

England opening batsman, Adam Lyth, acknowledged that the onus is on him to prove his worth with the bat in the fifth Test, after a lacklustre show in the Ashes so far.

“I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a lot of disappointment amongst the group”, said Rogers, with Australia now having lost four successive Ashes series in England.

Australia will also surrender second spot on the global Cricket Council’s Test rankings to England if they lose again. The weather forecast seems to agree with Australian captain. He could retire happily, when the time comes, if he finishes this match in credit. England’s strategy since Lord’s has been to attack Australia’s Achilles’ heel, to hound and rip it to pieces.

England on the other hand had been sent packing from the World Cup before the finals thanks to a loss against Bangladesh, and were in disarray after sacking their coach on the eve of the series.

The historic importance of the Test is only part of the story though, with legendary Australian fast bowler Fred Spofforth leading his team to an unlikely victory after it was bowled out for 63 in the first innings.

If they were losing and Adam wasn’t scoring runs, they would be under a lot more pressure to change things. He made 82, India were bowled out for 148 and England won by an innings and 244 runs.

They surfaced significantly during the West Indies series in April and lingered into this summer, but have been silenced by the uplifting experience of regaining the Ashes.

What’s the difference between Michael Clarke and a funeral director? Cricket, as much as nature, abhors a vacuum.

There is so much pressure on the guys at the top of the game to keep winning, so it is understandable that they demand pitches that will help them to do that.

Cook said at his Wednesday press conference: “Unfortunately, Jimmy is not going to make it”.

Australia is set to rest seamer Josh Hazlewood for the final test due to a heavy recent workload.

Clarke had conceded earlier that he hasn’t been performing up to the mark and that didn’t allow Australia to match their standards with England. And for all his fans he still has one final effort left. So prodigious was his talent that as an 18 year-old, in his sole Test, Cummins not only took the new ball against South Africa in 2011 but seven wickets for 117.

Hopefully, he can get a decent half-century under his belt at The Oval, seal his place for the winter as a result and that will hopefully give him the confidence to go on and score more runs at this level.

Michael Clarke has predicted another short Test match after successive three-day defeats at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, with the implication that his global career may be over by the weekend.